Variety (Nov 1928)

VARIETY PICTURES _ Wednesday, November 28, 1928 Rudolph Spreckles to Fore In Radio and Recording by ft Am-Kolsf er Subs Merging . Rudoipli Spreckels, flnan<,-if>r, and chairman of the. boarct of thf Kol- ster'.Radio Corp,, looms up as' an important pprsonality in the radio- talk j n g.■ pieture- phonogj'aph record- '.ing. busijiefis, as the result of a merger b^twoen WirPd Radio, Inc., subsidiary, of tho North American Co., and i.lie- Fodc-ral Telegraph Corp.; subsidiai-y of the Kolster Ra- dio Corp... By. this arransfcmv.-nt, 'some. 600 basic patonts and patents pending of inventions in the fields of . cbni- miunicatiohs,.. radit), wired .radio, electric.phonograph.s, television and talking pictures, come under con- trol of Kol.ster. The.se patents have been.-acquired -by -the-North Amer- ican Co. during the last six years and v.ested in its own name and in. that. of SVirfed Rtvdio, ■ ' ■. ^Yil■cd Radio in turn will continue its pl.a'n.s fov.seUing entertainment into ..the . home by wir^d ground lines, over the light and power wires and In tui'-n has.Jicfiuired'from Koletcr valuable exclusive patents for its own specific use. Ellery Ay. Stone is president of Kolster Radio and Frank L. Dame the head of the North American Co. Stone* states that exten.sive litiga- tion to pro.tect their patent, hold- ings seems inevitable because, by the.Wired Radio-'Kolster merger. It giyea the lattier the control of cer- tain valuable groups of basic pat- ents, which are expected, to yield large royalties. . North ■American Co. i% the $60,- 000,000 public utilities corporation controlling the power and light lines In many Important municipalities. H. D. Connick, former film man, now in charge of Wired Radio, is In Europe on a business trip. By spring, the first installations In Cleveland are expected. Wired radio is to be exploited to supple- ment wireless radio broadcasting and not to displace It, but the ad- vantages of eliminating summer- time static and also the improved reception, without the handicaps such as encountered in cities on ac- count of steel frame buildings, will be the chief sales' arguments.- Entertainment service will range from $1 to $3 a.month, to be tacked on the electric light bill, depending cn the type of receiving instrument, aiid will give subscribers a three- ply choice of classical, popular and educational programs. Two Sane Los . Angeles, Nov. . 27. One of Hollywood's most happily; morriod. yourig couples, both prominent screen player.T, make no bones about admit-, ting that-they care absolutely nothing about the '.;art'.' of the screen; and. are- interested only , in their - possible income from pir-tures. Likewise, they mingle comparatively little .with . the "film, crowd." When .map-ying they figured ' on how much principle they Would' "heod to .provide them ■with a comfortable income for the rest of their lives to piermll .tilem to follow'their own par- ticular hobbie.s,. the most mu- tual of which itj golf.. .Tii.ey. de- cided to .quit when they had amassed .'that sum'. Pooling their resources, at the end'Of the first year they foiind themselves only a couple. Of thousand short of .one.-third of the goal. They are now near- Ing the end of the second year, are nearly half, way, have built themselves a home iand are as fixed as -ever in their deter- mi'i.ation to quit when the goal Is reached. At the time of their wedding, the wife's salarywas consider- aljiy higher than her husband's, but since then his progress has been steady and his Weekly stipend is now much, higher thdn it was. Besides, he is un- der contract and. drawing it every week, while the wife is a free-lance player and doesn't work all the time. So there have never been any domestic troubles over the dif- ference in sala.ries. JEAN MiDDLETON ."The Dainty Musical Sta:r,. orig- inally booked With Famous Play- ers Canadian circuit for six weeks, now in her ninth month and booked solid unjtil Api:H 1; 1929, No Pathe-RCA Deal A sharp rise In Pathe stock, coni- mon and preferred, last week was preceded downtown by a vepprr. RCA intended to take over Pathe. It is said that RCA .would .cast Pathe into the Radio-Koith-Or- pheuixi combination. As far as ca,n be learned there, are no dealings on by RCA for Pathe and no liklihood of Pathe making any kind of. a deal Just at present; .Jos. P. Kennedy, in charge .of Pathe, now in California, is ex- pected back within a few days; The Pathe rise has been attribii Led to manipulation by some one very familiar, with it. Barthelmess' $9,375 Per Wk., for 40 Wks. Yearly Lios Angeles, Nov. 27. Richard Barthelmesa' salary will be $9,375 per week for 40 weeks per year under his new two-year con- tract with First National. Barthelmess Will make three, pic- tures within the 40|-week working period. His bit per flicker is ap- proximately $125,000, ileal Comedies Show Little So Far But Big Investments Warners and R-K-O Slumbering Downtown Downtown interests behind War- ner Brothers and Radio-Keith-Or- pheum are reported to have per- mitted the pending negotiations be- tween the two parties to. slumber, until the completion of the R-K-O organization. It is said that a couple of meet- ings of late have been held, on thp Bubject, with a tentative ' undor- standlnp reached. Details as to the latter/are vague. From .accounts no merger of the two firm.s is in contemplation at present. . The plan, from report is. that if a deal is made, R-K-O may taIcQ on the. St.aniey Company chain from .W;irners. That circuit wanted them added to the^ present Keith's "held by- R-K-(5.',"'and t}V6 operator of Keith's directing both circuits. Anything beyond that so far con- eidoi-ed hn.s hot been reported. W; B. Blanketing Jessel Toronto, Nov. 27. ; Warner Brothers' Canadliin ofllce here has been advised to withdraw all publicily material on George Jessel. - It's due to tho (rouble between the =-'StTtr"aTrd=thc-"h-om'c-'ofllce.---=^-^--~=^^^ Los Angeles, Nov. 27. Fox and Paramount have been doing considerable experimentation on musical comedy production with talk. This has been going ,on for four months. At the Fox lot they are working on what they call the "Movietone Follies." Though the work is an experiment, it is figured that it will probably develop into the first musi- cal comedy subject turned out by the company. The sequences that have passed muster sO far show Clark and McCullough in a scene and then a lineup of girls. It is the intention of the Fox of- ficials to have all the directors em- ployed bh -their lot direct an in- dividual scene for thi.s picture. Each is to provide the gags and situa- tions and select from-players under contract the principals he wishes to use in. hl.s scenes'. . SJiould . the idea . work out ;Fo^w figure • they' .will have the.' first Movlotpno. musical comedy at a cosf bE a;roim.d: ?l70O0,000. ■ In case It does not it will be just charged up to experimentation. So far Par is said to have sp(>nt over that amount in its expei'i- meiits, with no results to date. Weather Forecast F. NvS Only Ingenue Los AngolcJi, Nov, 27. . First National has takbn option on.Lo^rotta Young for another', year, Since Mis,s Youlig Is the only In- gcniio'under contract to this .stu- dio, she will automatically become Its candidate for the 1929 edition of the Wampas baby stars. Washington, Nov. 27. Weather Bureau furnished Va- riety with the fpllow;Ing outlook for the week beginning tomorrow: Rain will set In as fir east as Pittsburgh Wednesday and in the Atlantic States late Wednesday night; continued "Thursday (29). Generaliy fair Friday to Slinday, although rain or snow is probable In the Chicago-Pittsburgh area about Sunday night; ■ Warmer Wednesday, much colder Chicago to Pittsburgh about Fri- day night (3.0),. and eastward to coast Friday..- Warmer by Sun-day (2). Flu Epidemic on Coast Hits 500 Studio People of All Classes Years Later One of Hollywood'$ midgets dining, with a friend, was in the .same restaurant with a young screen . star wiio has Jumped to the top in ,the past couple of yeai-s. The star fin- ished first. In leaving he had to pass the midget's table,. Walking by, the star almost stopped,; looked down at .the midget, then- abruptly turned his head in the "cut direct" and went ont, bbvidusly. both the. rnidg:et and the star had recog- nized each other. The friend turned to the mid- ■ get. . ''What's the idea?" he asked. "He was my valet once and I fired' him," grinned the midget.. WM. FOX BUYING Erecting 4,000-Seater in 4b-Story Biiilding William Fox ia reported to have concluded arrangement with J. J. .Shubert to purchase , the. Central theatre at Broadway and 47th street! . ■ On the amplified site Fox will build 40 stories high, for offices, and include a theatre seating 4,000. Additionally to tho Central's Broadway. facing of limited front, inclusive of the 47th street corner. Fox is said to have aecured options on the rear 47th street property ad- joining, calling for- a considerable depth on that street, running through midway between .47th and 4Cth street behind the Central's main lobby. The account mentions that Fox expects to annex the Automat res- taurant adjoining th© Central, to the south on Broadway, with a lease option for the Automat to. have aufflcient space for Its needs in the new structure. Negotiations have been going on for some time. The Central now Is housing First National's "Lilac Time" under a Weekly rental. Of recent months It mostly has been rented out for special pictures. The Central la J. J. Shubert's In- dividual holding. Fox's general offices will occupy most of the office space in the new building. Karl Dane Baching It Los Augoles, Nov. 27. • Karl Dane, the (ar.pen«-or that be- came an actor and married Thnjs Valdamer, coimtcss, is baching it again after three month3. Karl is not sure whether there'll second^ bride. Comedies' Theme Songs Los Angeles, Nov, . 2'7. Sterling Sherwood completed, the iyrics und -. music - for three theme songs to be used with Christie com- edies: "Pooiey Dooley IJo" for the Bill Dooley comedies, "Melancholy Mama" for "Melancholy Dame," ;uid "Carnations" to accompany, the feature length comedy, "The Car- h.ation Kid." Wedding's Talking Short Los Angeles, Nov. 27. Hortense Petra, Fox contract placer, married Sam Katzman, casting agont, Nov. 24. Scene of cert'mony \vas one of . sound stages at Fox Movietone studio, A talking short of, the event was taken. CLAEA'S "WILD PARTY" Los Angeles, Nov. 27. Clara Bow's next for Paramount will be "Wild Party." Lloyd Sheldon will supervise and John v. A. Wea-yer will write, dia- "The Saturday Night Kid" la postponed until "'Wild Party's" com- pletion. Fox Borrows a Cast Los Angeles, Nov. 27, Because of 12 other productions sapping.their current supply of talr eht, Fox found it necessary to re- cruit from ofher studios the entire cast of "'White Fury," with one ex-, ception, . Nancy Carroll was borrowed from Paramount, Josephine Dunn from M-'Gi-M, Lawrence Gray, Myrtle Stedman, Richard Alexander and George Davis from the free ianc€ field. - . - - --v -- The only Fox pi.ayer cast is- Fred erick Graham. Charles Klein directing. Lbs Angeles, Nov. 27. Studio greeting last -week -waa; - !'have you tho flu?" Tteanon -was' that more than 500 persons con* nected -vvith' the industx^y had been stricken with tiie. ailment during the past; two weeks. . Production In general wiis : held up and held back. The flu got its start this year in San Frahei.sco about six Nv eeks ago. There it becarne very serious, and finally It hit here. ' The local casualty list so far shov/s • the following either confined to their homes and hospitals with it or unable to work for several daysi oh the Paramptint lot tbose Who":' got it were: B.' P. Schulberg, Rich-: ■ ard Arlen, Al Kaufman, 'Tom Beech^ Jobyna Ralston, William . Powell, Sam Jaffe,. Olga Baclanova, 'r. As .a result of Baclanova's illness,' Parr held u p retakes -on seve i-al talk- ing sequences of. "Wolf of Wall Street,V and "Four Foath.^rs" was delayed two days bcca\ise of the Ill- ness of Arlen and. Powell.' ITirst National lot cpntriljuted the largest number of reported, cases with . the following • stricken; John Mqpbvmirk; Ned Marin, Agnes Christine Johnston, Jack Qkey, John Hughes, Walter Strohm, Charles Odds, J. Mand<\lbaum, E. K. Scott, Corinne Griffith, Kathryn McGuire, Frank Ward, Cullen B. Tait and James Dunn. At Universal, the illness touched Carl Laemmle, Jr., Sam Wie.senthal, I)orothy Gulliver and Kathryn! Crawford. 'riffany-Stahl reported Illness oi! Mrs; M. Todd, Sid Al- giers, Al Ray and M.. K. Wilson. Five studio stage hands also ill. ; Claire McDowell, at Tec Art, and Buster Kcaton, Grant Whytock and Tim McCoy, at M. G. M. were among thosie taken sick. . At Metropolitan, Ted Wilde, Frank Lawrence and Dave Allen were ill. Hal Wallis, at Warner Brothers also. . Sol Wurtzel, John Ford, Miss Pickering, Lillian Vanderwall; Anna Schneider and four studio ha:nda Were, too ill. to report to work at Fox. ■■' ■ ' . United Artists listed on . the sick roll; M. C. Levee, Hank Arnold, Al- bert Brentinger, Milton W^att and several studio wor-kers. Pathe had Howard. Higgin, Tay Garnett, Wil- liam Boyd and Fred Kohl or report* ed sick. . ' Alberta .Vaughn, free lancing, and Wyn D. Horton; at the .Vine Street theatre, both laid up for repairs, too. At the Consolidated Laboratory T. W. Yates, Joe Aller and. Charles Bigelow have been incapacitated by flu, as well as 17 employees; . . Pdter Shamray of Smith and AUetf is ill at homo with flu. Richard Barthelmess, now miak^ ing "Weary River" for First Na- tional, and . Camilla Horri, leading lady to John Barrymore in "King of the IMountains," a.re at homo doctoring,-' Clara BoW Is another late victim of the busy germ, but recovering in San Francisco., San Francisco, Nov. 27, Clara Bow, attacked by llu while attending the California-Stanl^or.fi football game Saturday, was report- ed considerably Improved today and Is expected to return to Hollywood In a few daya. Phoney "Fence" Salesmen Kept Out of Studios Los Angeles, Nbv. 27. Warning has been issued through- out, tho movie colony by the police, against spurious salesmen, making house to house canvasses in Holly- wood, and attempting to crash the -TJttnliOTrsx^llin^'^ftn^ahd^'tsm'e^^^^ ens at ridiculously low prices. These salesmen's method of ap- proach Is to-lntlmal(> that the goods are. stoh'h or smuggled. Tlio inexperienced are falling. One woman paid $350 for a seal coat with white fox collar represented to her a.s a $7,000 garment. It Was really a cheap Imit;itlon, worth abont $7!), according to poHr-o ex- perts. Al Lewis in Charge Of Fox Talkers, East Los AhgeleJ;, Nov. 27, Al Lewis will leave for New York Dec. 1 and take charge of all talker production on the east coast for ■Fox, ■ ■ ■ - W, -R; Sheehani; who was -to have- gone east wltii Lewis, will not b© able to get away until after New Year's, . In New York it Will be the duty of Lewis ahd his department to obtain material by reviewing plays, extras, writers and directors rcr queated by the West Coast; l ie will also be in charge of the personality, shprt subjects to be made by stage stars, at the Fox New York studio-. Warner's Role Biggest Of Any in Filmd Los Angele.*?, Nov.. 27. H. X'.-Warner-has'been ^'iveh the part of (he district -a'f •-I'-y "Mary Dutcan." : Th.Q nj.le is said to bo the Li^.f^ef^* one ever written for an aetur in a plctui'o. Norma Shearer is to be .-^-larred, with ]?ayniond Ilackett pl;i:. ing th* male h'ad.