Variety (April 1920)

#• ii?;. Si-/ iB'- MOTION PICTURE DBPAIt3!!ftIENT!--PAGl^ 4]L TO 48 TAKING FEAHl BANK LENDS Small Sum on n Valuable Negative, but Sets Precedent—Officers of Institution Will Make a Practice of This—Expert Will Pass on Values. ' A new angle of the Wall Street lavuion ot tbe fllm industry has . .taot brought to light by the re- 'jCO'^etT' of a production company ;fftom Berioas flnanclol plight. '■''' 9be company a^ short time ago ' luC-two five-reel productions com- pletAd and a third about half com- pleted. Neither of the two finished products had been sold aiid the com- pany's treasury was about ezkaaut ed. The weekly pay day for the caJt and supers In the third pro- duction came around and there were no funds available. Efforts were made to stand off the members of the cast, but they delivered an ulti- matum of "Pay up or no more work." The abandonment of the fllm at this stage of production meant a com- plete loss, for after the cast was dis- banded it would be very difficult to assemble them again. Finally, late on the Saturday afternoon the of- ficers of the company borrowed the {>ay roil and the day was saved Icm- porarily. The following Monday morning one of the officers had an inspira- tion. He went to see the president of the bank where he deposited and "With a good line of talk persuaded tbe banker to advance $10,000 on the company's note taking one of the completed negatives as security. This money was used to complete ttao third fllm and Us nega- tive was In turn "hocked" to pay oft the company's most pressing liabili- ties while negotiations for the sale ot the films were in progress. By manipulation ot this kind the com- pany kept its head above water un- til a deal was closed and the three features were ali^-sold at a liand- some profit. The company, now on a sound financial basis, ha.<3 entered Into production on a much bigger scale. Tliose on the inside of this par- ticular deal reallzng its possibilities have rushed lo tl^e bank where the business was done and opened ac- cumts with a view to future possi- bflitlcs. The president of the bank estab- lishing the precedent realizes the possibilities of this class of busi- ness and is prepared to go into it to the limit with certain reservations, Upon investigation he has learned that he can quite easily be hom- ewoggled with negatives not worth the celluloid they are printed upon and to protect Uie bank's Interest he has entered into preliminary nego- tiations with a buyer of repute who under the scheme would pass upon every negative offered as collateral for a loan and estimate its value. In this way the bank vould be 100 per cent secure advancing only on nega- llvea of real commercial worth. UPHELD $4,984 JUDGMENT. The Appellate Division of the Su- preme Court handed down a dc- ciBlon last Friday upholding a 14,964.09 judgment award to Hugh 8. Stangc and Benjamin S. Mears against Sluart Walker, producer of ' the dramatized version of N, Booth Tarkington's "Seventeen." The pU^ntiff.1 started suit on the ground ^Oaes were entitled to Sa.OOO royal- ties—the original sum sued for—for services rendered in preparing the. play version of "Seventeen." Walker contended their adaptation had to be discarded by him and that the produced version is his own adapta- tion. Walker in his defense stated the collaborators represented them- selves as owners of the full dramatic rights to Tarkington's book, which the producer construed to include also the picture rights. He later discovered Famous Play-. ers-Lasky had screened the "puppy love" novel. COMMUNIST SCHEME TRiED IN PICTURES Cameraman Gets as Much as-Director. CREEN RIGHTS IN IWIN BEDS^ SOLD BY SELWYNS FOR $1I5| liOa Angeles, April 2S. The communistic theory of bol- shevism Ii belns put into practice here in at least on* instance. A practical demonstration of it Is behig tried by a band of picture I>eopIe headed by Harley Knoles, the director. Tbey are banded to- gether to make Independent photo- plays for anyone desiring their ser- vices. The alliance comprises Knoles as director, a camera man, a technical director, a lighting expert, a leading man, a leading lady and a ^cenario writer. Their gross services may be secured for a lump sum weekly, and the bolshevistic part of it is that tbe spoils are to be divided equally, the camera man receiving the same pro- portion as tbe director, leading players and auUior. Record Price Paid by Carter De Haven, Who Wil Produce Under His Own Name—^Arranges vc With First National to Release JFour a Year "2, —Negotiating for Some More. .;| Carter De Haven breezed into town this week aiid purchased the screen rights to "Twin Beds" from the Selwyns for $115,000, establish- ing a record price for the picture rights to a stage produced farce and, with few exceptions, tbe high- est price paid for tbe picture rights to any play. The highest price ever paid for the privilege of picturizing any piece' is $175,000, by D. W. Griffith for "Way Down East." De Haven has made an arrange- ment with First National to release four pictures a year in which he will LOEW NOW HAS 12 METRO COMPANIES MAKING PICTURES AT $200,000 A WEEK-THIS MEANS $2,000,000 INVESTED EVERY 10 WEEKS. With the "tuying in" of Marcus Loew on Metre a few weeks ago there was immediately started a campaign of production on a scale that is i>robabIy not exceeded by any other producing organization In the fllm industry. At the present time there are no loss than 12 companies engaged In making Metro pictures for the com- ing season at an approximate ex- pense of $200,000 a week. The plan is to get as many features ahead before starting In on a huge selling campaign so that in the event of any temporary halt In the produc- tions there will be an ample supply on hand to continue maldng de- liveries on scheduled time. Activi- ties on this scale for ten weeks means an investment of not lebs than S2.O0O.0O0, with no immediate Income therefrom. Metro has concluded an arrange- ment with Max Olucksman for its entire output of de luza specials for 1920, together with some two score "program" pictures, for all of South America. Prior to closing this contract Glucksmaa controlled the Metro releases, for Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Now he baa the rights for the entire conthieat of Latin Amer- ica. embracing, In addiUon to the appearance In the screening ■« star. De Haven is producing undoi his own name. — V - Tbe star will return to the caiij^ bt once to start work on "Tvii Beds" and is negotiating for sevMig other legitimate successes ' vftl which to follow this production, v INDICT HUaH T. SWAYHE.' In the forgery charges preferrel by Cau-Iened Co., Inc., operators <4 the Bristol Garage, against Hugh T Swayne, the husband of Jidii Swayne Gordon, of the Vitagrapii Stock Company, the defendant WM indicted and held for trial last wedc. The plaintiff charges Swayne who was a former bookkeeper and secretary of the plaintiff corpora^ tlon, with making false entries ta cover a (1,600 shortage, alleged t4 have been Incurred by the defends ant throughout periodical defalca<i tlons covering a period of a yeju and a half. * i S. Sari Leven represents t&l plaintiflF. V^ lONtx SELECT CONTMCT. | Through her manager, Arthur % Jacobs, Martha MansQeld. leadiil| woman for John Barrymore in "P^ Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," has signed • long term starring contract witt Select. t Miss Mansfield has completed hiT republics named, Ecuador, Colom bia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazil. SUNDAY PICTURE IN OHIO VALLEY HOUSES Play to Capacity on First Attempt. Martins Ferry. Ohlo» April 2S. This is the flrst town In the Ohio Valley to open its theatres on Sun- day for pictures. When tho man- agement of the Fcnray and new Pastime announced last week the theatres would be open Sunday afternoon and evening no opposi- tion developed and as the result both houses played to capacity. It, Is expected the policy will be adopted by a score of Ohio Valley cities where managers have been waiting for someone to take the initiative. Vaudeville and musical tabloid features will be suspended on Sundays. PAHTAOES TO PRODUCR Los Angeles, April 28. Alexander Pantages is to produce pictures featuring Florence Stone, directed by William J. Bowman Three scripts have already been ap- proved—"Tho Lure of the Trail," "Tho Chasm" and "The Bait." Prior to the commencement ot the pictures Miss Stone will appear on tlio Pantages Circuit in the fourth act of "La Tosca," with Bowman in her support as Scarpia, opening May 4. - . — FAST WORK AT BRUNTOH. Los Angeles, April 28. Two new companies are working at the Brunton studios—the Gibral- tar, backed by Martin Beck, and the Sydney Garrell organization to pro- duce the Leah Baird features and possibly others. The Dial Co. Will shortly produce seven reelers. SPECIAL CONTRACT FOR THE CAPITOL Equity Regards Largest The- atre as in Special Class. The Actors' Equity will shortly issue a special formi of contract to cover the Capitol theatre. The Capitol is figured, like the Hip, to be in a class by Itself and there- fore a special engagement contract has t>een decided upon. Unlike the Hip, which comes under the Juris- diction of the A. A. F. branch of the Four A's, the Capitol is under the Jurisdiction of the A B. A. UNDERSTUDY FOR JORN. Karl .lorn, the operatic star who is heading the opera company pre- scnting "Lohengrin" at the Capitol this week, only appears once every evening In the production. An understudy substitutes In the matinee performances. FRENCH COMBINE WITH UNIVERSAL Dalimier and Himenel Plan- ning Such Alliance. Paris, April 28. The possible combine of American and French Interests is announced In a French trade paper, "Scenario," and M. Himenel,. of Dalimier & Himenel is now in the United States to flx up a sort of Franco-American trust with the Universal Film peo- ple. The combine of German and Italian screen producers is a theme of conversation in trade circles here, it being feared the corporation will control the film output of those countries and freeze out the pro- ductions of rivala Frederick Switch Announced. Goldwj'n has announced the re- lease.of Pauline Frederick from her contract. It was all in the nature of an amicable agreement the ot- flcial announcement laying emphatic stress on the fact that Mi.ss Fred- erick's productions have teen vei-y remunerative flnancially for all con- cerned. Immediately after this announce- ment, the Robertson-Cole Co. stated it has arranged to release a number of. special productions the star will make for them. ClvUIan Clothes," playing the rolp -created on the spoken stage tif Olive TelL ^ Thomas Meighan has the main lead in "Civilian Clothes" and the picture Is to be released in Auguafe PHOTOGRAPHIC BEIL. A. B. Barrlnger, now with tlw Lesser organization filming Annetti Kellerman in "What Women Ijove," has Invented a photographic bell by which means stills can be taken under water. The bell works at 2W feet depth, which is pump capacity. The chamber is supplied with air by a three-cylinder high pressure pump, operated by hand. The bell is so adjusted that it can be moved about under water in the same wai^ a camera can be moved about In the studio: the weight under watjr is 70 pounds as compared with 1,8I« pounds on the surface. i A special submarine lens has bee«' constructed so that it gives a penej tration of more than 100 feet and registers a clear picture at thqjj distance. There is also a micro- phone attachment connecting the camera man in the bell with tW director on the surface. . * ENGLISH PRODUCTIONS. -^ A representative of Samuclson*' Ltd., of London, passing through New York this week on hl.s war back to England, announced that the productions they have undef way at Los Angeles under the per- sonal direction of G. B. Samuelso*^ are ncaring completion. These include "Her Story." "Th« Night Riders" and "At the Mercy, ot Tiberius." . ' Work is about to be started o» "Desert Dreams," "Sweet Life" ano "David and Jonathan."