Variety (July 1929)

Wednesday, July «4, 1929 P I G T U R E S VARIETY Gloria Swsu^ "Impasser For ihe; first tlm^ an American ; madiB ;plcture, talker or otherwiBe, . - with ah Am^^^ star will pre- ' • shov on, special -ruits in Europea n . capitals before niakihff a;hom^ pearanbe. The. star Is GloHa $wari- idii and the tallter. is "Th6 Tressri passer," the Jos. P. Kfenriedy special,; : / with United Artists rqlease/ . lyiiss Swarisoii will nhake persohal Appearances • with the i)icture In ■ London, Paris and Berlin, possibly / other Eurojpean centers, before re- • turninlT' to. New Ybrk around Oct.. i,' next, :,for, a similar, showinsf on ■i •Broadway; I'he star sails Aug; 4. . She is. due in Mew Yovjic , this week, preparatbry to recordiner the 'three. bi* ..fpur sorigfs. sung: by. her- in "The . ■ Tresspasser" on ■ Victor 'phonograph • • digjijs. . .\ • A heavy publicity campaign" . surround Miss Sw'lhsorils Euroveon. ahd riatiye toui\. . \ V ; ..^z .\ Following-.. t^^ /New •• Tork .. pre- miere and Miss-Swahsoh's personal . appearartces,.. she . w to Hol- , iywood to cQmplete. "Queen .Kelly," •another .Kennedy special talker: pro.-^ . duction. Tiiere were a couple of dla- ' ■ log sequences unfini.ished pn"Kclly'; ■when .Miss Swtinson started .oh the .; "Tresspasser'' picture!. .These . will b.e completed .by her . and ''Kelly!' . ,aiririiost Immediately released, to toir- : .'lotv the other. "Kelly". Will also be A; distributed.: : • : ' • rJoI$oii Film at Warner's^ ling A bookirig reiported ;s.Urprising Al' jolsoh at ledst is the: decision of; - the Warner Brothers to;, opeii Jolr . .son's next ;^ahd 3rd) Wa^^ . at Warner's, /on. Proijid'way,. Aug, <6.. Jolspn's: V^ingliig . Fool" . played : at, ..the'Wluter Garden. Al i§ ■ said to . ; have, believed "Say: tt With. Songs" would, al.66' land lifx; that Shubert- leased house. ■ ■ . Warners/, frioin fk^ccounts, prefe;r to play %iiat they Vthinlc. is, a- sure ■ftce in their owntheatre,, rather than, on the perce.htage .split with the Shuberts as per the ieasihg agreement. .V ■( The SlVuberfs financial state- meht for last season, reyeiled that about :all of their profit, around ?450,006 oh tile ye.a,r, canrie from the operation under lease; of tlie Win- ter Garden by the Warners. Aug. 6; is also thie third anniver- flary of Warners' Vitaphone. " A celebraitiori ot two may be put ^over. by the! Warners for tbat occasion, besides the. Jolson premiere. . €iirl P.Av for 80 Houses , Chicago, July. -23. . - Madeline Woods/ publicity direc- tor for the Great States circuit In lilinols has been placed' ih charge of publiqity additionally for ; the 13 Fltzpatrick-McEiroy houses In In-, diana, also ■ recehtly acquired by •publix, ,, :' ''/,: ■ ' 'Xlhis puts around ;8d. theatres on the Woods, typewriter. . Par's AU-Slar Revue ' Los .A^ July, 23. Pa,ramount Is how. formulating, a plan for a revue to include all..stars atnd players of the paramotlnt 'roster. '-.■ ■ James. TTall isr Tilated jik in. e. Toughjp/n ianet . ; r^o;s Angeles, July 28, . Seymour Felix's/ a;\nce routines proved too -n-iuc-h fur Janet flixynor last week, .' • ~ Fox plaVer succumbed to leg- mania and heat. She had to stay home- four days. ■ Returnod. to ,studio yesterday (Monday): SEEt-^HEAB '£H GBdWL ::WlienI -Mjlrtin ' Johnson arid hia .Wife, Elsa,: go back to the Afiricani jungles next year the^ are going to take along a com- , plete sound recording butfit; to get -thie wildanintial atuff. In sound.' - ' '''. isite the Priesid^ ; ■ " . y ; Washihgtpnii .^J'uly :'?3.; . liOuisV B/ .Mayer, /pr. M-G-IVI, ..Is back , here again. • . .'Tiiis. beihg. his second Visit : •vijithin 10- days.' Last, time . he -had lunpheon . 'with llie President.. This . tinrtie. it is another ai')p6intment with the Chief Execu- tive.. /-; ■ ■ ■:.•'.■■' '■ ;• Both . .Georf'e Akers'on, secretary to- the Preisldent/ ^ and,. .Mr. , Mii.yer state the^e visits afe:'":'pU*reJF . so- cial." , •■ :; /:v ;.;' ; . v . In 'spite of' these stdtcments the advent of . Mr. Atayer adds another big name ih the picture industry to. the aVready lehgthy list that liave been cojllers /at. the. White: Housie since John. iOprd p.'Brien,;. new as- sistant to tlve^ Attorney. Ge.herai, started hts.re-checkinrr'bf .th« Varl- ouiS picture mergers, past: and pres- ent.'-.',•■'.■,■;'■'/■■/■•^/■'^/ Meanwhile! Mr. d'Brien' continues, to sit on the'. Fox-Lpevv" investiga- tion papefa .which aire" still on his desk.. Also.: agen ts of the depart - • ment continue their , deiye Into the WArner^FV, Ni-Stan " ■■ Also, so /reports haye it,. prepa- rations . jire nderway to - next go over the Parampunt-Publlx deals. : This fits/in With report, in Va- riety. of .last week that every deal was tp_ be • rerchecked. There now seenis to::be. niorie^. behirid It tha,n juat' a desire on the part of Mr. O'Brien to find out first hand just what his. predecessor,, Col,. /Wnri.- J. Donpyan, okayed in advance; / One thihg. seems acciepted. ;THat Mr. Hoover" is goin^ to let Attorney General Mitchell and Air.. Mitcheli's assistant) , Mr. O'Brien/ .have their own way in handiihg eyerythihg coming uhd'er the. anti-trust pho,3es of; their department's activities. Refused Good Films . . .Portland, Me.; Julr .23i: Becaus?e of. fhe che<ap sound cquip- ment In sUrt:imer . film theatres :at New England resbrts, exchanges in Portland and elsewhere are refusing to service these, places except with old plGitures, Tendency-is to discon- tinue pre-release showings, at the resorts.;''. .■ /..' . Exchanges,- ..possibly under in- strucfciPh from the home offices, figure that with rosorts crowded with people from all/over: the coun- try, .they can't afford^ give their; new. product a blaclc eye'by faulty reproduction. Most of the summer colonies have a mere; handful of residents in win- Ver., H!.ence cheap equipment. 12 FOK SMALL :BITS: JjOs Angeles, July -23. . More than a. dozen Broadway star.s, ■v.audp headliners arid exr-fii'm. .stars were cailc.Ml to/ pprfcjrm small bit parts in a dance hall niob scene for "Frozen Ju.''lice,!' now bpjn.g.di- rected by Alan Dwan. for F(jx, j: : Among those ralled. were Tom ijatiuct)|a._.-^I(i. \it ^K.S:^Sj ' wlerJs, L;('lve,'*Ad('lc..\\,'i.n(:lso.fv' (ii>rtr.u(le As tor, Ncynoon'l.''arrelI, Joe Dro'wn,. lOI Brendel,. Warren HJ-mcr, Charles Juilels, CSeorKe McFurlano, /-Jihi Leonard. L()U Meehan. Ted Oliveri Jane Talent, Tod IJi'bwn and Edna Croft, sister of Alice Terry. All played minot bit..s and acted as atmosphere.1 P e r m a h e n/t Injunctidn: Agfiiiinst American Electric ■ i1htx>ugliout / (A(eiriiaany / Possibly Senpus Effect on .Gerincian Exhibitprs Unless / /RGA Phbtbphbhe Slips in •'■■■Yia-A;-.E.-C.'--^.^^^-^'^ L b N GLITI G A TI ON .• ■•;•.. •/■ .Ber|in» July 23t. .Germany' becomes alj hii'ixed-up film pictoriatly and Ih^w^ ■^^ permanent ahd/absblM^e injuiic- .tipn handed dovyn/kgaFhst Western Electrib wiring in this .country: The court /order -Vrestricts. the /German film housbs foi piaitent. .hofdera of the KlWngfjlm-Tbbjs and'other nf" -tive ^grpupSr- /■.■■.,..■';■:■ ■■ Among the,. latter . is Ai, E. G., European national Wiring concern' cipsely affiliated with. KlangiFilm. A. E, Gb is said to :have an undercover Working agreement with ftCA Pho- tophpne, the other. American elec- ^tric (General). ' It leads to .a prevailing . ppinlon very nnuch oh the Inside that with the stoppage of W. E. coverage over here, .Photophohe may slip in through A. Ei G.-klangfilm. Photo- phpne-A,. E. G. Understahding is said, to cover all of the Continent.. . Present cohditioh, created by. the injunctipn against W. E., wiiich rhay be follp.Wed by two or three years of litlgatlpn before reaching final cbhclusloh is intense for the exhibitor. W^ E. wiring whfere placed- \vi\l have to be removed. Some of that has been . done. .; Unless Ph'otophpne should rer- place W. E. in the houses wired and susceptible of becoming wired, the German exhibitors will have to wholly rely upon native devices. On top : of this there is no pre- dicting ho^iir the. resultant confusion will operate uppn the American talkers the German exhibitors dear- ly/Want to play^ . Already muffled through ian in- junction are "The girtging Fool" at the Glpriapalast, "Abie's Irish Rose" at the Ufapala;st, and "Noah's Ark" at the Tlttanla, all American mades. Besides these, the T.erra iminediately became silent, with all of the houses resuming orchestral aecompaninients. Closing the "Sing- ing Fool" halted the most success- ful run ever in a German picture house. Failure to eonie to agreement on terms/with the American Interests is supposed to be. the reason for the: German sound: owners forcing the issuu. /It his been belleVed right alone, that German equipment peo- ple could have been papifled by an, agreemeiit on inferchangoabllity. EDDIE LEOXARD'S AGE ; Overheard In the Globe lobby;:':':-::- // ' ■ '• : ''How old Is Eddie Leonard?" "Oh,; 20,000 bows." W. E.'s Statement /. Western Electric, iri; New York, issued /yesterdjiy / ti^e following statement; .. . ■ '•'-. /:: "The latter part of May an ' . injunctipn ■was. asked for ' by :(jerman .Interests ; against a .theatre - in^ ljerlin ih' Vhich . Western^ Klectric spund equip- ; ment had. been installed: 'West'- - ' ern iqlectric Company was - , successful in having the InjUnc- /. tion modified to such an extent as to perrnit the. carrying on .of . pcrfprman.c'fis with Wc.stern . JCIectric equipment. : . "This action: of the• court In • modifying the injui^^cliOn^ w'as • appealed ..from by the plaintifC and it is that appeal which has. been ,decided" i n favor of the .' pJaintirt. .The present doCLsiori, however, was not the re.s.uU of: a trial Of tlie case on its merits, but the Injunction wa.s granted' as . a re.sult of a German proce- dure in, which the/ijcope of the . patent Involved was n6t .liti- gated. "The-Western ElecU-ic Com- Los Angeles, July 23. Generally accepted Idea that the picture studios are /holding ph to all their Pld Scripts and are not.seli- ing long :held stories to each other' "just In case," has developed loop holes. ■■ Paramount .and Warners have demonstrated a: readinesis to reach on the shelf an'<i sell to each other the dust co'vered scenarios; while First National / and Universal are trying to get together on a veteran F. N. yarn. Fox and Metro-Gold- Wyn.rMayer ha'Ve their Inter-work- ing- agreement oh scripts, as plan- ned by. Winnie Sheeliari and Lpiiis Mayeri and have, occasionally, sold a tale to ah outside studio. As to tne number of stori.es held by these studios,:, it is believed an approximate summary would show M-G-M and Fox to hold the rights to around 3>000 stories; : Warners- First National-Vitagjraph a b p u t 3,000; Universal J>etween /2,.00d and 2,500, and Pat-ahipUht somewhere In the neighborhood 'of 1,200. Taking these estimates, at/the top. calcula- tion It will readily , be . seen/that the outside author must sell: against this list- of/9,700. script.s, a strong handicap. . Local.attitude to hold everything, invoked by ..the. incoming • talking picture, I.s beiieved to be easing off- Boys are loosenlhg up and .when a story is: in/d em arid they're Showing a distinct tendency to bargain. An- other angle/ making it tough for the author, is the number of re- makes the studios are turning out by cphyerting former. silent fea- tures to dialog- program, leaders. Some estimate that if the future production lists of these .studios were checkod tiie . number of re- make/s ..in the. lineups would run somewhere between 25 and 40 per cent;- • . ~- .: - . . Paramount has bought "The Lit- tle Cafe'!, from Warhct.s,; according, to New 'York report.. I'nder.stand- iflg is that this story will reach the screen :'with .Maurice "('hevalior .starred. . ■ ■• . ' •' U>S l a; MUSICAL May stage . Script, "Hold . On," ; Pought to Fi.lm, With Qlenn Tryqn Hollywood, July 23, : U.niversal i.s con.sidering trying a local sl'agv production of ';ilo)d On," mu.sical comedy by Hdward Lane, Wliich it has bought, before inaking it a pirl.tirtt. "Hold On" lia.« ncyc-r tjeeri produced. . . ^ Idea i« to K('t audii-nr c slants oh gapti .an.l inu.sitial numbers, a.s wHl as give. tlu}_ tiilo .-t boHylipo. . A.s a li'lm it i.s;.set for.fi!'-nn..Ti'.von. \viih U also .conKidf-rinxf pul l int; •.liiiii in the stage ver.slon. What highly; Infprnic.d "learner-/ Ites see as the first move of Its, kind by any film cpnapany and the most , daring by the brothex*s. is the form- ation of a banking hciuse .- by .. -the Warners which, Informants believe, is inspired, by motives for financial independence arid severance from preseht Wall. Street backing, .Aiready this company, called Setay; has sold stock to about 150 employees in the Warner home of- fice. . Curing June It;' has earned $l,000;obo from investments totaling '. $12,000,000,/it is/^aid;. lehpugii p.rpflt, it is claimed, to pay /dividends to preseht: holders for . the,,next,/ two years. ' /. , ' ' . ': v/ /Harry'Warner is undevstood to bp the -gtiidlrig figure - iri Setay, which title reverses the riame of H. Yates, head, of C.onsolidited Film Labora- tories. Yates is /also president of . thie yoiing banking: house with qiiar^ ters::&.t.l776 Broadway, but has been seen at the -Warner headquarters iripst of' the tiriie since the forma- tion of the company. Setay, which' has Jules Brulatour as brie of its directors, has sent out" Its listings, showing over 100 differ- ent stocks, according to Warnerltea who have already ■realized a' $70 dividend on: eight shares, which they purchased' ih unit form at. $150. '•■■',•:/.//■■:. ■/.■;..• The buying of Setay paper is the first okayed by the brothers, fol- lowing by only .a few months the prder sent .to all departments that Warner people found playing In the market would be fired. Morris Not on Board Coincident with Setay it is re- vealed that Sam/; Morris,; Warner .^ general manager aind accredited contact -with Gbldman- Sachs for the W;arners, -is: ript on . the board; It was his position as iritermediary at a time when the brothers were ad- mittedly, against the wall which -has giveri him a s'trong present power In the Warner organizatlori. As to the downtpwn bankers. It is stated they placed the Warner boys under/ contract to remain in their present posts for the next five years chiefly as a ; precautionary measure In the event of the sale of the companyi. This is contrary to an impression gained In an Inter- view at the time with H. M. War- ner, that the brothers had passed control of. their picture company to the bankers. ■ When sounded along certain lines, Goldman-Sachs executives de'cjared themselves still, the Warner bank-, era aind/ willing to secure any ampunt of money, upon the broth- ers sho-wing them the "wisdom" .of its disposal. _:Jrhe word, "wisdpm" was used by one executive In^repiy.Jtp;a question about Warners' plans to expand their . theatre holdings nationally.. The bankers adhiitted knowing of such plans but refused- to discuss them. . - • 'c Lithographing .' Simultaneous ..With, the- progiress: 6c the banking hou«e is the develop*, merit by the brothers of an euuip- rrierit convpany. designed/to 'oyontu- ajly incDrjpbrate Consolidated Films, the Yates cpnipahy in which the. brother.'? 'were ..<iaid to have aoquifed a consldei-able interp.st .months agbV At . present the c:onipariy,; palled Ccmtinerital. aftor. a lithograph cori- .corn in Cleveland wlijiih tlie. broth- ers: are roportt.'d its. praLlically cori- troliiuf^, a.spires to coriicr: tire lilho- grapli lnisinf-.-^.s- of . the oiilire in- ilir-(i-y. ■ ; -i./.: ('(>rifiti« irtar.,s i'lii'-C <;oiJij)'?titor • is lii'c jM.ii .'.! n . cciiiiijany. \Vilh . the -.'L^iir..vx'y:- ^v\:ti.i''J.L-L.tiiL'_^biii_'-tlversi: lia,\:^_: pahy pn)j)0!ses tij -cin-y thruii.: ! to aConflii.^iiiri iiiiKati/)ii/(ii; iln r^al .sf:o.pv> of tli<.' ii'iicri! i liiiiii- , Involve'd.'! K'(-irir).(Js,incr diii-iiij; XUc, pu-st inon'lh, ! ifjdii; ilur aiii)i)iiiii-'r'tii(!iit of the ] Mf.'sv (iiij.-riiliijry, it is uli-ani'd tliey.. r'i'JiViri- iin only turning but their i M'.\ II. p.ijicr lnil-.il-. large pi'rcentage ol I ill'- iii(iii-.i i-y'.>!, particularly the ..iii.'ii.'c'r (•(imp'.'uiicM to which book-. ' Mi"..'^ in till' Warner luvu.sos mean \ '•n-|isiili'rablo.