Variety (Nov 1928)

28 VARIETY P I C T U RE S Wednesday, November 21, 1928 LITERATI Jim Patterson Cured James H.. PattGrson, of .the Chi- cago. Tribune prrpup, \vl),o haw bnfin taking, up aviation at Curtisa Fieid lor the. past few months, has quit the flying racket for good and will tell why in an article in Liberty Bhortly,' '. Following^ a narro\y es- cape from' death when he attempted a so;!© flight recently,. Gapt. Pattei-- soh has deVided that tlying is a ybimg ..man's game. Cpast . Staff, for Secrets . ; . Edward Sammis, associate editor of: Screen Secrets, anriounces tht: following Hollywood lineup for his publication: Helen Starr, western rep; Ruth Biery, Ruth Tildesley. , Alice Tildesley, Agnes. O'Malley, Ltorbthy Spenseley,' Mary . Sharon, Dorothy Cartwright, Grace Simpson, Speed Kendall of the I^s Angeles Times staff,. Harry Cam- of the Los Angeles Times, Charles Darnton, Hollywood rep of the New York Evening World, Dorothy Woldridge and Don Ryan. . • , Sammis says Hal Hall and Wil- liam H.McKeS? ai'© doing occa- sional stories. The announcement suites Doris benibo, Ralph Parker and Madeline Matien are no longer with the publicatiori, which belongs to the Fawcett chain. Best Sellers Bostpn .. ............ Mr, .Blettsworthy ..> Old Pybus : ......... Harness . . - .,.. • • • ■ Silas Bradford'is Boy » • • 4,9 • • • Baker i& Tavlor Co;, national wholesale booksellers, report In- creased re.tdine these months, with the following best sellers: Fiction , Upton ■ Sinclair .. ...;iH, (J. Wells ........... .....Warwick Deeping . ... .A; Hainlltpn Gibbs .....; .. .* ... Jos. .C. Llhcolii' .... • •...... •,. General House at Pooh Corner A. A. Milne John Brown's Body Stephen V- Bennet ........ Auction Bridge—Beginners ...... Milton C. Work ...... . . Whither Mankind ..... .......... C. A. Beard (ed.).;..... • Buck in the Snow • • Edna St. V. MjHay ' Arthur R. Womrath, Inc., retail booksellers, reverses the quence a little but has substantially the same list, although includ- ing Swinnerton's "Brood of Ducklings" as No. 2 on the fiction sell- ers, and Dr. Collins' "A Doctor Looks at Marriage and Medicine" CIS) tops the non-Jiclioii .iellers with Maurols' "Disraeli" ($3) and Eugene CNeill's. "Stmnge Interlude" also big. J5.00 :• 2,50. 2.50 2,'50 . 2.00 $2.00. 2,50 .1.00 3.00 2.00 se- pheiser Accused One of the most remarkable literr ary eritariglemehts involving an es- tablished axithor centers around! the accusation against Theodoi-e Dreiser NOW IN SECOND VEAB "B.B.B." More Tlian a Master of Ceremonies ~At COlTi'EE DAN'S, Xo« Aneelee; Cul. SI WILLS "Wanted by' Everybody—Even the Police" witli "Pickin' Peaches" Unit This Week: Norshpre, Chicago Direction: WM. MORRIS OFFICfi CARI.ENA DIAMOND (DANCINa HARPIST SUPREME) Featured with Fonrlion and Marco's DENVER BEAUTIES Idea Now, Capitol, Salt I^ake Direct toil: ^alter^ejerSj^fJWm^IorrJ^Agen^ that he plagiarized Dorothy Thomp- son's book, "The N<w llussia."; Drei.ser's volume is titled "Dreis- er Looks on Russia," and the New York Evening Post, for whom Miss Thompson (Mrs. Sinclair Lewis) went to the Soviet Government for the material,-has made an issue of Dreiser's alleged bori-owing from the femme author. The Post stresses that Miss Thompson's book, -ptiblished Sept. -7-,--Is-a-n--ampliflca- tion of her articles in the dallies from Feb. 6 until March 3. Dreiser's book, published .Nov. 10, or two riionths after Miss Thompson's, was also based on newspaper articles which he published between March 18 and March '28, . or fully 15 day6 after Mrs. Lewis had concluded her series. The Post is making a strong Issue, of the siniilarity and recalls that oh two other previous occasions both George Ade and Sherwood Anderson have had occasion to notice Dreis- er's similarity of materiul from their previous publications: The Post furthermore draws a deadly parallel between Dreiser's and Miss .Thomp- son's books, ^comparing paragraphs to paragraphs as to almost identi cal phraseology, material and local color. Dreiser denied any copying to the Post, while Miss Thompson stated that she had noted the similarities when the paper had sent her a copy of Dreiser's book for her to review The matter may reach the courts. McFadden and Macfadden The injunction secured by Ber narr Macfadden against B. L. Mc Fadden because the latter planted his name on his "Cabaret Stories," has been vacated. The physical cul- ture exponent charged people would think Cabaret Stories is a Mac- fadden publication, but McFadden's attorneys pointed out the narries are spelled differently and Mc^'adden had a right to his own. name on his publication, even as JBei'narr Mac- fadden. ■ - . No White House Tipping Prjsl.dentjCbolidge is not going to have ills message to Congress break until he delivers It—if he cdn help, it. Each year this dociinient is pi'e- pared well in advance and. distri- buted by mail to the newspapers throughout the country. Last sea- son the Whitie House was irritated by the "dope" stories appearing in advance. Another factor was the lobbying crowd: in : Washington. They knew all about it, too. Now, .however, the President has ordered the U.. S. Secret Service to see what it can do about, it. Those papers that last year broke "surmise" stories will find them- sielves omitted on the mailing list this time, . Sound Road Show With Han-a-Phone Not So Forte Oswego, N. T., Nov, 20. The first attempt to road show a synchronized film program In Cen- tral New York was made at the Gem here last week, with the newly orgahizod C. F. S. Road Shows, Inc., oX .Euffalo, headed by C. F. Savage, responsible. 0.s\Vego so far i!3 without a wired house, the Buffalo company Install- iiig a portable Han-a-Phone outfit for the four-day engagement. Newspaper and other advertising eopy stresses the familiar slogans, "Heai- What You See" and "100 Per Cent Synchronized and Talking Pictures." . The program embraced a feature and four HanVa-Phpne acts. The former was; Fivat bivision's "Rag- time," with a cast topped by Mar- guerite De La Mptte and John Bow- ers, and announced as "with sound." Obviously, the synchronization was a synthetic one of talking machine records.- The acts, heralded as "a miracle of sound and vision," included Shelby and Wall^e^'- Murray Parker, "Three Night Club Boys and Mpnrpe Silver in "Cohen on the Radio." The Gem adopted a three-a-day policy for the ."sound" program, wltli-matlnee. at - .2!i_cents ..ancL. tw o. cyenlhg shows at 50 cents. Fischer-Par Vs. Fox Chicago, Nov. 20.. Fischer-Pavamount Theatre Co. announces if is ready to start build- ing theatres thi-ough .Wisconsin In Appleton, Belolt, Stevens Point, Monro* ancl Watertown. . Those are the towns In which Fischer-Paramount is staging a competitive war against Fox-Mid- wesco. Fish Race on B'way One of the most humoi;ous press stories o£ the season was that of a flsh race, expected to be staged last week pn Broadway from the Bat- tery to. 42nd street. It was so nutty the New York Sun ran the yarn. It was claimed that the fish were "attending" the Natlpnal Hotel Ex- position at Grand Central Palace. It was furtlier claiihed that the fish, oiily found In Egypt, develop the ability to walk because the sun dries up the streams in which they ordinarily live In the desert. The additional explanation Is that they (Continued on page 63) ' Operator Trouble May Cause Sound Stoppage , Los Angeles, Nov. 20. West Coast will not use spund pictures In its fpur San Diego houses after Dec.. 15 unless the present dis agreement with operators Is settled by that date. Operators* scale for silent projec tlori in San Diego is $52.30 for a seven-day week. The unions de mand $87.50 over the same period for sound projection In addition to an extra man In each booth. West Coast's offer to compromise at $67 was turned down. SOUND MAKING SALES FOR MUSIC RECORDS The desire of small picture houses; to get In on the sound adverti.singi: has been a boon to. purveyors oa cheap mechanical devices. The. Olivel" Company of Cleveland, which sells a "synchronized music" re-, producer, has sold bvei' 100 in small; Ohio towns within three months,. . Selling price Is $75b' and 100 as-' sorted recprds, western, sentimental military, love, and various 'themes", are thrown In gratis. In the same connection indepen- dent exchanges repprt requests- froni exhibitors for prints one or two days in advance of play date In order to permit "synchronizatipn.'^' In. other word.<3, time to select ap- propriate phpnpgraph records. Campaign for New Censor System for Ohio's Board Cleveland, Nov, 20. Plans to abplish the present pic- ture censorship In Ohio and to re- organize the Ol^io state censorship board were scheduled to be intro- duced at the two-day's , state con- vention of the Motion. Picture The- atre Owners of Ohio, which began today at Columbus. ^ ~ The —exhibitors' - association—will campaign for a new Ohio board ol censors, to be controlled by state legL^latiire and independent of. any political party or appointment. In the current board, the governor ap- pointed all of its members, • Whether the M. P. T. O; of Ohio w'ill affiliate v:ith the : M. .P. T. O. of America, was anptlier p)'oblem" attacked by the. exhibitors. EUROPEAN PREMIERE-PALLADIUM DECEMBER 10th LONDON "Brilliant Sax work .. . . elaborated with fine sense of comedy . . . Different . . . Sure-fiVe." ^'Variety** ■ "Alone worth entire j)r.ice of admission;" Detroit ''Times'' "A treat . . . sweetest music heard this season . , . especially clever." Terre Haute ''Star*' "High plane of quality , . . expert musicians of ?^x^Hol¥aM Tfiiinp^ N, Y, "Telegraph ft hear "Corking musical act. Ensembles clicking heav- ily . . . Landing for corn- ed v.'V: "Variety" "A young Sousa's band." ' San Francisco "Times" "Trumpet and Saxo- phone players extraordi- nary." Phila. "Public Udger" "Really know the mean- ing of harmony . . . gen- erous embellishment of MlyT: Tbts11)nTtour;*" Ann Arbor "Times" American Representative: WILLIAM MORRIS, 1560 Broadway, New York European Representative: FOSTER AGENCY, 32 Shaftesbury Ave., London, W. 1 2 "Show" Film in Chi's Opposish Houses Chicago, Nov. 20. The. newspaper advertising war which has been going on between Balaban & Katz and Marks- Bros. ^ for some time went into fever heat this week with a.perfect setting. B. & K, is playing "Show People" (M-G-M) at the Uptown and Para- dise, while Marks' have "Show 'Folks'" (Pathe) In the Marbrp and Granada. The houses are in direct • coinpetitiPn. Marks' Increased their regular newspaper space to one-third of a page for "Show Polks'" opening and are exploiting the talker angle, with B. &: K. advertising "singing , and orchestral sound" for . "Show People" In heavy type. 6 Gen. Mgrs. for U Exchanges in Sections Wliat will ensure the most com- plete national sales coverage In the record of Universal, the company believes, Is being Introduced by Liou Metzger. He is appointing six resi- dent managers, each of whom will control five and six exchanges In given territories. Heretofore the country was cov- ered by two managers, for east and west, with headquarters in the home ofllce. Delay and coistly wire and phone bills will now be elimi- nated with the new network, it le stated. The hew system will be about the third the Laemmle organization has u-sed since its Inception. Pantzer, Prod. Mgr. George Pa,ntzer Is now production manager of the Colony theatre. A New Name on Broadway JERRY RYAN BARITONE Featured -In John MBitay Anderson's "STARS" .Unit PARAMOUNT THEATRE NEW YORK CITY Week Nov. 17, 1928 Direction , JOE CORNBL^VTH N AT KAI.CIIIEM Wm. Morris _ ABfn<"y ^ Xew Tork Wni. Morris ARcnt'.v With Agnes Gillroy 'BITS OF BROADWAY" A Publix Unit This Week: Harding, Chicago DIrertlon WM. MORRIS OI'FICB Douhlinc nt Tifnn Monti Vnte. ( hloftK*