Variety (July 1922)

Friday. July ». >W» MOTION PICTURE DEPARTMENT—Paflreg 33 to 39 PICTURES PIBITORS' OWN MUSIC DEPARTMENT; STAND AGAINST WEEKLY FEE SOUND EFFECTS OF "STORM" BY RADIO |U|ion Picture Theatre Owners Issue Circular— Free Music—No Tax or License Promised—^The- atres Will Boost Compositions Used The Motion Picture Theatre wners of America state they are ow actively engaged in creating a iUBic department and have music aued to theatre owners free from IX or license. An excerpt from their circular >ada: "Theatre owners have been nposed upon and thousands of BlUrs improperly exacted. The me process has been imposed on tUflcal organizations of different Za, and the proprietors of hotels nd resUurants where music is a art of the daily routine. "We propose, through the M. P. '. 0. A., to establish what might be irmed a clearing house lor musical jrapositlons. We will invite all omposers in the nation to use our atlonal organization as a means t getting their compositions to the ublic. We can guarantee them an utlct which will be nationwide in laracter. "We will establish a music de- artment iu connection with the . P. T. O. A. We can arrange ith the muaic stores to sell these Dmposltions. We can advertise the impositions In our theatres, glv- \g them the widest publicity and ring these musical selections ta the personal attention in demon- strated form of millions of people daily. In this way we will give a nationwide stimulant to Independent composers* efforts.and revive good, inspiring music in the United States in a manner hitherto unheard of. "The M. P. T. O. A. are opposed to the methods and processes em- ployed by representatives of the American Society of Authors, Com- posers and Publishers, as we con- sider same entirely unfair and prejudicial to the rights of theatre owners and all u.sor8 of musical compositions, and wi* propose to use every legitimate effort to circum- vent these methods and give the American people as free a use of good taste as is pc sslble." In refutation, the American Soci- ety has compiled a sample set of figures. They estimate that music is 40 per cent, of a modern film program. A theatre Uke the Cap- itol, New York, the largest in the world, does a big weekly business on ^n average. It pays the orches- tra $2,000 weekly, roughly estimated, and pays the A. S. C. A. & P. $5.83 music tax weekly for the privi- lege of performing the catalogs of the 40-odd important member- publishers. GISH GIRLS SET Both to Produce Under Insriration Pictures , REJECTS $400,000 ANNUALLY, GUARANTEED Both the Oish sisters will be as- sociated with Inspiration Pictures for the immediate future under agreements already signed. Lillian Qish, with her own pro- ducing unit, will not produce under the sponsorship of D. W. Griffith us at first planned, but will become an independent unit in the group at- tached to the Inspiration brand, controlled by Charles H. Duel!. Duell is now making a new pic- ture wilh Richard Barthelmess and Dorothy will head the supporting company. This reverses things. Barthelmess got his start in Grilhth pictures in which the Gish girls were starred. It Is understood that the part as leading woman for Bar- thplmpssi is hut a preliminary to the formation of a separate producing unit for the younger Gisli girl. When the story first was published that Griffith would transfer* his liooking activities to Kurope, the trade scoffed, but those close to Griffith declare that is his serious intentior.. That future plan is said to be the reason for the new associa- tion of the Gish girl.s. It is possible that Griffith will not undertake the foreign enterprise uritil a year from this autumn, but his mind is said to be unalterably fixed on going abroad then for a long time. TASCINATION' ALLEGED "DUPED" BY METRO Starts Action in Federal Court —Restraining Order Is Applied for NEW COLOR PROCESS Demonstrated at Cameo—Boston In* ventor Backed by Mitliont Ian to Have Shubert Vaudeville at Strand, Broad- way, Called Off Through Competing House's Refusal—$200,000 Rent and Profit Guaranteed. The Capitol. Kcw York, rejecting proposal of $400,000, guaranteed, »r the lease of that house by th6 trand (Broadway) management, eflnltely placed the Strand out- Ide the pale of Shubert vaudeville ttr next season. The offer to the Capitol included Q annual rental of $200,000, with 0 per cent of the net profit, the uarantee containing an agreement iftt the Capitol's share of the profit bould not be less than $200,000 In ny one year. The offer made on behalf of the trand contemplated the removal of h* Strand's present picture policy 0 the Capitol, with the Strand hereafter to house the Shubert unit audeville attractions. The man- gementa of the Strand and Capitol W Interlocked between the Shu- jrts and the director (Afllllated neatres Corporation) of the Shu- ^rt vaudeville. The reason assigned for the re- action of the offer by the Capitol ^ that its own earning capacity Is Jlrtually unlimited, through the character of the picture progran^ It "ay be presenting. The Capitol's 'OX office record is said to be $64,- ''O gross for the week, taken In 'uring the showing of the first Toll ^^Srt picture there. A gross of around or over $50,000 is not un- «8ual at that house. Its weekly >verhead, with expense of show 'KUre^ in, is said to be about $22,- The Capitol plnys the Goldwvn matures and the Strand has the "•e-release call upon the First ^ationarg, though the Strand re-- ^ntly made an agreement to take 21 "rst runs for New York of the nr th ^"* specials, probably add- »5m *''^1^*'^*'« upon the regular •^e^kly cost of its franchised films. *^>s week MoG Mark of the faml dcni^Ml any negotiations with .J Capitol by ihp Strand intrrrsts, '«o that "The Shnborts haven't "*'y <-^><.ugh to buy the Strand." and that the theatre Is not for sale or lease. "The Strand doesn't owe a cent," said Mr. Mark, "and it has a cash surplus of over $1,000,000." INDICTMENTS DISMISSED District Attorney Will Appeal in Knickerbocker Theatre Decision Washington, D. C, July 2«. Justice Siddons, presiding in Criminal Court No. 2, today sus- tained the demurrers filed and ar- gued by counsel for Reginald W. Geare, John W. Ford, Julian R. Downman, Richard G. Fletcher and Donald W. Wallace and dismissed the Indictment charging these five with manslaughter in connrotion with th . death of 97 persons when the roof of the Knickerbocker the- atre collapsed Jan. 28, last. District Attorney Ftyton C. Gor- don immediately notrd an appeal to the District Court of Appeals, which will pass upon Juetice Sid- dons' opinion. Should the Ap- pellate tribunal sustain the lower court, the entire proreedinps will have to be reinstituted from the be- ginning, but should the Court of Appeals reverse the decision of Jus- tice Siddons, then the case would go to the District Supreme Court for trial. In speakirii; ..f his opinion. Jus- tice Siddons said tha he had given the qne*<tions raised the best con- sideration of which he -was caprible and slated that "th.' eas*' n.Ps.Mited Is one involving the invevf iRntion of that unT».'irall(led lor;*! disaster known by all as the 'Knlrkerborker theatre di.«»aster.' a disaster tliat brou^ht death to 97 men. w(.m»'M. youth and children, p.rinnuent in- juries to ethers and t« niporary in- juries to still other.". iM.iKii;«n^ gi ief and lastint? sorrow to many persons, horror to all. and nrou.<ed a f*elir.g of Indifrnafion that such an oerur- renre should happen in the nation's capital, and d.rn.iTi.ls ;» ri^id -nv.s- A demonstration was given at the Cameo, New York, this week of a new color process In pictures. In- vented by Dr. Daniel F. Comstock, former professor of physics at Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, and said tp be backed by a Boston syndicate with several mil- lions at its command. William Travers Jerome, former district at- torney of New York county and now practicing law, is manager of the syndicate. The process is being exploited by the Technicolor M. 1*. Co. of Bos- ton, which says through its rep- resentatives that it has no stock for .sale. Wide claims are made for the new proces.s, which it Is claimed registers all color values accurately, including the blue tones which have been represented in most ca.srs by a greenish hue. The colors do not "fringe," It Is declared, and the film can be projected with a standard machine without modification. The description of the process suggests that It parallels the proc- ess exploited some years ago by "Doc" Willat. Metro has file'd a'blll of complaint In the Soutbenr. District of New York Federal Cou^pt against Miguel Gonzales, Carrera Medina and "John Doe" and "Richard Roe" (last two names fictitious and unknown to plaintiff) to restrain them from cir- culating and distributing a pirated copy of "Fascination." the Mae Murray feature produced by Robert Z. I^eonard which Metro is releasing. The plaintiff, through J. Robert Rubin, asks protection from the Latin countries where the defend- ants are known, based on the Pan- American Convention of 1911, which provides for reciprocal copyright protection between North and South American countries. The defendants are allaged to have the infringing copy in their possession in Havana, Cuba, Metro asking^hey b<i enjoined from releas- ing and also for an accounting. Although the print actually costs about $400, Arthur Loew, one of the vice-presidents of the Metro cor- poration, swears it will deprive the plaintiff of a lucrative field unless the print is seized and impounded pending adjudication of the is.sues. Synchronized by Newark, N. J., Broadcasting Station with Theatre Show An experiment in broadcasting wireless was tried when the WO It station in Newark, N. J., la^t Mon- day evening sent out the soutxl effects of the film 'The Storm." synchronized with the screening of the feature at the Central in that city. WOR is one of the strongest disseminators In the cast, and is maintained by the town's principal department store as an advertising adjunct and a selling agent for its radio equipment department. The experiment was widely adver- tised in Newark. Wireless apparatus was Installed in the house with a 200-foot aerial on the roof and a big amplifier. A time schedule was made out and the screening so timed by stopwatch that the sound effects came through the air at the exact instant the forest fire episode on the film started. The announcement of the novelty said: "Station WOR. Newark, will broadcast as a radio experiment the sound of a for<»st fire which will be synchronized with the fire scenes in 'The Storm' at the Central the- atre Monday evening, July 24. "From station WOR Albert Britt, editor of 'Outing' Magazine, will broadcast an educational lecture on forest fires and radio as used in the prevention of fires. The linking up of 'The SlifTin* is done in an effort to bring to the attention of tho public this serious topic. Motorists and campers who le&ve fires in tho woods or by the roadside are'caus- ing the loss of millions of dollars and many lives." $100,000 ADDIUNAL REfTTALS -FAMOUS SUIT Paul Ash Renews Contract San Francisco, July 26. Paul Ash, orchestra leader at the Granada, has renewed his contract with the theatre at an increase in sj\^ary. The new contract is to run a year. Phil Gleichman Obtains Temporary Injunction ^ Against Famous Players—Stops Kunsky from Playing Paramount Film Pending Outcome tigation of the cause or causes of the divaftter universal." The j\istlce commended the dis- trict attorney for his work and the promptness with which the indict- ments were returned and in cover- ing all the points held that "only one of the grounds of the demurrers filed on behalf of the defendants need be coneidered." and this ground is stated in the d«niurrers filed by the defend.int Ford us fol- lows: •The indictment is d'fective and InsuHicient in that the material and essential facta forming' the basis of the alleged offense are not set out with re.'is(»nal»le certainty, and lh<^ s.'iid indjrtment is too vnpue. indefi- nite :nul uncertain." AnolluT ^Tound < ited l-y Justice Siddons is that wlii- h IkuI l.eeri ud- \i«ne«d by counsr 1 for defend;int Downman. dnclMrins that "while tUlf* is *a joint indictnxnt aK^in.st five defendants, th'- indi«tm*Mt f.iil.s t«» allege- any joint art whieh was ir. itself f riminal." Th*' j'l-'tiee in sommini: ur» re- r,,i»d ''>■' the lo«s JM tl.*- «1 Salter of .1 fii»i;<l of :::, yeMi>' ^r. aiding Detroit, July 26. An injunction restrarnlng the Famous Players-I^asky Corporation from furnishing any of the new Paramount pictures to John H. Kunsky wa.^ granted Thursday (July 20) to I'hil Gleichman of the l?roadway-Strand, which has been showing Paramount first-run ex- clusively for three Seasons. The injunction w.is temporary, the hear- ing to be held today (July 26) before Judge Ira Jayne of the Cir- cuit Court, who granted the in- junction. The bill of complaint and affi- davits attached, containing some 50 pages, Is based on a franchise entered into Sept. 29, 1919, between Famous Players and (tlelchman. It was to run for five years. Gleich- man charges Famous is endeavor- ing to break tho contract to sell its pictures to Kunsky at a much higher rental, aggregating In a,year about $100,000 in excess of wKat it would secure from him. The ground on whi('h Famous seeks to break the agreement with Gleich- man is that he has been behind In his film rentals during the summer, but (ileichman declares the credit was granted with the full under- standing of Famous' distribution depjirtment. Gleiehman's bill of complaint con- tains docum< nts such as the orig- inal 'agreern'.Mit and eorre«itorulen<« between himsidf and McRsrs, Kent and Zukor of Famous. Testimony by Mr. Gleiehman re- garding a theatre deal which P.ira- mount was lntcr#.sted In a few months ago and in which It was going to finance it for Gleichman, indieated that up to a few months a^o. prior to the time its dealings with the Kunsky enterprises on nrxt season's product. Famous was very friendly with him. 'I am n»»t suing for m<»ney — all I want is th.Jt l''amous shall live up ' to its efuitriet and su|>i)ly me wilh i Paramount pi< tares every week," said Mr. Gleiehman to a Vjtrlety representative. "I have a great deal of admiration for Adolph Zukor, and I am sorry that it was necessary for me to go into court, but the trouble is that Mr. Zukor has ap- par<ntly left the entire affair in the hands of Sidney Kent, who is out to break the contract which his company has with me in black and white, thinking that I will sit idly by and say nothing while they sup- ply my competitor at much higher rentals." The contract Famous has with tbo Rroadway-Strand doea not specify the "choice" of the Paramount pie- tures, although this has praetlcally been the situation in the past three years. Some of th« pictures were booked to Kunsky but not many, whereas the Proadway-Strand has played 52 weeks of Paramount until recently when a block of eight pic- tures were sold to Kun.sky, with the consent of Gleichman. The Broadway-Strand showed its last Paramount picture last week and this week has "Foolish Wives"; for the next two weeks it h.is booked "In the Name of tho I..aw." Nothing further is booked as Gleichman expects Paramount will start supplying him at that time, otherwise he will arrange for out- side productions. Mr. Keough, I»aramount attorney, arrived In Detroit for tho trial and will be asMisled by local attorney?;. Mr. Cflelehman is represented hy Robert M. Prownson, who Is con- versant with film matters. Commenting on the Iav.'f?ult, Jolin H. Kunsky, enjain<>d from showing .iuy further Paramount plctur.-s pending the final outcome of th*- suit, remarked: "I am a disinter- ested party and In no way involv<-.l in any controv(r"y between .Mr. Gleiehman an'l tije Famous I'layer.-t. I booked 52 P.iramount pictures an<l expert to be tak» n eare of unless Mr. (Jleieliman is able to convince the court his agreem»nt has b'-en violated."