Variety (Sep 1928)

Wednesday, September 5, 1928 PICTURES VARIETY 13 hside Stuff—Pictures The division of copyright registration in WaslUngton does not recog-, nlze a motion' picture studio as a p<>rmanent address, according to a letter from Tliorvald Solberg, registrar of copyrights, f wo employees oT a local studio had sent on a play for rcgistfation and in reply i-e- celVed word that they had given, as their address the Blank studio and ■tatingr "there la a question as tp whether this Is a permanent or tem- porary address," adding that a permanent addi-ess should be gijen and not "one where each Is receiving rhall for the time being only." A new form was Inclosed. ' Some of the boys in the studios are inclined to. give th.e registrar a hand on his ruling. In a' questionnaire sent to' picture exhibltor.s by the Department of Commerce at. Washington, an accompanying letter starts with: "The motion plbture industry has grown- to/great importance In the Industrial fabric of the nation." The questionnaire calls for statistical ngnre.s of operation for the theatres. . iSqeneii for the Ilenley crew races In "Woman of Affalr.s" (M-G) .were Aimed oti a lake in Franklin canyon a few mlle.s from the M-G studios. The stretch selected Is an exact replica, of the cour.s-e on the Thames in iBnglan<1. ing yokel-s, they assumed the position of traveling correspondents for two leading national publications. Couple broke the ice through an elderly woman member of one of Hollywood's leading studio publicity offices. "VVampas credentials com- mittee had at that time just begun to function. After gaining entree to the studio' on the grounds of seeking interviews, the pair confessed to the elderly la'dy that they had lost their trunks and would she be so kind as to outfit them, in clothes from tlio studio's wardrobe department. This was done on a loan arriWtgeuient. To date there Is ho record of the clothes being returned. Couple then filled their date book witli appoint- ments to meet the various stars, alwiays at breakfast, luncheon or dinner. After being (Jlned and entertained several times by a male star they figured he was ripe to pluck. They had worked him up to" this paint of believing they would publish his life history but .needed move In- formation. He was asked if he could call at their iiome. Star gladly went and during the interview the couple made it plain they were doing him a great service, and since they were financially emharra.'^fled, asked if he woufdn't'give them $500, Actor deferred parting with the half grand until he could seek advice from the studio publicity office. When he told them what the deal was, the couple were immediately placed under suspicion and cut off from mivklrig any more appointments with their players. . Word soon .spread and the team found it tough going. Their record of being affiliated with the publications mentioned was Investigated only to have the publishers reply they did not know the writers. FILM NEWS OVER WORLD According to the American Air Transport Association's .statl.<stlcs, th« picture companlies ar« the largest useri3 of aerial parcel post,, the air mall carriers transporting an average of 15 reels of film daily between Hollywood and New York. The thousands of dollars of addltlo'nal box- ofTloe receipts gained thrbugh the two days' saving Is Inestimable, slncf negatives can be printed ahead of usual rail transportation schedul* and dl-stribution made more quickly available. Bankers and bond houses, jewelers and advertising agencies transmitting copy cros3-country follow In order named In extensive use of aerial parcel post. Fox studios have a printed blue book of Information that see;nis to be valuable In the making oT pictures on this lot. It is especially designed for directors not famlHar with the-i^esourcea of the coml)any. It con- tains Itemized lists of stock shots In the film library, what Is available In New York, shows who to call on for-trick effects, and what can be had In the way of permanent sets at the Fox Hills property. The use of this book not only saves time, but brings all the various opjerating departments of the studio Into closer relation-ship. . One of the cx-secretaries and chin wipers to a pro'minent film producer on the coast manages to hold down a seat warming job about the studio where he acts in the capacity of doublecrosser and chief stool pigeon. His main interest In the welfare of the studio seems to be to make the rounds of the 40-acre plant checking up mysterious looking strangers and automo'biles. His recent influence In effecting'a stop- order on all out- side automobiles entering the studio grounds Is understoo'd to have been Inspired by . a few competing bootleggers creeping in on his principal racket. To make this order seem reasonable to the producer he explained It would cut down fire hazard. , Columbia erected a glass tank 16 ft. by 16 ft. by 16 ft. to film certain tinder-water scenes. This Is the only tank of Its kind |n Hollywood, and is now being rented by Fox. Columbia expects to recover the cost of the tank from three days' rental to outside producers. Forced tcbbey his own orders was the experience of a young picture executive, who. In additio"n to his production activities. Is in charge of a Hollywood studio- He issued a no-exceptlon edict that, after a cer- tain hour daily, tl^e automobile galte of the lot be closed. A few evenings later he drove to the studio and, per his custo'm of parking hla car inside the lot, drove to the auto gate and was promptly refused admittance. "Orders of the studio manager," said the gateman. "But I'm Mr. , the manager," , the young executive protested. ''The It-^ you are," was the retort; "try a new one. I've heard that before." In his wrath, the y. e. is repotted to have started his car and crashed against the gate, but the latter held firm and the gateman only grinned. The y. e. backed away, parked In the street, then let himself into the Btudlo through the front door. He gathered an armful of credentials from his desk and started out for the gate. But he haa a sense of humor and-.-'hy the time he reached the gateman he had cooled off. When finally co'nvlnclng the . guardian of his Identity he complimented him on his strict adherence to orders. A scenario, writer has discovered a new source of obtaining names for screen characters. Instead of going to the phone book, as la the Usual custom, the writer selects his names fro'ta a seed and horticultural catalog with excellent results. Seed and plant dealer issuing these annual catalogs finds it profitable to cultivate certain flowers and nanrilng them after local flower fanciers who fall for the glory of having a bulb or flower named after them to the tune of several grand. The writer does not anticipate any shortage In names. Paramount has been having a hard Jo'b getting a girl to ■ play op poalte Richard DIx In "Red Skin." This plcture^ ia being made In color ^nd'nioire^tha^n" 200' f emiH6^^ t for a Spanish typa. Aa tests are being made In technicolor, every foot Is costing the studio M centa. Another example of dishonor among gyp film producers on the eofeurt asserted Itself recently when one succeeded In Interesting a wealthy San Francisco grape juice man In the picture buslnesa. ■ A company was organized with the usual ambitious plans and a pretentlotis production campaign got under way with » $100,000 budget allotted toi make the first picture. Big names were secured and production started. The backer, anxloua to see the first week'a rushea, went unannounced to the lab where the film waa stored while the original promoter waa working at a distant atudlo. He came In con- tact with another gyp producer loitering abo^ut and they became chundmy. Both reviewed the exposed ifilni; what the ^eco'nd gyp said about the work of the first was aa unmerciful aa unprlntahle. The backer, with- out any further investigation, stopped production and turned it over to the new' promoter who not only had a shadier rep but la known for mak ing amoiig the worst. pictures iii Hollywood. When the new director started to remake the aetora in the original east refused to woric Weeks of preparation for a new atory followed with moet of the original budget exhausted. When the new story waa oast and ready to start an additional $50,000 was requested. The backer "Wired that the well had gone dry. Mei 'an Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, no'w directing Paramount'a "Four Feathers," are doing an Alphonso and. Gaat->n In regard to wnose came shaU be first In billing and advertising. Cooper wants SchoeffSack'a name to come flrat while SchoedAack in- sists upon Co'oper having the honor. The Rath Bi others, acrobeta, used to blame It on each other In taking bows, too. A couple of high powered joumallsta, posing aa man and wife, blew Into Hollywood a year agC while suppoaedly en route to China. They ■ran out of funds but knowing the territory ia filled with publioltr Mek^ A woman who' writes for a national syndicate recently put this over on a prominent picture producer at Aguii Caliento, known as the Monte Carlo of America. The woman, accompanied by another chatterer and a male deputy of hers, is .tiaid td have imbibed quite fieely wliile at the re.sort..^ She ap- proached the producer and asked him to loan her $25, He did, "and about 10 minutes later came back with a cheap piece of jewelry In her hand saying. "Will you loan me $200 on this? You can keep it as sectirlty." The producer burned a little, said "it wasn't necessary," and turned over the $200. After she. went away and probably lost the $200, she reported back to say, "you know I only make a very little salary," she's repo'i-ted to get plenty, "and can I pay you off at $50, a week?" The producer, not caring much whether he got the money, or not, said "Okay, anyway, you want it.". In controversies between the American Federation of Musicians and picture house owners, on the sight and sound picture situation, the union has not as yet taken a definite stand against the talkers as an auxiliary part of a picture house program. If the orchestra Is retained the union finds no squawk against wiring. But with smaller theatre owners continually claiming the expense of wiring makes them unable to afford a pit- prchestra, the musicians' union must assume complete opposition against sight and sound pic- tures, according to trade opinion. To date the only publip statement the union has made against the talkers is that mechanical music Is in- ferior to that produced by pit musicians. First official actlo'n against synchronized films was in Chicago where James C. Pctrillo, president of tlie Chicago Federation of Musicians, de- manded - that Class Six theatres Increase their orchestras from four to six men when wiring for synchronization. This Is accepted by the the- atre owners as a frank move by the union to check wiring activltleg thro'ugh increasing the overhead . of a- wired house. Prominent male screen star who has built up a large following among the Boy Scouts for his athletic prowess and Ideals for clean living allowed his name to be linked with a testimonial for advertising a cigaret. While the star does not advocate smoking, among the Boy Scouts, and waa somewhat reluctant to lend his name to the ad, but was sold on the. Idea when the cigaret company offered to donate $3,000 to charity. When the ads appeared the star became bombarded with letters from all parts of the country criticizing him for knocking the props from the Ideals he set before American boyho'od. The star burned up and did all he could tb stop any further use of his name In connec- tion with the ads. . •Washington, Sept. 4. Summary of reports for\yarded to the motion picture section the Department ,of Commerce: Film Theatre for Caracas A picture theatre is. to be loci^ted in a three-story building. It will have a seating capacity of approxi- mately 1,500. According to plans, this will be the finest lUm theatre in this section of South America. It is expected to be completed withia one yeai". Among the many fan lettera received in Hollywood seeking advice pertaining to the movlea, was one sent to Do'ris Dawson, First National player, frbm an admirer in Goldfield, Nev. Text of the letter sought in- formation on where the slghter should apply for a job as a double for animals in sound pictures. Rancher qualified himself for such a jol> by claiming he spent most of his time learning to moo like a cow, bark like a dog, bey like a horse, bleat like a sheep and chip like a chlpmUnk. He was learning to rattle llkiB a rattlesnake, but his wife objected. It made her. nervous. He had been Informed doubles In the movies make a lot of money. Two censorship test cases on talkers are being carried on appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court. Curiously enough. In one Pennsylvania Fed- eral Court, It waa ruled in favor of Fox-Case'a Movietone that scenario' dialog be not censored on the ground It would be unconstitutional ahd abrogate the freedom of speech. In the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone test case. In the same state, but before another Federal district court, move censor^Ip was held to apply to talker sequences as well aa celluloid dramaturgy. 'Both sides are appealing each case for a test precedent ruling on the issues. Meantime, dialog Is being submitted along with film to censor bodlea, since the script changes, if any, have been of a minor nature thus far, and relatively Unimportant. Averaf e "cost of isyhchro^nlzlhg^^ '$l5tb~$20^000 "al- though it cornea aa high aa $1,000 a minute for the Paramount produc- tloria, totaling $50,000 to; $60,000, owing to their expensive composing personnel and the necessity of creating musical thematica for the world market which would be free ot^ahy international copyright entangle- ments. The difficulty right now. In the deal the Electrical Research Products, Inc., haa With E. C. Mills, the music publisher-s* arbiter, is that the mu- sical copyrights Mills represents are only for the U. S. and Canada. For the foreign market, In synchro'nlzed sound pictures, considerable techni- cal difficulty, and possible litlga-tibn, is boiind to ensue unless the in- dividual numbers represented on the film's musical scores are arranged for with the foreign copyright owners. Australian Notes (Received from Assistant Trade Commissioner Charles F. Baldwin, Sydney.) Each of the five states vial tod re- cently bjr Walter Marks, Australian commissioner for films, have an- nounced willingness to co-operate with the Commonwealth Govern- ment in putting into effect the rec- ommendations of the Royal Film Commission. This report Is unofRt cial, however, as Marks was unwill- ing to make any public utterance before submitting a report to Prime Minister Bruce. it has been reported that the labor governments, now in power in western Australia ami Queens- land, greeted the proposals of Mark's with ready approval. It is expected, locally that, upon the return of Marks from a visit to Canada, the United States and Europe, a com- monwealth film bill Avill be Intro- duced In the federal parliament. Keen competition among some of the screen players on the coast to be . known aa the possessor of speaking voices ia responsible for the latest racket among the more unscrupulous press agents. Story goea out to a complacent chatterer that Mlaa Tottoy Cough- dropa, who recently played a. prominent role opposite the male star In Hokua haa been called back to do several dialog sequencea with the star. Investigation invariably brlnga dut the report la just bunk. Pete WoodhuD wants it understood that he Is not press agentlng for Danbury Theatrea, Inc., as repo'rted In Variety. ^,^,ftffi_.^lrect<>jr._jcrf .p^^ being, "I do not do any writing, but I will watch what Is wrltten,- Employeea of producing companies who lose no opportunity of getting in touch with promlting screen candidates find that widely circulated photograpba in advertisements may not be relied upon implicitly. Secretary of a pro'minent producer waa much taken by the features of a young man displayed In the advertising of a collar company. With tba consent of hla chief he got In communication with the original and (Contintied on peige 24) Gaumont Wants Australian Films. It Is understood that reciprocal arrangements are how: being made through Gauniont British to ac-. quire and release certain Australian produced pictures throughout the British Isles. This arrangement ia said to have .resulted from the re- cent visit to London of the manag- ing director of British Dominion Films. Melbourne, wlilch will act as the Australian and Kew Zealand representativies for Gaumont. It ia stated that a substantial cash de- posit will be paid on each approved Australian picture, in addition to.» guarantee and a percentage. Action on Cenaorahip Board Action has been taken by tha commonwealth government to con- stitute the film censoi'Ship board'of three persons Recommended by the. royal commission. According to the recommendation the board wlU In- clude one woman. Appointments will be for one year only. Hert^ Sues Weiss, Partner, For $50,000 Over Stock Bridgeport, Conn.,^©pt. 4. Maurice Hertz, Weiss'' Amuse- ment Corp., Stamford, movie- hpuso operators, Is suing his partner in the firm, Samuel Weiss, for $50^000. Hertz claims that Weiss loaned him $11,000 and took 74 shares of stock In the company as coIlateraL Weiss refuses to return the stoclc, although Hertz has mpney to pay off the loan. Island's 1 Wired House Holding Films a Week Long Island's lone wired house has but 800 seats and Is doing phe-. nonienal business. Where the Arlon, In MI5<^^? jy^lJ?^??' used^ to change four aril five times a weei: It la now SROinff 'with but a Single change. Theatre is operated by Rosenthal and his son. They were among the flr£lt Indies to sign with Western Electric. Seider's Mysterious Trip Joe Selder, Jersey indie leader, is planning a three months' leave of ahsence in Europe which he la surrounding with all of the mys- tery of a grind meller. It isn't a vacation. He's going to look over the English and Ger- man theatre situation, declaring thar's biz over them waters which will keep him occupied. He ia screduled to sail on the lUe do. France Sept. 29, SHEEIBAN'S STRAIGHT FUMS ^-^..^..^^^.^^ Ch.lgja£g.^Sgj Shf-rldan theatre, showing pic- tures and presentations, may go straifjht pictures .soon. Kepnrt i.s that the Chicago Title and Tru.st Co., operating receivers of the hou.se, are dLssatisfled with the stnge shows and prefer to let tlie houpip r.o into a grind. Final docision will be reached at a meet- ing today (Tuesday).