Variety (Dec 1927)

Wadnetday, December 7, 1M7 PICTURES VARIETY [salary average for 35 COWBOY ItAMES" IS NOW $300 WEEKLY 0ig Companies' Westerns Have Cut in on Little Fel low Rayart Dn^ frani 6 to 1 Saddle Star— Pathe Has 7, U 6, FBO S—Latter Signs Boy of 14 but fM •C iK 09wb«y ■IM OA Ita SCREEN WRITERS'GUILD PUTS Of AHENDMENTS No Entrance Fee, but $72 Yearly, and Half in Advance •Hton<fteiidtnt Duet» $25 It to BgmfA Im thm tem4m that th» HMsnasinc number of westerns i>ro- Aieed by the bis oompanlea is mak- it touffh for the little fellows. Paramount, with Its Ztaim Griy ae- ilM and Frad Thompaon; M-G-M with Tim McCoy, Francis McDon- ald and more "action** pictures, and First National witl» Ken Maynard «n have beta euttlBS In on the small town trade, ths mainstay of the •owboy operas. There are about S6 cowboy stars now appearinff in pictures. Of fliese, one-half worti for throo eom- faales, Pathe. F.B.O. and Universal. Pathe leads with a toUl of seven, F3.0. has Ave and Universal six. $300 Average Salary ^ Althouch Tom Mix <Fo«) and SVod Thompson (Paramount) are amongr the highest salaried actors In pictures, the average stipend for the saddle Thespians is quite nom- inal. ItOO woskly bates rated pretty itood. Hoot Qlbsoc (Universal) ^ ^ and Buck Jonea (now unattached) Lniember may be reprimanded, sus- Loa Ansalaa, Dae. •• A special meeting of the Screen Writers' Guild of the Authors' Lteairue of America, Inc., was held thta w igfc ta nialia amandmanta to the constitution and bylaws. One of the amendments provides that measurea be taken to estab- lish and enforoa ar aode of profes- slom . ethics among members, and qualiflcations for membership were amended to read: "Any membar of the Dramatists' Guild or of the Au^ thors' Guild of the Authors' League of America, Inc.. who derives an in- oama flrom writing for tha aeraan. or whose work has bean produced on the screen; and any active screen writer or scenario editor of recognised pa aHl a n In WU'' ar her profession shall be eligible to mem- bership In the Guild/' An amendment was also made to Artlcla n, flae< 't, iMiialt taada: "Any 1:1X1:1:1 in 'Planes For the making of ''Hell's Angels," a United ArtlaU re- lease, Howard Hughes, mil- lionaire oil man, has purchased 40 planes of standard war types which represented an original valuation of more than $500,000. Most of these planes are of the German and English type used in the World War. In addition to these planes Hughes is renting SO from tha United Statea Government. The vast air squadron is in charge of J. B. Alexander, vet- ran pilot, who will act as com- mander of the flghtlng craft during the air tllm battles. The 40 planes purchased by Hughes consist of three Avros. six Sopwith Camels, 18 Fok- ker D-7, two SB S. three Sop- with Snipes, three Spads. throe J N 4 D. and two camera planes. Luther Read to dlract- Inj? the picture. CASTS' BOARD WESTERNS mr Rerier Uitng Luckless Players (or Four Filnu :are exceptions. F. ^. O. raeenUy stgnad BUbr t fT aaiii". 14-yaar-old boT» and renamed him Bum Barton. The youngster had previously appeared In support of asTOral ha-man mak- ing pictures for the quickie trade. F. B. O.'s llet includes Bob Custer, Bob Steele, Jack Linden and Tom iPylar. Paths has Wally Wales, Buffalo BUI, Jr., Leo Maloney, Don Coleman, Jack Donovan, Buddy Roosevelt and ia^ Padjaa. Unlrarsal has Hoot Gibson, Ted Wells, Fred Humes, ^k Hoxle^ Art Acord and William Desmond. tta ^4ialiato trade has, among others, Ben Wilson, Dick Hatton, Bob Reeves. Al Hoxle, Jack Parrin and Ashton Deerholt. Dig'i Sm Barred Trick EdftilNiis m Court Los Angeles. Dec. f. litigation Is being carried o"n in the court of Superior Judge S. M. Marsh where Edward Faust and Charles Dryer are suing lYed Cyrtocks. wealthy dog fancier, for $250,000. for killing "Peter the Great," screen dog belonging to the pair. . . 'Aaoetdlng to plaintiff. Cyrlacka ■hot the dog last June following a quarrel with Faust and some friends after they had called on him. Faust testified he had received the dog from his father In 1922 and spent a great deal of eftort in training the iMHtf Vir aoraan purpoaaa. While the owners are asking $150,000 damages for the dog and $100,000 additional as a penalty for toallca, Cyrlaoka maintains that the canine was worth but $250 and furthermore that the dog was ac- cidentally shot whan ha fired a ahot ►an his owa ftapartr to frighten ^Wajr Faust during a quarrel. "Ogram." son Of the dead dog, brought Into court to defend the toame of his father by exhibiting in- telligence tricks which might esti- mate his fathMT's greatness in com Iterlson. was barrad as a witnaaa by the court. Frank O'Connor, Metro-Ooldwyn Mayer director, in whose employ **Peter tha Great" waa befora his dpath, was permitted to testify and give evidence of the dead dog's value. The case is being tried by a Jury of nina women and throe men. In selortlon of the Jury those who expressed extreme opinions in favor and allmlaatad. pended or expelled from the Guild by a majority voto of tha executive board after a itoaffiiroStt charges duly filed by any member who Is in good standing." Another amend- ment to that there'shall be no en- trance fee, but each neif member of the Guild shall pay six months dues in advance. Dues shall be $72 mintmlly. of fiMieh fit will sio for membership In the Authors' League of America, Inc. If at the time of his election to the Guild any mem- ber to alraalir • 4iiaHiM «t tha Au- thors' League of America, Inc., and shall already have paid his dues for such year to the League, the treas urar shall aoeapt iaip tliat year doe and proper receipt from the League, and all members of the Guild shall pay their dues both for the League and tha Omid to tha trsasurar of the Guild. Provisions were also made that any member absent from the state may, apon appltoaUaa tn writing, be placed upon the non-resident list, these dues being $2S yearly, payable In advaacO. Grant Carpenter to president of the Guild, Maude Fulton, vlce-preei- dent; Hency McCarty, treasurer. aa€ jr. r. Natteford, aaeratav)r. BALLYHOO ON 5TUD10 ECONOMIES SETTING STAGE FOR BULLS Market Meanwhile Takes Waiting Attitude on Amusement Stocks—^Fa^MHis Trading Ex Rights Undianged—Shubert DriTe HalU lai Aacatoa» Dec. C. With many film playara and ex- tra paopla up agalnat It financially, and in some Instancea without dom- iciles, Harry Revler, producer of westerns for the independent mar- ket, hit upon a plan of eocurlng their services for paying thair baard while working. Revler to making a series of west- ems at a studto In San Diego oper- ated by J. Stuart Blackton, Jr. It takes him about a week to make a picture. His cast. It to said. Is entlraUr oompooad of out of work players, who are transported by auto from Hollywood. In San Diego they are provldad with raoms, meals, cigarettes or othsr Inexpensive lux- uries they may require. Revler. ac- cording to the story has an ar- rangement wltk a boarding house where the people are put up at Sir* a head. Using as many as 40 for a picture, the $600 net, supposedly oovers his entire caat coat. Revler Is making four pictures a month which are immediately sent to New York for tha atata right market. Both on the continued forward drive of prices up to Monday and during yesterday's moderate reac- tion on the President's message, the amusement stocks did prac- tically nothing. Players in the group apparently were watching the campaign to publicise the film producers' afforto to maka their economy program effective. The idea was pretty general that this publicity probably would help net the stage for an advance in the lenders, since It was bolrg done at the instance of the bankers who hare a good deal of new aacurltles to distribute to Investors and are anxious that the Industry be placed in a favorable position fpr the campaign. False Start In Loew Lo<»w grot into another false start 10 days ago. but what was ap- parently an outside operation was short lived. Prices climbed from 56 to 60 and a fraction and thrn eased back to between 68 and 59- It seemed to be pegged within that ranpre yesterday, absorbing mod- erate selling easily. Loew's state- ment for the last year (to Aug. 80) is still awaited. The board meet- inp, planned before Doc. 1, is Htlll pendlpg. Yesterday it was tenta- tively set for sOme time within a week, probably upon tha return of Pre.sldent Schenck to New York. The report was that the next mora In Loew will ba based upon Ineoma atatement for tha autumn quarter, which will be very favor- able. It to due early in January. The new financing remains In Its old situation of conjecture, although it is now definitely understood that the plan will call for an issue of preferred stock totaling $20,000,000. Paramount was back yesterday at 108, the apparent decline from above 109 being really represented Swaniary for tlM wmIi •ndlnc December 3: STOCK IXCHANOE by the marking off of the quoted value of the rights to subscribe to new stock. The stock was traded In beginning yesterday ax rtobts, although the rights themselves con- tinued to change hands on a basis of 1^ to 1% per share. Six shares carry the rights to ^uy one new share at 98H. The proposition thus Is 9Sij plus six times 1^. or almost exactly the ticker price of 108, al- lowing for Incidental ^argea. The SShubert bull drive appeared to l)0 al)out over. Yesterday on small truiiMactions the price was back to 68 from Its top of about 71. It did not appear that much dis- tribution had been accomplished, for what outsiders wera brought In on the spectacular advance seemed to be ready to run at the first warning. Fox Top Holds Fox probably mada the bast showing of any of tha amusements. Foltowiiicr its gradual advance from below 60 to 79%. It has held firmly. Even In the midst of yesterday morning's reaction it gave way only slightly th 78Vj and there was nO pressing of stock for sale. The report about, based on mar- ket observation, is that Fox In- siders have been taking on new long lines all the way up from 60, based on company prospacta and business already closed for Movie- tone, and are content to stand pat until earnings begin to show in the Ineoma account. Among the outside Issues. Stanley on the Philadelphia Boursp was the only one to do anything. It got Into new low ground below 66. touching f)5% Monday on sales of shout 2.000. Stanley has eased oft very gradually from doss to ft arar ainca It paM its big extra and then did rather heavy financing to tafca of Its axpansion program. Writers' Options Exercised Laa Angelaa, Dec. f. ^ Two more options were exercised an Paramount writers thto week. They are Percy Heath and Louto adapCarlal supanrlaor. JoUan OS Ciie Carried Oyer Until January 9 Los Angeles. Dec. 6. Owing to saw diivalopmanto aris- ing In the mmrf Charges against Cecil B. De Mille In connection with a Julian Petroleum Corp. loan, Miinlclpal Judga Blalto continued the case to Jan. 9. Postponement came about after Special Deputy City Prosecutor Roaanbieooi iapraaaaS hlmsslf In favor of furthering >a new Investiga- tion to determine whether or not De Mille was implicated, and whether tha chargaa against him ara war- ranted. The picture producer Is charged with having profited Ille- gally on a loan advanced In connec- tion with tha Jultaa atock pool No. 1, the first of a group now being in- vestigated by City Prosecutor £. J. Lickley. De Mille. since his arraignment last fall, has firmly denied be- ing party to any personal transac- tions in Julian loans or stocks other than the dealings of the brokerage firm, of whirh he Is a partner, buy- ing and selling Julian stock. South Sea Expedition Los Angeles, Dec. 6. _Herrick, former flhn pro- ducer and more recently inieresied in short snbjerts. is h^adlnfr an *»x- pedltion to the South Seas for a picture. Tha expedition will ln«ludt acton* tfsts connected with an en"^tem museum, the film to be on the or- der of "Chang" and Easterners Expected to Get Behind Academy At a nieetlng of coast producers last WMk, It to rumored tha New York producers wars asked to back up the Motton Picture Academy of Arts as a means of helplaer to avert the stormy objections to the insti- tution on the part af ptoyera, dtrec- tora and authors. The Eastern grotip participating in tha discussion Included Zukor. Kats, Kent, Hawlay, Rowland. Schenck. Rubin, La^mlo and Pear- son. The coaat producers wore Mayer. Roth acker, Sheehan, Wang- er, Thalberg. DoMlllak Roach and Leveo. Western producers figure that otherwise unassaitoble obsta«:les can be overcome through the Academy as a factor for closer re- lationship between studio heads and employees. Problems of western producers were dtoe us asd ao as to giTC thb eastern man an idea an to how they must work out and the necessity of the Academy as a means of easing diflicult situallons. Hiah. r,i 175^4 104 V4 79*4 68% :»% !•% 85 114% 48% 74Tt 251^ 7% 1% -tttr- Low. laiMi M 00 40% ao% 6% 24% 92 20 OS t 10 2.800 AsMrless Seat (O 8,400 IkuNmSB Kodak (ft) 170 100 Pint National im praf. (8) 104% 17.»0<i Fox Claw A (4) 79% 0.1.00(1 Ix>ew"«, Inc CJ) «0% 14.1(« Madison H<iuare Uardeti (1);... 24\ 1.7()0 Motion ri't Cap 7 R..'M)0 Ori>heMin (2) 2(1% 2(),(My» ]'ar.-Kam.-L. (10) Ill fl.OoO Path* Clans A (4) 24% 18.000 Shubert (5) 110 Univ. Plct. lat prrf. (8) 1% IM 10. too mi it% tm 100% i<j^>% 111% 9t\k 101 88% »% I..........*«••«••• CURB 1.100 Film Innpaf't. M. ..<,..;,••,«.... 11,inn* Kox Ttir. A Clflfllth, I>. W. I/oew (lob. rtii. Nntional Thr. Supply I'ar. rt«. W.I.. I^tV* ««■«•• •••t«a •ONDS tS2,000 Keith O'a 17.1,000 Votw Vm .V).«w> rathe 8.^,000 Warner llroe 82r> 3410 10.1<>0 72% iveaseetaaae ••afaaa««a S.800 Tram, WW leataeeaa )«•••«• 8% «1% 1% 14 «% 1% 4% 19% 100% 1(IS% ton 1(H% 77% 5S% 21% 7 2r>% 107% 21'% 07% US 1% « IVl 4% 12% 100% 10.1'4 40 •ISSH 104% 78 00 28 7 25% 109% •n't 08 8% 21 1% 14 8 • a • +8$ -l-l Ix>«w bonda as war. •Bx Sir. liroi 90% I1M.0OO, 99%. net, up %. 100% lfMV% 89 - % +1 -1% ti • • • • • i8 • f. - % % -1% - % Outside Markets Hid. 20 37 t% 1 ■litr' •1 OVER THE COUNTER Quoted for Monday's dosa os bid and a^ked baeU. UHrik Uow. 6. are QODTG ABROAD Los Angeles. D^r Three DeMiHe employees planninir trli>s to Europa. Marie Prevost and E. Mason IIopp*»r leave this weeic for a Hix weekH' jaunt abroad. Victor Var- conl and Mrs. VaroonI wlU also de- part to visit Bttdapaat and Paris. .... Kovy Units • Class a.»■•«'<it* • «• • CoSMSSS ••'»•••»••••<**.•.•...• • <•• Tarliwloolof .••.•...•*•«••.....• *••. Vslv. OS. Tlia. (8^..•..•>*••••• • ^Itadalpliis 1,180 Stastagr Co. of a « Chieaga .... Sal A Kats Boston S bseo ef Bostoe St, Louis so Skoefss Lee Anssles aaaatvea** ••••••« Laat. Not t • - % ■fl S8% Noflk JAIRBANKS' RODEO LtOS Angeles, Doc. 6. Douglas Falrhanks is planning to mn an annua! rodao on his Rancho Zorro property, San Dlepo Toitnty. The project is being outlined by Capt. Kenneth Mother Clain^ Daughter Broke Her Leg hi Quarrel Loa Angelea. Doe. f. Trial of Edith FoBt^r. picture a.f'trf'nn, rhfrt-ged with SHsauIt and liattery on her mother, Mrs. Jane D. Foster, was continued until Dec. M by-MunlcipaLJu'lgo P ullock. when the mother was unable to appear In court. Tha prosecution attempted to show, through witnesses, thnt *h*s artreHS hftd stnifk her moth*»r dur- I ing a quarrel over a hrldfce pame, I as a raault of which iha la now suf* ferlng from a broken leg. One wit- ness testified he found Ura. Foa« ter lying on the floor and shrieking: "My dauKhtftr is killing mo'" When the case came up for trial. Miss Foster asked Deputy City Pub- lice Defender, Flora Nelson, to de- fend her. A 52-WEEK HOLIDAY GIFT BUBBCRimON /or •^Varirty" flO in U. t.i fit Outaida