Variety (August 1925)

VARIETY'S LONDON OFFICE 8 St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Squara FOREIGN CABLE ADDRESS, VARIETY, LONDON 2096-3199 Recent Wednegday, August 5, 1828.« p«ople of mature thousht. In svery country In the world, including America, hold the film and the film Induatry In complete and abject Contempt. American pictures have been ■old, but America has not been ■old, except in the cynical aenae. This world-contempt of the film veacta on everyone connected with the bustnesa, critics Included. Oar IHTofeaaion la a matter of derialon, not alone to highbrowa and faddiata, but to ordinary, oommonaenalcal people. The atark truth about the fllnr tnduatry ia that It to almoat wholly alienated from public esteem. It la universally regarded aa the touch- atone of vulgarity. Ton know It X know It. Sveryone engaged in the buslneaa knowa It "Don't tell anyone that your dad- dy'a in the film buaineaa," ia a slogan aa true in London aa it Is In New York. The Talmadgea. who are to Holly- wood as 67 varieties of old family are - to Kentucky, also know it. Mrs. Talmadge Puszled Witness Mrs. Talmadge, in her ■ book, "The Talmadge Slstera." "I have always been puxsled." ahe saya, "by the attitude of American t people towards their entertainers. '• In other countries great actora and ., actresses are venerated and all but f adored." Millions who never heard of Bem- .' hardt Sllen Terry or Mrs. Flske. V'know all about the Talmadges, but r screen-fame wins na social laurel. ^ Cinematography la a great art ^ J>otentUIly, I think. It la the great- ^.sst of arts. Socially considered. It ;4 to an outcast Taik of Art In con- ;,^a*^tU>n with Alms and you pro- voke the gibe "Art who?" Niagara* of dollars have been wasted to win for the screen what to called "social recognition." Stu- pendous bribes have been paid to bring the "best pecple" everywhere within the sphere of cinema In- fluence. All to no purpose. We are ^ sun social pariaha Thto to the ^Skeleton at all our feasts. '^ Now It to possible that Mr. Hays s «ld not take those "definite steps." \\X may be the words I have bor- (rowed from his manifesto are mere- lljr a reminiscence of Oration No. '<•!. But even orators have been known to see truth, and I will aaotc again from Mr. Hays: ,* "There is one place and one place •nly," he said, '^bere any evito In motion pictures can be eliminat- ed, and that to at the point where ~and the time when the picturea are K. Siade, by the men who make them." ' The atarting-point of any film reform; any refrom. that to, calcu- toted to Improve our aocial credit and general ix-eatige, to obviously the American sooial photoplay, which accounts for some CO or 70 percent of the entire photoplay out- put For that reason, 1 placed before •Variety," which seems to me to be the best informed, as it is certainly the most representative American film newspaper, this question: English Indictment Oltsyed *^oes the American social photo- play really represent American so- cial life?" Tou tell me, by way of answer, that In Rngland there "kre prostitutes and their hangers-on, dissolute peers, saloons, night-clubs, IllegiUmate children and bad whis- key. I Ton write skilfully and forcibly % and your Indictment of certain ; things in modem Hlngland to sub- stantially correct, but where is your reply to my question. Tou cannot exptoin or excuse the American photoplay by saying that there is vice in England. I agree with you that the new Immorality is usually the old im- ^ morality in dtogutoe, but the charge 'against the American social photo- pUy is that It attempts to turn the old Immorality into a new morality; It la, aa Mr. Haya would aay, a "def- inite atep." I am not accusing you of produc- ing dirty pictures. I am not even accusing you of producing immoral pictures. I accuse you of producing tion-moral and Nietzschean pictures, and for a working deflnltlon of non- morality I refer you to the Ix)eb and Lieopold setting. Immorality Is human but non- morality is non-haman, and the trained observer sees in your soctol photoptoys the spirit of Antichrist " ATKI NSON'S RE PLY ' O. A. Atkinson, replying in thto tomie to Vartoty'a •dltorial of July 8, anawerlng hto letter on American fllma printed in Variety of July 1, ia the aingle film critic of Great Britain over the BriUah coxtrolled and monopolised radio. He alao to the film reviewer on two Important London newspapera. Mr. Atkinaon In hto InitUl communlcaUon labeled the American picture producer aa a degradator. He alleged American picturea, widely exhibited in hia country. Imperil the youth of Bngland through mlsrepresentaUon of American homes and Uvea, also morals: that the same pictures are a menace to the future Bngllab marriage atate, inaamuch aa American films hoM marriage too cheaply. Aa a picture criUc of tremendoua influeno*. Mr. Atkinaon ao tar out-distances his nearest rival that his aearaat rival cannot be located. As the only person permitted to comment upon motion pictures over the BriUsh Radio (BriUsh BroadoasUng Company), Mr. Atkinson not only sways public opinion on naUve and foraign, films, but he broadcasts simultaneously and is picked up in Oarmany, lUIy, Denmark and other Continental countries, all free usera of American-made moUon pictures. Mr. Atkinson In Great Britain alone reaches a horde of about 7,(00,000 listeqera-ln. It is fair to assume that Mr. Atkinson's views as written to Variety have been, in part at leaat, and from time to time, the aubject of comment by him over the Ekigliah radio. That press agents in EUigland alleged Mr. Atkinson's radio control on pictures was being employed by him with discrimination, brought about the International discussion Variety has presented through this paper carrying a story a few weeks ago dwelling upon the Atkinson critical power. In t^to issue and In the picture section Is a reply to Mr. Atkin- son's first letter, written by B. P^ Schulberg, a recognised Ameri- can picture producer. One of Mr. Scbulberg'a produced filma was made a target of by the English critic In his first assault If your reply to me means any- thing at all it means that, in your opinion, the American social photo- ptoy to no worse than the worst ele- ments in E<nglish life. Resents Slam at England I have said many things about American photoplays, but I have never said anything quite ao de- atruo|lve aa that There are eyesores In ICngland. as in every other coun- try, but you cannot seriously pre- tend that the American film-prQ- ducer should take his cue from Eng- land's worst eyesores. Eyesores are i^enomena and films are a stifle. We even claim that they represent a "key" Indus- try, but I Invite you to agree that the greatest of all "key" industries Is concentrated on the things that make for home and home Ufe. It to true that in EUigland there are IllegiUmate children, but the charge against the American photo- play Is that it oontanis no children. It to true that in London there are prostitutes, but the ' charge against the American photoplay to that it glorifies a rystem of divorce which Is an alibi for prostituUon. It to true that Ihigland drinks openly, but In the American photo- play drinking by young girto has been elevated to the dignity of a religion. It to true that In England there are haunts of Ill-fame, but the accusation against the American photoplay to that It has commer- cialised an entertainment standard in Callfomioatlon. It to true that some of our peers have made matrimonial mistakes, but the American photoplay to ar- raigned because it seeks to aboUsh matrimony altogether. Marriage, apparenUy, to a Stat* of onion which you have expelled from the United SUtee. The bulk of your films are In the nature of propaganda against mar- riage, parenthood and family Ufe, a frontal attack on CivilisaUon's base. Our young people may be as so- phisticated as you like to think, but this insistent teaching that mar- riage does not matter, and that family life to an old-fashioned joke, shown in hundreds of photoplays all over the world, is the most deadly assault on fundamental ideals that youth has ever had to face. "Marriage Does Not Matter" There are scores of sintoter noveto and plays read or seen by what are practically selected and dis- scrimlnating partons, but there are many hundreds of sinister photo- plays, and they are shown to non- selected and undlsrrlmlnatlng audi- ences. Recall your own youth and ask yourself if you ever encountered anything like the screen's flood tide of adult discussion. Did you start with the idea that "Marriage does not matter?'' What would you have thought in those days, which I hope are not too dIsUnt, if you had read this, K A Menace from Shore or Ship will graarantee a Boom at THE PICCADILLY WHERE ALL THE SHOW FOLK STOP Cable Address: PIQUDILLO, LONDON ^ poblMied last we^ In the London press: "Professors In America," aaya Dr. O. J. Rouaaeau, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida, "ciroulate among oollego students volumes in which 'promiscuous rela- Uons betweeu the sexes are advo- cated on the groocd that men are mere animato, and that restraints of the social order are the ImpoaiUons of mediaeval bigotry. The deca- dence of American youth, fed upon such eroUc teadiing, has become a problem of most alarming portent" Is that tmeT Perhaps it is slight- ly Irrelevant to the issue, but the trained observer, aa I aay, notea theae tendencies, and in hto wladom, writes to "Variety" about It The City of |Canaoul, you will re- member, waa sorroundeJ by walto In which there were galea "auch as could never be opened nor forced but by the will and leave of those within." The two principal gates were Byegate and Elargate and In ctiarge of them waa one of the hardieM sokUere CapUln Self- Denlal. John Bunyan'a allegory haa - not yet lost Its force. For example, "Jolly" and "Griggtoh." the aona of "Harmleaa Mirth," were counted among the followera of Diabolua, and Captain Self-Denlal aaw to H that they were banged on "a very high eroaa" at Byegate. America aa Film Trustee The American flim Indnatry to In charge of Byegate. Tou are the truatee of the screen, whether you Hke it or not. How are you ful- filling your truateesMpT Are you aattofled with U? If you are, how do you exptoln the iMuradox that while the American social film dominatea the aoreena of ■very country, in every country the film industry stands st * heavy social dtocountr One cannot touch thto business, at any point without running the risk of losing social caste. What do you think of a trustee who squanders the asset of good- will, who sees public opinion turn- ing from tolerance to contempt and from contempt to alarm, but takes no "definite steps r* If yon are not altogether aaUsfled with your trusteeship, if you think that tiiere to a bt^to of truth In this Indictment, why not send Captain Self-Denial down to Hollywood, to hang Harmless Ml^h and his sons, JoHy and Griggtoh, on the Ullest eucalyptus tree that he can find? Begin by throwing tato the Pa- cific the arUfietol growth of box- oflkse conventions that I have called the American social photoplay. Give up apeing and imitating Bu- rope and show ua aa you really are. You are the moat genuine people In the world and we love you when you are genuine. It to then we fe^ that blood really to thicker than your legal drink. Get rid of all thia inverted anob- blahnesa, the notion that democratic prlnciplea can only be demonstrated by setting conventlon^k at defiance an4 by guying accepted standards of rsflnement and good last*. Insincere U. S. Picture* 4mertoa standa for things that are sincere, but American fllma are honeycombed with InsfneeHty. There to a aou ia them which CHAIN STORES INCREASE SALES IN MAY, % OVER MAY,'24, BY .1 -.■'' Montgomery-Ward Leader—^A. ScHulte Increi 5.47o as Against United Cigars' 1^%—Total $29,000,000 in May 5-lOs with ^S% Jump Van who. Van Ove? Not Van Ove. WeH, then. Van who? Why, Van Hoven, of courae. There ia only one, there can never be another, but they say this and that about him. WeU, dear child, that is what he wants. He loves it. He frames stories against himself. Are you so dumb as all tha( that you know not his goal? Well, anyway, aa little Coleman Goetx would aay, have a good act, get a good agent and ad- vertise, and Frankte Van Hoven haa all of that. FRANK VAN HOVEN Thto week (Aug. S), Palace. Chi- cago. Two weeks care Great I<ester, Rhinelander, Wto. EIGHT Ym STOCKS TOUCH HHai MARKS Famous, Loew. U, Fox and Warner Bros. Ail Rise— Rumor of Big Deal Bight of the film stocks Hsted either on the big board or the Curb reached new high marks either this or last week. Three of those con- tinued their climb this week. The totter are Loew, Inc., Fox Film and Warner Broa Last week Loew went to a high of Sl% and yester- day reached 82%. Fox last week was 68% and yesterday |»)i, while Warner Bros, continued a full point upward this week to 30 H yesterday. There is rumor of a deal between Fox, Warners and the Universal which may account for the steady (rilmb that the shares of those three organizations are taking. Of course Warners and U. have been dickering for some Ume, but It to only within the last few days Uat the Fox Cor- poration to mentioned as a imssI- bility. Of course the Fox |M,00«,000 reserve fund finds that company in a position to go out and do most anything that It would Hke to lu the picture or the picture theatre field. Fox is known tj be negotiating for the Mark Strand chain despite the deniato of the Strand people. A combination of the three In the the- atre field would In Ume make It pos- (OontkMied on page N) Washington, Aug. 4. The malt order houses, the lO-eenf stores, the chain restaurants an4 chain cigar stores with but one or two exceptions all had increased sales In May, 1926, over May ofIa«|^ year, according to figures compUeSf^ by the Bureau of the Census. ^'^ Total sales In the mail ordeif'''^ houses for May of this year exceeded ' 127,000,000, an Increase of 7.8 peS ' cent over May, 1924. MontgomeiT?'' Ward bad a slight edge over Seana^ Roebuck on the business done. ** The 10-cent stores total sales werf'^* approximately $29,000,000 an ta<^'' crease of 9.6 per cent for the aamC two months. Woolworth totals^''* $17,000,000 with 1.299 stores; Kre^S; totaled $7,000,000 with 242 atorwT^' while McCrory sold $1,000,000 wort^' ' o' goods through his 169 stores, aj H. Kress ran to $3,000,000 with llf^' stores. United Cigars totaled $6,4»4,|tf for May, 1925, through 2,497 store«; ^ while Schulte's sales reached abotf^ $2,000,000 through stores numberiai'^ ' 247. United sales decreased 1.8 pec- cent, while Schultes sales Jumpetf '*, 6.4 per cent. Both increased tbj''^' number ot stores being operated. / It la believed In tobacco elretaii that deapUe reports, denials and aa« nounoementa In the past, the United Cigar Stores and the Schulte ehatoi are under one control with the same Interest also taking in many othei^'^^^ business concerns that have not beeJIr'! , announced. "^"^ '■ .yi^- \ HAUAN YAEIETT HOUSE t;; Milan, July 26. n<J Slg. Glordani's Eden, the biggest music hall in .Italy, is timed to op«A - next November. The initial program will Includs Lole Fuller, with her school of daaoM lag; Oamsakourdia and £>emldoll|i also the Fratlnelli trio of etowasi ■■ j who are Italians but have never b•e::^^ ' fore appeared together in their &»«'"• Uve country. " suggests that you suspect In us some hint of condescension, that you de- tect in our attitude some affecta- tion of superiority or moral ascend- ancy, and that It to necessary to cover some remote emergency of discomfiture by stunning Burope with the idea that you are the main squeese in culture. These things, believe me, have no extotence outside your Imaglna- Uon. What Burope admires In you Is genuineness, and Burope, I think, intends to get H. Finally, may I offer. In aD humil- ity, this film producing formula: "When you are satisfied that you have made your photoplay safe for democracy, why not consider what amendments you can reasonably In- troduce to make H safe for arto- tocrary?" Thhik n ever. .O. A. ACMsson. Qreek Hall Deatroyed Parto, July 21 Reports from Athens state th< BMen cafe concert in that city was recently gutted by fire. The artistes^ some of whom are in distressed dr^ cumstances. had all their props dS4 stroyed. SAILINGS Aug. \% (London to New Torik)! GerUe Vanderbilt (Olympic). Aug. 16 (New Tork to LondsnX Mrs. Arch Selwyn and sons (IjCvIs* than). Aug. IS (London. to New Tork^ Lillian Bralthwalte, Noel Coward, Mr. and Mrs. Basil Dean (Majestic), Aug. 12 (London to New Tork) Mr. and Hrs. Joseph Santley (Ivy Sawyer) and son (Majestic). Aug. i (Ni^ Tork to Parto) Leelti I<ucey (DeGraase). Aug. 6 (London to New Terit), Gilbert Miller (Paris). Aug. K (London to New Tork) Jenle Jacobs, Pauline Cooke, (Am«r» tea). Aug. 4 (London tq New Tork) M^ and Mra. William Morris. Ruth Mer* lis (Leviathan). ARRIVALS July SI (from London) Mr. sad Mrs. John Bmerson (Anita Loos)| Mary Hay and Margot KelV (Berengarta). M WILLIAM MORRIS AGKNOT, lae. WM. KOBBIS WM. MOBIUS, Xk. ratnam BUds., 149S Broadwar, Mew York THE TOIER SCHOOLS f' OF DANCING MS Charing Cross Road LONDON ', Director, JOHN TILLER A