Variety (Nov 1926)

VAKISTY PICTURES WmdaeadtLjs November 3, 1926 GOVT DISCUSSION ON TRADE p. D.C-PATHE-K-A MERGER HINGES UPON MURDOCK'S DECLARATION lUitii-Albee Mmt Control Bomrd of Diroctort It J. J. Murdock Position—Long Conference Monday HARRIS, mm ASST. STAGER, MOSTIMPOBMil BAUe IN WNTRAa R)RI^^ HAYS TO DECIDE The two MrtinaM teetlorm In the P. D. C.-Patho OMrver are still bnttllngr over the question as who shall be boss ot the works if Ihe two eofperatlM* «ff# AnaUy brought together under one banner. Elarly this week thrr** was a meet- ing that lasted all day and into the BiHrt. t/ttHe iMIway wm aiMii TImI meetings are continuing, with the reports that J. J. Murdoclc, of the Keith-Albee interests, remains iBrm in his InalstenettlMt the Keith- Pathe faction shall have control of the board, with tho possibility that Miurdock to to be chairman, if the merser Is eompleleift; That is a provision in the contract under which the Keith organlratlon stepped into P. D. C, that they should have SO |Mr cent tep fee en ta- tlon on the board. On the other hand, the Pathe in- terests are qiMte certain they will ride to control through the bai|k- Ult Intereete and are shaping their Attack in that direction. Insiders Mieye that when the final show- 4qwa eomes along Jeremiah MiU- hMk. the kuvest steekholder in the Chase National, for whom Blair A. Co. are supposed to be acting, will continue to support those that he .has.haA In eharse sf P. B. C . Tho Chlcapo faction active In the matter is the Illinois Trust In reality it is acting for fonner 8en- «ler MrMis^ tlio Chisago hanker whoso organization is holding 500,000 worth of Roxy theatre stock that it doesn't want to let go of un- ttl It 10 Mtfo tiMt tM Rokr Is solBg to get film product, according to re- port. At present B. B. Hampton is representiniK the Chicago crowd. ■^C^J'ifc^^ ^^^iiwiy ^^^^1^^' l^inny angle to the whol<' affair as far as the Keith side is con- trolled. They first managed to get lalo tho Piatko sriiolittotf titfongh making a deal with Kinograms for that organization's news fUniB. Then the Pathe organization to get back ttrto tiM KOMI teiMOO eavo^llMft elr- cult 20 per cent, of the stock In the news and in return accepted 20 per cent, ot Aesop's Fables and T i pHi oitiiO Hoytoon OfOr the distribution of the latter, a Keith office inside product. Now the Keith organisation is virtually in tto poMM o fc or mmm mmu . The deal with P. D. C. was an- other one of those in which there was no money involved as far as the K*A ootfiHo iPivo ooncemed. P. D. C. needed the Keith houses, the Keith houses were ready to open up their screens and to act as film salesmen to their froaohlso hOltf s r o In the vaudeville booking office for P. D. C. if they could be "declared in" With- out putting up money. X-A got taito P« D. O. right and now they want to get a bigger chunk of Pathe without putting up any money in tho present case. TlMy iMTi hooB go«ltag something for nothing for so long it has be como a K-A habit and they can't reaiizo the picture business is dif ferent, espeelally with bankers in. After the Monday meeting it looked as though J. J. Murdock would possibly win out in the stand that he has uken for eontrol, al though he did not manage to put it over at the conf^Tences tiiat day. F. P.-i. MAY RELEASE THOMPSON'S WESTEKNS Kennedy, F. B. 0. Head, Com- iop East and May Finanoe ' HimMlf CoubmI for Federal Trade CommisMoo Take New Angle m Famous Playero- Ladqr Now AdMit Ownerehip of Not ViolatioA ABti^Triut Law — Propose Entire Film Indiutrj Be Repi sented at General Meel- tn« Called in WaslUnftea WUlMMai OSmmd Equitable Conlniel and Got Yoimgstere—Mmrt Harris After 107o Commie* ^•ion for 3 Yoan with Boys Umier Afo B'lLirN M€R. wnm FOR PUYDIG mm tfim Angeles, Not. 2. Joseph P*. Kennedy, president of P.B.O., is enroute to New York,, where he will decide whether that|COMM/S RADICAL SHIFT film Is to continue maktoir Trtd Thompson pictures or whether he will finance the Thompson produc- tions for release thronch Famous Playws-Lasky. Thompson is said to be asking $100,000 a picture for his services, with a minimum of four a year. U F.B.O. oan oontlniio uein^ him at this figure to a profit, the contract which expires In March, 1927, will be renew^. If not, tt .ia understood that Kennedy wlU fliianee the mah- Ing of the Thompson pictures and that FJ>* has ieUld to them. These pictures. It Is said, would cost around $226,000, which would include tlic salary that asking per picture. tOim INDIA FAILS IN JAPE MADE FILMS Washington, Nov. 2 Though tho makers of illms in India are sending out reports that the Industry is becoming firmly es- tablished in that country, the native press is not convinced, says a re- port to tho Mothm iPlcturo Section of the Department of Commerce. Quoting a report published In Bombay it is shown that obsolete apparatus la befaMt eotd by an hot two companies, while the maximum salary of first-class players is about $200 a month. Iiesser players are roeolTliiff as low as |l for tho period. One of the contributing factors to the slow development of the indus- try, particularly In tho making of films for home consumption, is the constant danger of offending one or other of the Innumerable sects and religions found throughout India. Still another handicap has been the finding of suitable plots appli- cable to Bastom sottliies and ca- pablo <| i iaspmHa to tlo Western idea. The only hope for the India com- panies, it Is stated. Is to develop a native producer to specialize In comedies with tho more serious productions a secondary considera- tion;:. i ••■-^V' WaAiaetOB, Nov. 2. Government counsel In the Famous Players-Lasky case before the Federal Trade Oommissfcm switched their line of attack from the contention of their former chief counsel, W. H. Fuller, and have now made tho statomont that prodt ownership of theatres per se is not in violation of the anti-trust laws and, hence, is not an issue in thei case. This repudiation of the Fuller contention, so stressed by that at- torney during the supposed final hearlnss of over a year ago, by Bayard T. Ualner. now chief coun self with the support of Martin Mor- rison and Gaylord R. Hawkins, the two supporting government attor- neys, was greeted horo with siderable surprise. After tho strpnnous flfht on tho part of Mr. Fuller to "convict** F. P. on this phase it is .not doubted here but that the statement of Msosra HStosr, Morrison sad BaiW' (Oontlmiod on pass ft) ADVERTISING REGULATED BY CENSORSiflP Auetralia Takoe Full Aa- thority—'Bootleg* Press Books RospoaeiUo Other Theatre in Same City but 5 Miles Away—Qppo^- iKion' Charged Utt Edward Hyman, manager of the Mark Btraad. Brooklyn, K. T., pic- ture and presentation house, sprang a new one on tho definition of "op- position." To run with tho BOd OrangO pic- ture Hyman had booked an appro- priate act of collegians. Having a week open before its Mark Strand date, the set filled hn with throe days at tho Mayfair, vaude and pie* ture house, also in Brooklsm. The Mayfair is near Coney Island. flTO miles from tho Mark Strand. Hyman declared the house "oppo- sition" and cancelled the act. It is not believed that the Mark Strand maaaser . osporteneod. a change of feoltais and doeldod that the collegians were not so good, as he had had all his advertising copy in the newspapers and saw that the dallioa isarrloA «ttltO'a bit of pub- licity on the boys. Hyman was obliged to substitute with another band at the very last minute. Tho house manager stated that he thought It was unfair for the act to play at another theatre a week before going to bis house. He claimed that ho had understood the act had no bookings in Brooklyn and would not play anywhere in that section before the Strand. Mr. Hyaiail sddod that tho May- fair charged a lower admission price than the Strand, as aiiQ^er busi- ness reason. ' POU NE£U AnACHED FOR 111,000 ADVANCED O. M. B. H. Margraf A Co., Ger man finance corporation, has filed a I11.008.M attachment suit against I\)la Negri based on three notes totalling $11,000 dates April 1, June 1 and Aug. 1, 192S, maturing i moirth apart ftrom respective dates, When abroad last spring the screen star drew the drafts, but not having paid them back, the foreign c omp an y haa started suit. . Washington, Nov. 2. New picture censorship resula- tlons but recently issued In Aus tralia gives this board practically unlimited powep to control not only the pictures tUpmseWes hut all ad- | representative of Universal ptctures U Aftar Coast Hmisas Los Aacolos, Nov. 2. Manny Feldstein has arrived here to open headquarters as West Coast Julian Making "Silk" Los AnKcles, Nov. 2. C. B. DeMille was to have made r*^^fin tSfltUd *'r* k.** to have been a special, released by Pro- ducem Distributing Corporation. As "King of Kings" will require DoMmo^ personal attsntlon for an- other three or four months, he has decided to oMsign thin picture to Blipcrt Julian* who will put It into ItsiifAliiii^^nlldiamf, with the poesfbllity of starring IsllO f^e Loew Starts for Coast Today (Wednesday) Marcus Loew with Mrs. Loew is due to stiirt for the Pacific Slope. He will be accompanied by H. H. CJIIlcspie, the directing manager of Moss Em- pires, England. It Is possible William R. Hearst will leave with the Loow party or Join them at Chicago for the re- mainder of tho journey. The Loews will be on the West Coast for about a month. CiMUMy'* *'Mr. Wu" iioo Angeles, Novr 2. Ix)n Chanoy'S next Ktnrrinii vehicle for M*Q-M will be a pic- turlxation of "ftr. Wu," adapted from the dramatic staco play of the same name. WiUiam Nigh Ohroctlng. vertlsing thereto. Trade Commissioner Babbitt, in reporting to the Department of Commerce, points out the great latitude allowed the board in the additional provision prohibiting the export ot any film the exhibition of which Is undesirable In tho publlo (Continued on page 65) circuit theatre chain. Universal, it Is understood, has set out to acquire holdings in tho Southern California tenrltory. It is not likely It will take over any first-run houses but "will line up several of the smaller neigltbor hood theatres In and around Los Angeles. MURTAGH IN CHICAGO AS GUEST ORGANIST Henry B. Murtagh ended n M- week stay at the Rivoll, New York, yesterday (Tuesday), leaving for Chicago Immediately, where ho will play tho Publix houses there as a guest organist attraction. Murtagh built up a sizeable fol- lowing personally in New York, his >tnu«uai rtioumMishlp sooof Ally* ■iMMiaiiiMllM Sennett Rumors Mack Sennett Is still in Ne^ York, holding:* almost dally confabs with local film men. His plans for 1927 are somewhat unsettled at present although there are many rumors alonar the street as to his return to his first love, Famous Players-LcuBky. CSUZ£ ON ' LOUIS m'' Los Angeles, Novt. 2. James OuSo will diroet "Xouls XIV," with Wallace Beery, as his MXt story for Famous Playonk ■MiilMaaiaBaiaaiiMi^^ Iios Angeles, Nov. 2. Mort Harris, asstsUnt to Jack Partington, who stages tho presen* tatlons for Publix In L<*8 Angeles and San' Francisco, tried to put over s fsst oao oa a oonpio of minor boys and when tripp^ ip Imllored copper." Harris, a former music plugger In aan Francisco, has been aldln#- Partington in staging the shows at the Metropolitan here. A couple of chaps, Crosby and linker, who work In tho *^aB and Schenck** fashion, were engaged for a Metropolitan show and clicked on "all cylinders." Harris, who la under obligations to Publix through drawing the w^iekly pay envelope, decided that he would do a little fast working on his own part Ro ilM Md'of tho youngsters and told them he was going to put them under contract for three years. The "kids," who kayo not reached their majority as' yet thought that was great, flgiirln^ ho was talking "Publix n^suld put them under contract" Harris came along with a con- tract whl^ road that tho yo«lli# would be under contract to "Mort Harris of San Francisco for three years" and that during that time he would be ontHled^ to M perc e n t of their earnings and royalties whether it be from any stage en- " gagement, phonograph records or other sources of teoolBo t]|o< ymMhS might And. It was an opeii and ikhitit proposition for Harris, as the con* tract did not provide for any speci- fied terii OlliipiQ^Oat. Thahoyi took the oofMniiet Imne to their parents to givt 11 a discornlnit glance. Whiteman Qol Beys Then some one called to the at* tentlon of Paul Whiteman that these boys were a good bet Whiteman had the kids looked ov^ and a chap named Iieonard Goldstein, employed by an agent In Los Angeles brought the father of one of the boys around to Whiteman. Business was dis- cussed. The fiatheip told WbMMriaA that the boys were under contract to Publix for eight weeks, but after that they would be free to talk busi- ness. Ho thdi tuted that ho OMd not see what benefit the Harris con- tract was to the lads and that if Whiteman had a definite salary of- fer ho would ho idad to talk. WMlo* man quoted a salary starting at a certain figure and increasing for a three-year period. This proposition looked safer to the father than did the "Sure Thing" IlaiTls ofreri% and It was signed by the father. Word got to San Francisco wherO Harris and Partington wer« hM* Ing forth that the youths had been signed by Whiteman. Wires are said to have been sent to Goldstein asking him what right he had to interfere in their business and also a request that the youth be barred from the stages of all Publix houses. Then a wire was sent to l>lrhiteman, it is said, asking why hO had signed the boys when they were under con- tract to Publix. Whiteman in turn replied that the boys told him that they hud an eight-week contract with Publix only and that he would not begin his contract with them until they concluded the job with Publix. He also stated that the H.irrls contract offered ihe boys whh one between Harris and Crosby and Rinl-er and not with Publix. for Whom Karris was working. White- man said that his proposition to the yoimRsters was an entirely eiuilta- ble one while UaiTis was trying T9~ take 10 percent of all the boys made for three yrar«5 by slipping th«'m a $10 bill. This ' e dltl nol think fair, and therefore consummated negotia- tions with the youngsters, who will jom him when he plays Chicago for Publix and will then go Into the DUlinsham show with him* ■ ^ •■.•■■|