Variety (Apr 1928)

VARIETY P I C T U R E S Wednesday, April 4, 1928 SEMI-FINAL FILM CRITICS' BOX SCORE LED BY JOHANESON, ROB REEL, CARROLL Gerhard (*'Eve. World") Real N, Y. Leader at .683 on 101 Reviews—Similar Status for Louella Par- sons in L. A,, .863—-Few Changes in Chicago Rating —- Cohen-Martin Tied at .659—- Watts Tumbles to Bth-^Regina Cannon ("Mirror") •Most Reviews, 169—Irene Thirer ("News") Tops * No Gpinions, 29—Variety Leads Trade Papers VeCrioty's semi-linil box scoTe oh picture critics lihds.the entire jjroup of Los Angeles duiiies with excep- tionally hiyh pcrccntatresi Their lowest individual percentage of .762 is liiglior, ^vith: one exception, than the hiiirhost in - Chicago, or . New Tlic ngures tc-nd to indicate a .Hiippost'd ^'iipci iority on the part of ]>os Angeles, reviewers. It is con- soyiichlly impOrtahf to stress} again ilie factors which operate to make IjOs Angoles percentages high. L. A. has the booster" spirit, the studios arc nearby, arid the re- viewers' attitude ia to overlook al- inost e\'orything. Nothing but fav- orable notices ai:e written' and as 75 percent of all films make riioney, by praising thehi all, and thereby eliminating the hazards of picking ihe Svinncrs from the duds, the L. A. critics automatically g;>in the 'ad- ynntagc» of the law of fi,vei:age. New York ;■ BlaijU Jojianoson, of the "MirrOr," lends the; New York group with .79 t, oompulcd on a basis of 34 pic- 1 iiros calight. ]\Iiss Johaneson en- tered the field , late when replacing • Josr>ph McElUbtt, . . . Betty Colfax ("Graphic"),, the loader on the last rating, slips to lii:ih place,, while. Richard. Watts, .)r, ("Hei-ald-Tribiine"), out in front, for the lirst half of the season, is .c-ijrht pegs clown- the ladder. John S." Cohen,. Jr.^C'Stin"), who has. been holding the..third spot, is . now tied at .059 . with Quinh ■ Mtirtin ('■Woj-ld' j|. George Gerliar.d ("J5ve. AVorld"),. runnerrup. to "Watts' and tlolfax on previous sco)"es, retains his hold upon second place and Is the real leader in lieu of the rela- tively few pictures Miss Johanesbn h:is ciaught. . .- . . . Regina Cannon ("Aniovican"), the most prolific reviewer, holds her own pretty well. She ha.s. caught the greatest niunbcr of pictures, has the most "ri.uhts" and the most "wrongs" but defers to Irene Thirer ("Xcws") aud Mordaunt Hall- ("Times") in. the multiplicity of "no oiiinions." .lohn K, lluichtris ("Post"), like Wiss Ji'haneson, is included in the Ikix score for the first time. The "'i'ologriivi"' Kince Uon;ild Thomp- Kon's. departure has had no rogxilar movie critic, the assignments being divided ))Ptwoen Leonard Hall and Katlii-ri'iq Zimmerman of the dra- matic department and.various mem- bers oi: the editorial staff. Mr. Hall and ;\Tiss Zimmerman may be in- I'ludod in the final score. • ■: - No- Opinions.. ^ . ... "No .Opinions" continue to appear Intermittently among the Manhat- lari scribes, This habit is less com- ■ nuiu in Chicago and Los Angeles. Conu'dics .sfcm the rfiost dinknilt for the'r<'viewers to handle, Espe- ;. cially is this, true of the slap.stick ■feaiurVs whose crude liumgr- the . more fasLidious critics-cannot abide. ■•■As rm instance- may be rricritloned the ha.'.iit o Harriett t'ndorhill ("i-Jerold Tribune"). who . when re- viewing a; laugh picture almost in- . variably makes the statement: "I know hothihg • about c(miodies." Shorter Reviews More (ronciscness apiiears 1o be on the increase.; Rland .Tohant'.'^on . ("Miri'or") habittially confinos a re- view to one. pftra.graph. while John .K. Ilutchens ("J'ost",'^ and George Gerhard ("Kve. World") are word econoniists, Chief among the vor- -bosc:..-JjxigiidS.-.^Js,.^^i)jd£unt^^^^ ("Times") who expatiates, and rc'- porla'Vvith nrinuteness. In N'ew i'ork .39 .pleture.s' have been added .<^ince' "Variety's" last .score of Jan. 28. Chicago Tlie present grouping for the Il- linois trading post shows Arthur Sheekman ("JOuithal"). tho town'.s only male movie reviewer, at the bottom. Several minor changes In the Chicago ratines^ but nothim: The Custard Pie Champ Is **The Terrible Turk" Kalla Pasha, known as "Thie Terrible Tui'k," an old time character actor on the.M-G-M lots, has received a part in- the Marion pavies-Will Halne§ picture, "Breaking Into the. Movies," because ol. Ws ability to fall oh any part of his ianat- omy a.nd ,to stand a heretofore unequa-led rain of custard pies. During the first day's work he was hit with 25 custaivd pies without turning his heiad. Cameramen and directors were •'tempted meanwhile to build a barricade around themsclyes. The cast also Includes Tenen Holtz, Deile Henderson, Paul Ralll and Polly Moran. VTRITING STAFFS FOR PICTURE HOUSE UNITS Picture ho.use presenta:tions next season will .seek to improve. the current type of unit shows. Spe- cially created, authored and com- posed miniature musical comedies and revuottes will be . the order. ^ Picture house circuits are plan^ ning. for the furtheralnce of these glorified tabs, which will have all the embellishments, and accoutre- ments of . a full-fledged production. The bands are here to stay, as are the mastei-s. of . ceremonies, in the opinion of one circuit executive^ Without the bands there is not the necessary.--fiash, - he. .said.. When asked why a pit orchestra couldn't accompany the reyUette oi; tab productions, the exec's answer was that thl.s would be a step backward; that the bands: are essentia] for the fiash on the stage. WEATHER FORECAST Washln.gtori, April 3. Inquiries at the Weather Bureau gives the following outlook for the country east of the Mississippi river for the week beginning, to- morrow (-1th). Partly cloudy Wednesday over middle and northern dl.stricts with rains in the Ohio Valley and some- what colder in northern New York uivd-northern-.-New-'England.:-.-J- Thursday there will be .quite gen era! rain.s. , Friday fair, ^oU6^ved again by rains Saturday .or Sun day (8th). Cool weather will prevail for the most pai't over northern districts.. , MIZNiER'S HEART ATTACK. Los Angeles, April 3, Wilson. Mlzner, now: under - con- tract for Fox,, was stricken with a severe heart attack la.'^t week. Miz- ner's doctor, ordered hini to . take a throe-weeks'- rest. iMizner leaves for the mountains, where ho will be secluded from all outside communication. important and the peroentages arc closely- huncliod. Trade Papers ^.^^tL^>a.i.'y:i._...nd-"M. P".' Nc\vs' change: position's.: among the" trad'i papers, the . "IJaily" losing third position and 15 poiut.s. "Motion. IMo tures Today" picked up ope "vn opinion," the only one arquired by a trade i)aj)er since the last score. "Variety" has jum])ed. its jier- centage from .8-19 to .871 and con- tinues to lead the trade pajx'r divi- sion, followed by llarrisbn's Re- ports. The latter, at .743, is a one- man avorace. ROSCOE AILS . Emulates Grant and Takes Richmond *^NEWS LiBADBR" said: '^Roscoe Alls show' sihould be called 'Money's ■Worth Week.' This comedian swings from scene to iscene with happy, youthful aban- don, his comedy is a riotous scream and he unquestionably: is the fun- niest and greatest dancer ever to play the National.'- Crowds . blocked traflftc. HOLIDAY BALKS PROMPT HAYS'PARIS ACTION American Emissary Cannot Meet Officials Until April 10 —Going to Other Countries Paris, April 3. Will Hays arrived in I'aris late but; was prevented from an Imme- diate conference -With Minister Her- riott, absent over the Easter holi- days. Tlie conference cannot be held until. April, IQ at the earliest; The-American film chief, took up headquarters at the Hotel Crillon. Rei)lying to the reporters he said his journey wliich would take him to other countries was designed to prbinote international good will and he had highest hopes of being able to aid in bringing on an amicable settlement of the present ti-ade sit- \iation in France arising from the new regulation of picture imports. The French picture press syndi- cate which was holding a general meeting Saturday adopted a resolu- tion giving expression, to a liearty welcome to the A,merican cinema envoy and to the ijope that all con- ti'oversy would be smoothed out. Meanwhile: there is a distinct shift in- French sentiment toward the new iilm regulation and the -trade, js. .turning to_ the _yiew^tlxat native picture producers who struggleO-ior the system have put one over on the politicians. High government olDcials are now concerned with the results and lire works riiay burst out at : any ■ minute. The commission meets tomorrow ( VVedneijjay). and 'it is.expectod that the seven-to-one quota will . bo adopted, calling, for four-American visas, two .English^and one •tJerman for each i<'rench picture disposed biV This is the lirst attempt by a na-r tiou to force the merchandlsiing oit its own product and other countries are reported interested in its out- come. Anotlici' angle is that other American industries have—become distui'bed, and their agents have asked tho U. B. emba.ssy if it is pos- sible that the plan may be applied to other, articles of international j;UAU.iilj?ilce^:b. esides .pictu^cs.^ ^ It is believed that tho quota plan vyill not- go into. a.otual operation until next fail at the. earliest. Will Hays has arranged througli the em- !)as.sy for a conference witli MlnisLcr llcrriott on Tuesday when the oi- ficiiil will return fi'om the country. In the moaiitlme Hays is talkin.i; all around the subject, cmplia.'slzlng the necessity of tnct In producing film;- for international release. FILM CRfnCS' BOX SCORE Score as of March 31 (Based on pictures :r«vievyed since June 4, 1927) ' K«y to :abbreviations: PC (pictures caiioht) ; R , (right) ; V/ (wrpno); O (no opinion •xpressed); Pet. (percentaoe.) : . NEW YOEK PC Blaiid Johaneson ("Mirror") 34 George Gerhard ("Eye. World")....; .101 John 8. Cohen, Jr. ("Sun")......138 Quinn Martin (''World")91 Betty Colfax* ("Graphic")............. 118 Regina Cannon ("American")....,.,.. 169 Johri K. Huteheiis ("Post")........... 28 Richard Watts, Jr. ("Herald Tribune") 74 Mordaurit Hall (."Tiiries")., 142 Harriett Underhill ("Herald Tribune") 110 (Miss) Alison Smith ("World")....... 23 Irene Thirer ("News")...... 138. Jeffery Homesdale ("Wbrld")......... 27 R 27. 69 91 «0 76 ibB 17 42 82 »3 12 68 13 • (Julia Showell) CHICAGO : PC Rob Recil* ('.'Arnerlcan'*)......;....... 47 Carol Frink. ("Examiner").......,.,. ,1.10 Mae Tinef ("Tribune").,.,..*..;...... 119 Genevieve Harris ("Post"),...;.....«, 100 ."News" (unsigned)...............-...... 88 Arthur Sheekman ("Journal");.,..... 78 R 85 77. 82 66 60 61 • (Hazel Kennedy) (t Frances Kurner), Harrison Carroll ("Herald"). Louella Parsons ("Examiner")........ '.'Record" (Combined)................. Eleanor Barnes (."News")............, "Times" (Combined) "Express" (Combined) > LOS ANGELES • -" ■ PC 31 71 105 80 102 93 Variety : ..;., Harrison's Reports "M. P. News". "Fihn Daily"., "M. P. Today" I • • * • • f •' I • • • • « 4 • I TRADE PAPERS PC 224 109 120 153 71 «,• ••'see I • • « • •'« R 28 B7 83 61 .77 70 R 196 81 88 108 48 1st Nat*l Heads in London Split on Quota London, April 3. Frederick Zelnik, First National's German production head, and rep- resenting the Defu. Company, of Berlin, Is here for a conference with Bruce Johnson and Sam Spring. Zelnik Is opposed to the .Quota and Kontlngrent niethods, but. the F. ,N. executives here are strohirly in favor of the British Quota .ays-, tern and are going rapidly, ahead putting in a permanent British pro- duction unit with Harry Ham. as manager. French Film Sources Pai'is, March 29. Statistics issued by the Syndicate of the French picture industry dis- close 617 films were presented to the French censor last year, of ■rtrhich 388 were American (not in- cluding . 224 short comic reels), 96 French, 91 German, 11 Russian, 11 Italian, 8 British, 7 Swedish, 2 Aus- ti'ian, and one each from Spain, Brazil and Armenia. The total length was 1,263,227 metres, with the American contin- gent reaching,.over .2,304,400 feet for the; fefular pictures and~354-,30 0 -feet for the 224 comics, compared with. 673,200 feet French,. 556,000 feet German, 63,000 feet italian, 59,450 feet Russian, 49,600 feet British, 43,000 feet Swedish. "Dawn" English Passecl ■ -. London, April' 3. Middlesex County Council has passed "Davfn," the picture, suhject to the: cutting of the episode In •tt-hich.a German soldier Is-shot. London County Council at its meeting today .(Tuesday) passed the film with the . same cut. Also on condition that theatres showing this picture must apply to ■ the council for authority, rnay not ad- mit children under 16 without par- ents, and niust submit all posters for council's approval. London,. April. 3. J'lr^juos Dauniy, who came ov<n' with Sidney Oloott as his technical manager, has brokoii away and joiuL'd Hriti.sli l''ilmoraft as technical iiir"ctor. Tf.'.s unllkHy that Olcott will dlreol for the Urltish T^lon Company. He 1.4 negotiating for other connectlon.s here. WEMBLEY-NORbiSK COMBO Plans Call for 18 Pictures a Year $4,375,000 Capital Washington, April 3. Wembley Film Co.,' London, has combined, with Nordisk. Films Kom- pagni, Denmark, effecting both the producing and theatres ' owned /by the latter company, says a _ report to the Department of Commerce.. Danl.sh company takes the name of the Wembley organization, although slightly modified, as the, Wembling Picture Corp. A shar'e capital of $4,375,000 is set up. English conripany will take over .2,700,000. crowns worth of shares in the Nordisk Film.s against a payment of $1,100,000. . : Bencard, present man aging di- rector of the Danish firm, retains that post, but also becomes a mem- ber of the board of the English company, two representatives of which will join the board of the Danish corn pany. . , Plans call for this production of three films yearly at the .studio In Valby, three to four films in Ber- lin and 12 films In Wembley. No change will take place in the management of. two picture houses, Paladcteatret and Kinopal- astyj OAvned rby •■• Nordisk- rahd-.tlie: largest picture houses. In Copen- hagen. "MOULIN ROUGE" CONTEST London, April 3. "Moulin .Rouge," the British pic- ture, . Is ■■ being held at the TivoU through the aid: of a publicity com- petltiori tor the ;best opinion from the patrons. There. Is a $230 prize. Harsh newspaper criticisms are being advertised &a a guide to the opposite expressiori for competi- tors. 5-10 GIRL'S BREAK Los Angeles, April 3. Dorothy Ward, taken ,fr om behind a five-and-ten-cent store <?ounter to play. In Pathe's "The Godless Girl,'.' has .been put under a live- yoar contract.by Sam Paxe. Gotham jaictiua^,^ 1.. : _; ^ Mi.-^S: Ward. w.iU .b».',. oT)iK)srtF'' .n.o.o.rg.o Jcssel iii "Abio ol' the LASKY AT SPRINGS Justic Lasky will tako lime off noxt week to visit Wliil'' .Sulphur Springs. Following he will aftond the Par.'^mount's sales ronvfrnioivs be- fore rctutning to the coast;.