Variety (Nov 1927)

VARIBTT PICTURES 2. 1927 BANKERS WEIGHING CENSORSHIP MENACE; NONW REFORMERS STRONG I^Mrt TiffktoaiiiK Vp of Loiito With BOU for Fed'l and Municipal Censorship Up—Demand Police Power to Close Theatres on Complaints of iriiy>liiaii ftwplo--McKoe BiU H«Mriii« WTille professional reformers were quick to selre the opportunity, rep- l^ented in the failure of the Fed- #111 Tiaii CW a ie r i n ee, U effaet a practical moans for the elimination of objectionable pictures as agita- tion for Federal censorship, non- profaMtonid roformM, far more dan£rc;-3ua and of much greater power, are launching country-wide propaganda lor regulation of motion picture houaea. The non-profe«slonol' reformers, l>acked by iniluential churches, so- cieties and organizations In the United States, in urging the adop- tion of the McKee Bill in New Tork have also planted seeds of rebellion In Bostoa, CShleago and X^blladelphia. PHwa are now being completed in those cities for the presentation of appeals for the ap- pointment of poUbe with power to aiose theatres when complalnta are presented,and mpavail hy'faapans i ble people. :' ':' • ^Wall lEftr^, fmiiiMia to the wlils- p> rs olrculatlng round the' Federal Tr »de Conference, is lending an at- tentive ear to the eruptions now bursftlnv worth ^^iltfc ^inoira tk««uent rerrulafe^ aiiolliiiC iMtftalii praduc tions. The immediate reault of the muvemaiita for Federal Haft muntci pal censorship is said ia !^ A lU^t aning up on loans. One Lean Turned Down It li tmomn that one of the lar- gest producing companies requested a loan for financing a theatre chain befara liroka loose. At that time the bank- Sot Id Pom? 9nm praaant plana It la «n- derstood the McKee Bill will be postponed when it oomeo up for hearing at tha Cltr HaU FTMaor. At leaat anttt After the municipal elections. It is understood the bill is to be amended and ta set to ha paasad. In amending tha measure, motion p 1 c t ut e houses in Greater New York will be placed in the same eatacWT ^ froTldad for la- gitimate theatres, the pro- ducers, manager, cast and everyone connected with the ahowing auhjadt to paUaa reg- ulation. It will probably be proposed that tha recent law governing la^ taomea ha amandaa to take in picture houses. In this way a picture house showing questionable pictures will be llahla ta ImaMAteta cloalng on complaint partiaa. U INAUGURATES 1001 PRESSURE WORLD SALES U WILL SPREAD ON NG FDJIS; ROADSHOW DffT. Wayne Pearson in Charg - "UMie Firtt, Then tha raatf ihow flrat lab wfil ha m "UMto Vom's Cabin,* apsnlag fltr a nm ai the Central, New York, Nor. 4. Carl LAemmle, president of Uni- versal, haa daftnitelj been won over in faTor af road *aw ipsnlali aa af exploitation vahia In aaUtag aom- plete production programs. Up to . tha present Universal has not bean partleularly latsiit an forcing ezhlbltora ta taka avarj- thing made, offering a wide range of subjects from which to choose. Howarar, Ualvaraal la aoming into Om Held with four big ones this year and, from reliable reports, lAemmla is strong for a ^Mailar nuaBbar airery year; BALLROOM CHAMPS Tm PhWIh WmIm Hr Wiimlns. CoinMii OmtHlafla <l CIMii Stage Bands vs. Musical Directors ■ ' ' - *. Relatloas between mnslea] directors and visiting slaga band at* tractions are not all they ahould be in itiany cases. The ger)« ral antipathy aC tha akiUad asuaielan of tha quasi-symphonic school against tha laaa mualeiaB la a Alffaranoa of long ataading. But with the Jaxs erase in the picture houses what it is, traveling stage ^orchestras, for tha tima being at least, warrant soma special at- tSBtlaa by aireiilt oS^^ala or hooaa asanagemerfts. Fancy aalariee ara bolng paid Incoming banda yet tha gaaeral com- plaint is that the mxislcal diractora do their utmost to keep the visiting bands down; to ralegata them to the background, and to aartatt aad aurb tbair t a ka ta la ovary respect. It if aot difflcult to understand but ^a houaa ganerally ^luCTers, even more so^ than the stage bands whose professional talents and further possibilities are thus handicapped. A house flndu itself pairing fron.lMOO to |4,0M or mora for **name'* bands and uiiiiz- lag them far but flva to 10 mlnutea. In a Broadway house last week, the stage band, a "name." couldn't do more than live minutaa, causing the boys id wonder why tlMy wara gatUng ao maeh atoaay for ao Uttia worlb^ The of- flcioua maestro of tha house aVabaatra was largely raaponsible, cutting and slashing the visitors* program and further manifesting "angling^ potentialities through wanting to know who published avaiT pop a#Bg ii8a« aai vhatbtr Cf aot ha oould '%at la** on it. ^ Univereal has terminated the eon- tha cJiwrshTp igltrtlon I ^*.^**^.y'*,.^^^''*^y Vl®. ^""^^"^^ has been distributing 10 Universal era we're^favorabTy rncTh7eci"to grant I Picturea a year. Universal wUl no>. the request for money with only <»i«tribwte *«cluaively through its ir datada remaining to be drawn own foreign subsidiary. Mutador. >. That loan has atocc be.n It is reported Universal offlciah hi Id up r^^^A the producors offered a weredissatisfled with aecurUy itmue to Uio public instead. wWeh ™" ' Tlliriini^imiait lor iMtnlcipal po- bandied by Ufa Uitely. with the be liclng of picture houses is causing "ef that Universal pictures were not the banking interests considerable getting fuU exploitation, advertising annoyance, perhaps more, invest-1 . ... rneata la thaatrea and prMnctfcmi Aside from any grtevances. this are menaced. It is noteworthy that the ^ - --^ k« ponenu of municipal police picture Universal wm aow ne 1*11 iilll llua. nil iai n 11111 non-profes- concentrate greater soles Blonal faitrmafi* ^tll n<>t join with 'orces. proceeding on the grounds the reformara bWjking the Federal I that Uje market should warrant censorship ntovement, the prefaa-1 addad dIatribnUon blonal relurm movement In arguing their cause before the i --.p UlfnoAVC O IWC Board of Aldermen at the City Hall MAfc HllKKAl 3 Z Wnu. last Mday. spokaamctt Mr the Com-I •avaeswa s» btned Irlnh Organisations of Greater New York pointed out that since I San Francisco, Nov. 1. the otficcs of the police force em- | Mae Murray's contract with West A tie-up between the National Dance Board, Inc., headed by Harry Mosa, and Pablls, laauraa a 10 weeks' tour by "America's Dancing Champions." following a national ballroom dance contest. Iiaeal aUmtnatloa pralhalnarlaa In 40 cities, embracing 28 states, will seek ta Anally determine the most expert exponents of the waltz and fox-trot, tcrpslchore. Moss, who edited America's first dance mat^azine, la prominent in dance comfMtltion aaillvMia and has the leading ballroom managers associated in this contest. Various prises aggregating $10,000 will be approporttonad to various aUaitaa- tlon tourney prize winners. The midwest semi-final has been tied up with Bal^baa M Xata for eithar tha Orltatal TOSCHA SEIDEL AT TINY IMIAS&Y FOR ^,000 Concert Artist in on Scale That Sndet to $2,000—House Tha trend by eoncart artlala lata the picture houses Includes Toscha Seidel, violin virtuoso, who is at the Embassy, New York, a |2 picture house, at M.MO a week for tiia tet three waaks; |2,&D0 for the next two weeks, and $2,000 a week for every week thereafter. WlUiam Morris boolEai. ■ -//.v-v: The fiSmbassy opened with the Marion Davies picture. "Quality Street," i^t night (Tuesday). Ika aaaairt tiaa* now laeladaa the Roxy as well as the Capitol on Broadway with Sunday morning concert recitala with tha audience pi iVBaia » amr avar th» ernt de luxa progVida «f tha show;. . ^.v - ' : STARRING DE RIO ^ tioa Ang«lea< Nov* Dolores Del Rio wUl star In *^he Red Dancer of Moscow" for Fox, Raeul Walsh directing. Charles Farran #111 ba 4Hpp6altat This will be the last picture in which Miss Del Hio appears for this firm under the original agree- Bow as "Rode" in "AMe"; 200 Screen Tests Fail Iios Angeles, Nov. 1. Paramount has been taking tests of more than 200 girls for "Rosie" la *Ablc^a Iriah Roae<^ Ann Nichols tha ^llia«:'at arlaia aiid I Coaat Theatre, Inc., terminated at haa had a k>ok at ill tha girls but rioting, then they would be well the conclusion of hor nr.in.ida en- none seem to have com© up to within their duties to stop pic- gaprement here, a total of two weeks, tures which, it was alleged, incited Overtures were made for Miss ta eHma and riot. Murray to play the T. and D. Oak- Exhibs' Attitude I land, and possibly the Senator, Nathan Burkan, speaking as at- Sacramento, as well as Fresno, but torney for tha Theatre Owners' West Coast executives could not Chamber of Cbmmaree, advised that sea tha $6,000 weekly salary for the State Department of Education those engagements. Rather than is emj|;K)wered to sto p sala cious pic- cut. Miss Murray's services with the '^ufai, bai the Irlab' aonntared with circuit ended. atatementH to the elTect that they . ^ had appealed to all existing bodies I A With Jurisdiction over pictures with- I Trade Paper Rivals aut redraai of hn^ aaflable nature. | Bam Harris, editor of "Cinema.** Chai les O'RoIlly also spoke on be- | British trade paper, who arrived In half of the exhibitors, pointing out. New York with Carl Laemmlc. Is to as did Burkan. that the exhibitor begin publishing a daily issue of the haa to taka whUt ha geu from the "Cinema,** Ih opposition to 'The producer sight unscrn. i>ally Film Renter," according to re One of the Irish speakers said that li.iMe souroai* OA hla ratiurn to Sng the exhit>itor is now free to return {land, aay picture he doesn't want since the t'^leral Trad© Commission is sued its decision against block I Leonard-Novarro East booking. That speaker evidently Robert Z. Leonard, dlre« ting the did not know that the decision was | next Ramon Novarro pleture for only issued but not enforced. The Irish have postponed all minor scraps for the present in or- der to atand together on picture censorship. The Irish claim there Is more behind the production and _txhibition of pic tures d efkming the Irish than mere prom; that the In- spiration for pictures of this kind kupa Vales Opposite Ls Rocque pomes from foreign sources in the Los Angeles, Nov. 1. fMn of sttbCla propaganda. I«upa Vales, Mexican feminine importation under contract to Ilal Roach, loaned to Pathf-1 )pM111*» to play opposite Rod Lol Uocque in "Stand and DeJIver.** Misa Vales recently finished with Douglas Falrbaaka la "Ovar the Andes." vlsiMtllaatlon of the character. It is undaratood, however, that aa the picture is to start the end of this week, Clara Bow will probably be cast for the part. Though Miss Bow doaa not look tha exact type, it la figured she can give tha per- formanc© Miss Nichols desires. Ida Kramer will play "Mrs. Isaac Cohen.** Miss Kramer played the stage role with tha lfa«r Tortc aom- pany and Edwin Carewe. to whom Miss Del Rio is under contract. Fox wanted her to be featured with Victor MolAglen tind Bdmund I^owa In -The Cock-Eyed World.'* but Carewe figured "Ramona" and "R/Dsurrection" rated starring star- ring of fht gifi 111 aa Mpg pro- ductions. Bt aoM thia liM tb^^^^ ezecutita^ STARS TAKE FILM HOUSES SERIOUSLY Pietim Coiony Quoliiit High Prices for Personal Nov. L With the picture theatres looking for "names" for their presentations, quite a few people in the screen eolany to whom OTsrtures hava been made by agents, have gotten an inflated Idea as to their personal box oihce value in New York terri> Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton were approached for an ap« pearaace at the Capitol, New York. No aoonar hatf ttM raprasentaftiiw told them of the opportunity thaa lieery i« sold to have <|Uoted |20.0tt as salary. Tha Capitol maaagament dlitft the deal. Thalberts' HoiwjrBOOD Loa Angelaa, Nor. 1. Irving Thalbarg, Metro-Goldwyn- Maycr executive, and his bride. Norma Shearer, will leava about Thaidcsgivlng for a honeymoon In Europe. Immediately after their marriage the couple T9iblumtA to work at the studio. MfllM'Bhiam^ plctura iir^ ba lln- pany. This will be Miss Kramer's ished Nov. 19. She %as to have first screen role, and her selection pone Into production Immediately She is Metro-Clold>vyn-Mn yor. loaves for New York this week to" take. a number of the exterior shots. Novarro will ba In New York at the time and both men will remain east for about three weeks. n4SXLIN EETUSNS Los Angeles, Nov. 1. BMOld B. Franklin, president of Weat Ooaat Thaatrap Inc*. badk on the job altar a ia o aM i*a trip lo JSaw TailL came without a test, lieaded for tha ooaat Bernard Gorcey. who played Isaac Cohen in New York cast of "Abie's Irish Rose." also signed by Par to play sama fala la i^lettireb Dr. Sullivan Discharged Iq. Ray Raymond Case Xioa. Angilaa, Nov. 1. Dr. Walter BuUivan, charged with ronHi»lrncy to cover up details in the death of Ray Raymond,^usical comedy aotor, waa aat fraa when charges against him were dismissed in Superior Court on the grounds of insufllcient evidence. widow, was convicted of a similar rharpe, and her case in now before the Appellate Court. Paul Kelly, film actor, fomnd guilty for the death of Raymond, is now serving a Mentence in San Quentin. Attorneys for Dorothy Mncknye have filed briafa bafora tha Appelate i'>lviNion sflking that conviction of their client ba aat aaida. on "Trelawny of the Wells," under dIrectKm of Sidney Franklia, but as Franklin is ill and the trip to Eu- rope had already been outlined, work will be .postponed. The Thal- barga win remain abroad tor about two months. T.onls p. Mnrer wlH take ov©r Thalberg's production activities besidaa baadltag hla own datlaa. 'Xlireiu" in 18 Reels Los Angeles, Nov. 1. Chariia Chaplla haa oomplated "The Circus" this week and it's in about 18 reels. Release length will be six to' seven reels. Cutting and titling wiU probably taka two months. The picture will have ita premiere at tUa aaW United Artists theatre here. ani Fields Recoups Los Anm les, Nov. 1. Will C. Fields ha* recovered from the acoidant which sent hfaa la tha hospital for several weeka, Ua haa resumed work. Forced to Leave Country, Soes Ord" Name Change Oscar Beregi, Hungarian actor* Is to Hie suit again Paramomt* Famous-Laaky fdr 4iM,M# far bal- ing changed his name to Ormonde Hay ward in *The Woman on Trial," with Pola Negri. Beregi la reported a hit on the Continent* where he is now living, and cannot oaah in on account of the diCter- anoa in aama. Beregi waa obliged to leave Hol- lywood, and eventually the Ignited States, following a warrant for hla arreat In CaUfomla, which waa preceded by a serious accusation. All pictures in which Beregi ap« peared were, at that time, sei/.ed by tha Haya oAoa and tha dlstributora forbidden to rslaaas except after Beregl's name was changed. Beregi appeared in '*CamiUe," among other ^■BSHrVflC" ' " - - Beregi clahns his name Is his prl« vate property and that no one had a right to take it away from him. Cody Producing Los Angeles, Nov. 1. Lew Cody, upon completion of hia vaudeville tour In tha east, will fO- turn id Hollywood to baooma aa Independent-star producer. Uis pictures are to be released through ona of tha Independent eompanles and win be made under the production manaurement of Harry Joe (Brown, Cody's business Vilma Banky's "Innocent" Los Angeles, Nov. 1. Sam Qoldwyn haa purchased aa original story by Francis Marion, •*Tho Innocent," and plans it aa the t^j> vii^ Banky. " Naah Bssry Leaned tdm Angeles, Nov. 1. Noah Beery has been lo;tned by Paramount to Samuel GolUwyn for the next Caiman-Banky picture. Thia wlU ba dlrattH by Frad JH* blOb