Variety (Nov 1928)

^1 t 1 >■ 14 VARIETY legits Taidng FBO Tests for Talkers; Otkr Studios Not Active p 1 c t u R s CONGRESS-SHOW BIZ ■.'/ Wednesday, November 14, 1928 . Save for Paramount, wUere "The lietter" is nearing completion, the . New York sound ' studiok were pretty quiet .last week. .,• . A stream of high-salaried actors trom. legit was in and. out of the FBO studios all day Friday, taking tests for "Stepping High,": FBO's . contemplated and first all-talker. • Among the legit names noticed . uere Dorothy Hall, Virginia Smith, Jack Whitirtg. Alan Dinehart, John . Halliday, Joani Bennett. Sammy Puck, Eva White,. Glenn Anders. Director Bert fSlennon was in charge of tests. , i^ M-G-M was passive. Rehearsals started late in the week, for Eva LeGalliene's dramatic sketch, the .first, entirely serious talking sub- ject to; be made by M-G-M. Jack Noble is to direct, in association with Edgar Allan Woplf. thejvriter. Woolf's berth with M-G-M cov- ers cbnsiderable ground. His job Is to take the a.ctors' material and re-adapt it- for talkers and to sit In on the production as art director. • The next picture to be synchronr Ized by David Mendoza's studio or- chestra Is "Woman of Affairs," the Gilbert-Garbo flicker. The work of : finishing up the studio reconstruc- tion continues at M-G-M under the direction of chief sound engineer Harry B. Wier. The entire front of the building is being repainted, Dressing rooms, offices, etc., have •been reconditipned and rtfurnished, Six office boys from the Loew of- fices at" 1540 Broadway have been transferred to the studio. On Schedule " Paramount will complete"The tetter" practically on schedule next ' week; This is regarded as a good . Bhowlng, as ,it is the first dialog production attempted in the As- toria plant. "Hole in the Wall" * wiU be the second. It will go into . production abput^Dec. 1, with Boh- •rt Florey directing. Richard Dix will go Into produc- ^tloh immediately following "Hole in the Wall," probably shortly after New Year's. Victor Schertzlnger ^111 direct, and John G. Bachman function, as supervisor. Dix's story Is not set as yet. "Birth of the Blues," to follow, Is based on an original story by Monta Bell, Paramount's eastern sound executive. Eddie Cantor will be starred. David Friedman, author of Cantor's biography, "My Life Is In Tour Hands," is doing the screen treatment of Bell's yarn. Warners seem no nearer a definite starting date than last wcelc. It all FBO and Pathe Signs point to a closer affllla- tion between Pathe. and FBO than the present friendlinesSi through the connection of Jos. P. Kennedy and J; J. Murdock with one- or the other or both. FBO, now a part of Radio- Keith-Orpheum as a picture, producer and thereby linked up in association with RCA Photo- phone, seems in line to produce the Pathe talking picture, but to whp.t extent Is not reported. It may be the physical ;produc- tlon or co-operation, et<^. Colvih Brown is the Pathe executive head., in charge of production, and Robert Kane holds that position for talking films in the east with FBO. Kennedy directs Pathe and Jos. Schnit^er does the same for FBO. All of these in some way or another are closely a.lligned with R-K-O. „ hinges upon the arrival of produc- tion executives from the coast. . . D6Fo.rest's Phonofllm studio Is taking tests, but otherwise Inactive. Nei: Next Week (Nov. 19) Harry Howard STATE, NEW YORK BORN TO BE LAUGHED AT Complaint Same Picture Played 1050 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn,. N. Y., Nov. 10. Editor Variety: Somebody ought to tip off cer- tain neighborhood movie circuits in New York that they're loaing more business than they think by playing the same picture all along the line at the same time. The Schwartz people, out here in Flatbush, running the Albe- marle. Farragut. Kingsway and the hew Patio, as well as three or four other houses, are causing a lot of fana to stay home and listen to the radio by showing the same film in all their houses at once. , It's a pretty well-to-do com- munity, is Flatbush, and lots of people have cars to go to any movie in the neighborhood, pro- vided they haven't seen it already in town, and if the picture's worth it. However, with the present schedule In force, If there's a good picture playmg around here, it'll be playing at every theatre at once, with no alternative. . Tlie opposition circuit does the same thing, and if both pictures have had B'way runs, chances are that everybody has seen it. Noth- ing left to do except tune in or bid two spades. Up in the Bronx and along the West Side I hear they're doing the game thing- . Leo MishMn. ALFRED BROWER World's Fastest Russian Dancer Dlrecllon WILLIAMMOKKIS HARRY WAENEE DELAYED H. M. Warner, to arrive in New York Monday, has been delayed on the coast, according to advices to his home office, and will not reach New York until early next week. (Continued from page 5) Canon terms is, Hudson bill In the House. . Brookhart As to the loss of power by the insurgents there are several angles to that. Principal one, however, will be the position of, Senator Brookhart. He delivered approxi- mately 200 speeches for Hoover and is Credited with, much of the vic- tory In the middle west. The regu- lar Republicans will naturally^ be grateful to Mr. Brookhart. The Senr ator'B pet is .his picture bill. Interstate Commerce committee apparently jset for a new chairman when, and if.. Senator James Wat- son,. Ind., becomes floor leader to succeed Senator CUrtls. This • may not transpire, as Mr. Watson has plenty of enemies in the Republican ranks. With him in the chairman- ship and with Senator Gooding, Idaho, the one seemingly most in terested in the Brookhart bill dur Ing last summer, the committee will be aet much along the same lines as during the last s<6ssion as to eontroL Sunday Closing Sunday closing in the House got two breaks: Blanton (D.), Texas, the most malignant advocate of forcing this shut thing on the Dis- trict of Colombia as u, shining ex- ample for the rest of the country, defeated when he thought he could make the Senate. Another that went out is Ralph Gilbert (D.), Ky. He ranked with Blanton, but didn't say so much, nor so loud. He was .effective, though, when he did say something. Counteracting these .two gains through their defeat is the loss of 'Cole of Md. and Coombs, of Mo., both Democratic and both friendly. They declined to irun for the new Congress. That makes It 50-50, with the incoming members naturally a question. Henry Rathbone .(R.). Dl., on the sub-committee, died last summer. Though openly friendly to the adherents of the closing pro- posal, he did not actively support them. That means another new and questionable assignment. Biggest break Is the return of Clarence McL.eod (R.), Mich., chair- man of the sub-committee, who, though without a vote as to, whether or not bill went to the main committee, . is placed in the friendly classiflcatipn. Another Is Frederick Zihlmah (R.), Md., chair- man of the District rule committee and, as such, "Mayor" of Washing- ton. He classifies as a friend. Robert Houston, as firm for clos- ing as was Blanton, hut with the Republican majority, was re-elected from Delaware. He is dangerous. Exhibitors Szhibltors who have successfully blocked any changes in the copy- right law and the. music tax staged a iltUe celebration of their own when checking on Jeft Busby, their official objector, and finding he had won out In Mississippi. It was Busby who stopped the Patents Committee in every move on the floor in the final days of last ses- sion to get through three amend- mentiB approved after three years of liearings. Both Chairman Vestal and Fritz Lionham advocates of the copyright revision, were re-elected, as was Flo*an tampert.. .. At this writing it looks as if Senator C. 0. Dill (D.) of Washing- ton has accomplished a miracle and kept his seat in the Republican flood. This will mean that the American Music Society is in for further and addljtional trips to Washington and that the radio sit- uation will be kept a live Con- gressional issue. Wm. C, Ikinkfrpd (D.), Ga., will continue and Is credited with the statement that he expects to get action on his- Sunday closing bill during thQ coming short session Clarence MacGregpr (R;), N. Y., with .many ideas not liHed hy those of ^imusements, is not coming back, but Daniel A. Reed, Republican chairman of the House education committee, is. He Is listed in the doubtful column by those fighting censorship, but to countcvact tho chair man was tho succcsKful fight of Mrs. Florence Kalm dl Cttli- fornla. ' Sol Bloom Back Spl.filoom is cpmin^'baek." "The 'rheatre's Congressman^" as he is known hereabout, Is very popular and always fighting for some angle of the industry. That he, a Demo- crat, carried a well-established Re- publican district in New York In a landslide for that party caused quite a local Jubilation. Which leaves the one yet unmen- HoDywood Swarming with Petty Larceny Picture Promoters Sol Bloom's Victory A majority of 17,000 for Sol Bloom in the 19th congress- ional district of New York in the most depressing election day Tammany Hall has gone through in years, directed pol- itical attention upon the re- turned Congressman. With the Democratic ticket getting its Wallop in Manhat- tan, and Bloom as a Tammany Hall nominee for re-election in a strong Republican district, beating his majPrity of 7,000 four years ago by 10,000, it was about'.the biggest thing Elec- tion Day developed for the Smith followers. In all 46,000 votes were cast in the 19th. Bloom carried every precinct, another phe- nomenal feat. . Two Exclusive Novelty Devices in New Par, B'klyn Music that cb,n be seen and felt but' not heard will be presented through ^e medium, of a newly perfected machine called the Clavi- lox at the Brooklyn (N. Y.) Par- amount fPr the first , time when the house opens Nov. 24. This will be the only Publix house, and the only house In the country .with this equipment. « Rhythm in cPlors will Be pre- sented. No sound is heard, but the colors can be manipulated to pro- duce Jazz or symphonic effects on the audience. The device was in- vented by Thomas Wilford, for- merly professor at the University of Michigan, now under contract to Publix. . Another device to be installed in the Brooklyn Paramount later will be a lighting system which, builds stage settings through light in colors, ^he settings are flashed on the stage and remain there in place of regular settings while the stage show goes. on. J. li, McCurdy, of the Met, Boston, Is managing director of the Par- amount. S. j. Barutio and B. K Rosenburg are assistants. Los Angeles;.Nov. 13. With the tourist season full on Hollywood finds itself engulfed with new picture producing enter- prises. Leasing studious find their office . facilities taxed to ; capacity with but very little actual produc- tion going on. . Bulk of the activity seerrig to be . confined to the twojby-four offices where the nickel aifd dime opera- tors announce" gigantic production schedules and Interview, hopeful screen aspirants as a subterfuge to get them-to invest in various pror jects.. ■ ■ ■ ^'Sf ■.. ■ These prospects are secured through many channels, but the most effective is that of the "sheep dogs" stationed at sftategic points in various hotels where anxious tourists are found to. be overzeal-^. ous to become attached to the pic- ture husiness. They are steered to . the independent studios where sharpers await them for fleecing. A pictiii'e is painted and to -cinch the deal, the tourist is taken through the BtudiP Where thoy run see the pictures niadc. 'Pl- glamor .'of this releases , the piir.so string^ and the yokels are taken over for. all they can donate toward a share of the proceeds from a,, picture that is seldom started, or rarely ever gets further than the film storage vaults. The nickel and dime producers ar-:. identified by their method of raising capital and operaiting. They start o\it to become bona fide prp- ducers with barely enough to pay the first month's rent and a bill of fiashy. stationery. . Finding it tough to get a permit to sell stpck, they revert to .the sale pf part in- terests in the company, using care not to involve this method with the State corporate laws. Sometimes it take a nickel and dimer several months to accumu- late -enough donations to/get the picture started, while in a. greater number of cases, the racketeers have no thought of putting their collections into a production, but charge it off to promotion expenses. In the event that the investors bring pressure for an accounting, the operator pulls a Houdini and another office becomes available for a long waiting list of tenants while the investing tourist returns home with nothing to praise but the Caliifornia sunshine. Gregory, Indicted, Expect Houses Restored to Him Chicago, Nov. 13. Although a second indictment has been returned by the grand Jury against S. J. Gregory and Ben Bern- asek of the Gregory Theatre Corp., charging violation of the blue sky law in stock sales, stockholders of the corporation ail's said to have subficribed $100,000 to enable Greg- ory to resume control of the four picture houses. At present the circuit is being operated in receivership by the Chi^ cago Title & Trust Co. Gregory is reported confident the trust cPHi-; pany will relinquish the houses to him ^hen furnishing proof he Is financially capable of operating them. , "INTEEFERENCE" OFF IN I. A. Los Aiigeles, Nov. 13. "interference," Paramount's first all-talker, has not clicked as antic- ipated and will be withdrawn at the Carthay Circle, with Fox's "Four Devils" substituted. tloned phase-^the Senator Walsh Investigation of the entire picture industry. There are many here, and men that should know, who predict that all legislation, hearings, charges and countercharges will finally reach the stage where that investi- gation will come Nadine Wayne IRENE Douglas Keaton DON. MARSHALL FEATURED LEADS IN IRENE" Broadway Palace LOS ANGELES Stogwl by tEO Bl-ANC CAR L E N A DIAMOND JOE and WILUE HALE PUTTING THE LAUGHS IN FANCHON and MARCO'S "SAXOPHOBlA IDEA" LUCILLE PAGE FEATURED IN FANCHON and MARCO'S "HAT IDEA" with CHARLIE MURRAY