Variety (Sep 1928)

24 VARIETY PICTURES Wednesday, September 19, 1928 Bards Beating W. C. Circuit in Court; May Receive $200,000 for Interests Los Anjidoj^, SiMit- l*^- Supprior Court JiuVlto Waltiir S. Gates ilcniod application. Hied ''V Far West TliOiitros Corporation re- atrainii)?;- Artfuir r.anl and Ijouis Bard from int^•rlVrins• with and oporatint,' tiio .TJard's West Adaixis Street thoatrc This t'nupo.rary In- junction .was procured in August, 1927, follbwihff the taldns over hy the, AV(>st Coast Theatres of the North A me^N^'•an . Theatres, Inc., the parent company of the Far West Theatres,. Inc. Differences arose between ]>ard and West Coast The- atres, Inc., which, it is said, brought about the ignorini? of provisions of the contract which gave Loiiis Bard the right to manage the West Adariis ■-Street thefitre isnd the Bards' Hollywood, Bards' Glendale and Bards' Colorado in Pasadena. Finally- tieveral representatives of We.st Coast 'riioatreg decided to make a test of the Bards' authority iand forcibly ousting Louis Bard from the . West Adanis, Street theatre. Following that they obtained a temporary restraining order. The matter lingered in the courts for more than a year until it was Anally argued before Judge Gates, who said that a temporary injunc- tion should be denied. It Is said now that a settlement will be effected regarding the situa- tion betAveen attprneys this week. Lous Bard and his brother, Arthur, There Is No Substitute for own 10 p.er rent interest in the Far West Theatres, Inc., which is cap- italizod at $7Q0,0OO. It is said that West Coast Theatres will probably give them $200,.000 for their Interest in nvG liouses, so tiiat they may withdraw from, tlio organization and active . management. Outside of these houses, Louis Bard operates three grind picture houses in down- town Los Angeles. Chatkin, Publix Gen. Mgr.; Marks Promoted Two promotions ocijurred this week on the Publi.^ Theatres' staff in Dave Chatkin succeeding Harry Marks as the chain's general theatre manager and Marks moving up as special assistant to Sam Katz and Sam Dembow, the lieads of the cir- cuit. . Marks has been with Publlx and Katz for some years; ■ Chatkin'3 term with Publix to date has been four years. Pi-cvi- ously Chatkin was general sales manager for several picture pro- ducers. Colored Musicians Out Chicago, Sept. 17. Although the Chicago Federation of Musicians' walkout in local Class Six picture houses is over, the Col- ored Federiation of Musicians, Local No. 208, Is still absent In four col t ored neighborhood houses controlled by the James Costen Booking Cir- cuit. . • Colored musicians walked but of the Metropolitan, Vendome, Plck- ford and Owl when their contracts expired and no terms were reached. These theatres are operating with- out music. The Regal and the L. and T., de luxe colored theatres, are. not af- fected by this condition. New York Stage Hands Sign New 2-Year Pact The .vaudeville managers and de- luxe picture house operators of New York signed up a two-year aprco- incnt with New York. Theatrical rrotective Union No. 1 (.stage hands) whereby the union ia to re- ceive a $5 weekly increase and 2l50 an hour overtime for the vaud hoiiHCS and $6 a week and 25c an hour overtime for the cinema pal- aces. 'irhe conferences had be.on on for some time, • . ■ The managers were represented by Major Thompson, Charles Leylno, Charles Mokovltz, Joe Plunkett and John Sullivan. For the union the committee comprised William E. Monroe, Thomas McGovern, Henry Seeran and J. C. McDowell. With Mike" Boyle, president of the Electrical Workers' here In person to confer with the heads of New York Local No. 3, Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, regarding some settlement over the internal union dissension that caused an electrical strike In Chicago that has held up theatre wire equipment throughput the country, some decision is ex- pected hourly. At No, 3 yesterday It was stated a settlement Is anticijjated shortly. The strike Involved two union and electrical workers under juris- diction. President William Canavan of the r. A. said that there were no^e of the Alliance workers affected at this time. Boyle will remain here until an agreement Is reached; STAGE-BAND ENTERTAINMENT ' Known as the- 'TAUL ASH POLICY" PARAMOUNT THEATRE NEW YORK Indefinitely "EXCLUSIVELY COLrMBLAk RECORDING ABTIST" Spitalny's Production Chicago, Sept. 18. H. Leopold Spitalny, permanent musical director at the Chicago theatre, will open the new B. & K. Para:dise theatre here with an or- chestral production of 50 people titled "Garden in Paradise.". Pro^ jjuction will , be headed by Llora Hoffman, prima, and will not Inter- fere with the regular stage show. Spitalny has opened all B. & K. houses lii Chicago. During his ab- sence for the <?ne week he •will be replaced at the Chicago iby Ulderlco i Marcelli. ' MARIN ON SILLS* FILM Los Angeles, Sept. 18. Ned Marin, at First National temporarily, has laid down the Billy Dove unit and will supervisp Milton SiUs' starring picture, tentatively called "The Comedy of Life." After its completion ■ Marin will return to the Dove unit. Fox's Roof Wired , "The first roof theatre to be wired in New is Fox s nese Garden, atop the Riviera at Broad- way and 96th street. "Street Angel" and Movietone shorts are there this week. NOW PICTURE Martin Sampter Manager DE LUXE THE PUYING HOUSES P o St. Louis, Sept., 18. The Skouras Brothei'is and. Harry Koplar with 25 of the smaller pic- ture theatres In the city have, agreed with the musicians' union whereby the controversy over the installation of sound has been settled. ■ Under the terms of the agreement 15 more musicians than were em- ployed at this time last year will occupy the pits In the 27 theatres at'a wage scale of $53 a week. Sign- ing of the new wage scale was con- sidered a victory for the musicians, Steve Butler, business agent of the St. Louis musiciaus' union, de- clared. Under the present plan there will be 25 . musicians In the Ambassador and 30 In the Missouri theatre. The -svage dispute In St. Louis be- Warners Enforce Block Booking On Entire Output of Talk Films Political Opinion ' Sara Katz has is.sued a gien- oral order to Publix house managoi-s advising against as- sociating their political beliefs with the theiatre. ."Everyone has the rlghti of course, to his own opinion," states Katz. ''However, in an organization .like ours, which so closely con-? tacts the public, It behoves everyone to make certain that the opinion he voices Is read- ily understood entirely as his . own and not of the organiza- tion he Is identified with." Otherwise, Katz does not at- tempt to persuade the man- agers to think either way polit- ically as far. as they, pcrson- a,lly, a.re concerned. The statement quotes a re- cent editorial on the question in Variiety. tweeri head property men,, electri- cians and carpenters has been set- tled by ah advance of a week for all concerned, Including legit, pic- ture and vaudeville houses. The new agreement runs for two years from this month. . Minneapolis, Sept. 18. The Minneapolis Operators' union is making new demanaa, calling for an increase, in wages and the doub- ling of present crews in houses having sound equipment. Syracuse, Sept. 18. Adjustment of the wage contro- versy with the stage hands union left victory with the uriion; The stage hands demanded $15 but were willing to compromise at $8.50. The dope was th?it they would get $7, Loew's State paying that under pro- test pending a Keith settlement. Boston, Sept. 18. After a long series of conferences all classes of stage hands have ob- tained wage increases rnaging from $2.50 to $17.50 weekly. Theatrical Stage Employes' Uriion and the employers signed the new wage and working condition con- tract. Keith's Buys M-G-M for Loops in Twin Cities—Surprises Locals Minneapolis, Sept. 18. The Hennepin-Orphoum here and the 'St, Paul Palace-Orpheum ex- ploded a big bombshell on the Twin Cities by announcing the acquisi- tion of the: cream of the M-G-M '28-'29 pictures, comprising 40 screen offerings. Rc»garded as a ten-strike by the houses and an Indication that the Keith Circuit Is pi-epared for the first time to furnish real film oppo- sition for Fr & R,-PubliXj the deal may result In the latter combina- tion having a real fight on its hands to keep the local and St. Paul film patronage pmctically corraled, as F, & II, have had In recent years, 'The Hennepln-Orpheum always has minimized its screen attractions hitherto, depending upon Its Vaude- ville to pull at the box ofllce. Under the old regime the usual prices paid for ■ pictures ranged from $200 to ^-100, Even when F.'& R. and lead- ing producers have had disagree- ments, the Orpheum Circuit (how Keith's) failed to step in to try to land any Important pi'oduct In- volved, apparently being satisfied to go along with the comparatively inexpensive pictures that F. & H. and Pantages passed up. In sev- eral of tlie-so instances, notably that involving United Arti.sts' product several seasons a.go, Pantages land- ed_J,he_jBlum$.^^ . It was taken for granted that F. & B.-Publi.x would have M-G-M pictures again the present season. F. & R. signed up for this product for all houses outside of the Twin City loops, "While negotiations were still In progress regarding the loops Keith ofn<cials grabbed the picture*. Schnitzer and FBO Reports In many sources, even around his own home office, FBO, are that Joseph Schnitzer may leave that company shortly and step into an important berth with Warners. Informants, regarding the present possible change, sa,y that Schnitzer's contract or agreement with »Ken- nedy is close to expiration and that nothing has yet been broached to him about taking upi an option. Schnitzer says that his, agreement with Kennedy has oVer six months to run. He. also says: "I am not considering going with anyone else. I am perfectly happy With FBO." Los Angeles,. S«Mit, 18. Warner Bros, are requiring block bookings on their talking pictures. Houses that want Jolson and other Vitaphone specials will have t<J con- tract for the full Warner syn- chronized service, including Vita- phone talking shorts for the entire season, it Is said. Joe Scarb.augh is traveling about the coufitry as a special repre.'fenta- tive to close with wired lio.uses for Warners, • Fox books 'on a picture basis but with a uniform arrangement of 30 per cent of gross for all sound and dialog pictures. There is an addi- tional charge of $100 weekly to ex- hibitoi's playing Fox features con- taining dialog additional to sound. . Talking trailers heralding in ad- vance coming pictures coat, houses $26 or less weekly. This service charge Is uniform with both Fox and Warners. Publix Managers Late Publix managerial changes and appointments, J, Goldberg, Central Square the- atre, Cambridge, Mass.; Roy Holms, Rlvoli, Greenville; John. Hannbn, Sttand • and Majestic, Knoxville; Dennis Dukes, Queen, Knoxville; Harold Cook, Howard, Atlanta; Frank D, Adams, Brunswick, Ga. Michigan Vande Mgrs. Ass'n Charlie MACK Booking the moat extensive. circuit of vaudeville and f>resentatlon the- atres between New .York and Chicago Michigan Theatre BIdg: DETR04T standard Acta, Write or Wire HELENE HUGHES ROY SMOOT Fontured with FANCnON and MARCO THAT DIVERTING ORGAN DUO Now SEATTLE THEATRE, 7tK Month SEATTLE, WASH.