Variety (Sept 1929)

6 VARIETY P I C T U RES Wednesday, September 25, 1929 Talker Service May Be Cut i)istribulorS: 6f tajkitig picturos lire studying- the proposition of cut- ting pf£ prints froTri all theatrts haV- Ing'.capacity pit less than;l;flOO. Idea 5s being ■ discussed !cl3 a .;"<^<''?,''-^^'i;X economic step; to end a, • net "loss in all-such, seryicei .There, iire estimated about 2,000 siieh thciatres. in the Unltedi States,- and the loss to the industry from their class of -busihess in the aggre- gate, is a. cpnsiderilble sum accord- ing to .statistics under examination. Tbtai of theatres under the unde- sirable classiflcation, include single indiefe as well, as housies included in chains and in the opinion" of some picture imen they will have to be eliminated from talker service Irre- epective of .kind of opera,tion.... Supplying the. regular tja-lker ser- vice is too ■ expensiye, figuring the many angleg-, .irbni delivering thei. . trailei^ before . the play .date to the. cost of .iputliitg the print itself into., the bobtli and projecting it. $urn total of all ...the charges involved f riDm the Bale ^ of the picture to . its projection is more than the distribu- tor received in rental.and the prac- tice jn the end it is held'in somie , quarters represents .a ''leak" In. the. ■ distributbr's entire business. : Hidden Deficit ; Aniaiysts are said, to have advised the distriijutors that in the whole field from' coast to coast It is the small theatre business, that is car-. ried at a hidden deficit aiid. the lump sum lost to the industry reaches serious proportions in the qourse of a year,. This angle is said to be but one of the many new lights Whed on; the picture business since- Wall Street . took a hand in its administration and applied big business, laboratory methods to Its accounting practices; ~ Point made by the accounting sharps who elevate bookkeeping to a fine art and an advanced science, is that since the whole operation of the smaller house in the long run ultimately makes less money than it spends counting all branches of the industry it does business with, its finish is only a matter of time and since its existence Is uneconomic, it would'be best to cut it off promptly. A single example is said to be the sound trailer! It costs 500% more to make In dialog than it did as a silent, yet must be supplied to those 2,000 losing houses for the. distribs, if its principal talker Is played in them. Ist Runs on Broadwaiy (Week starting Sept. 27-28) Caipitol—"Madame X" '( M-G - Colony--"Skin Deep" . Paramount • —-. "Jpeluslonp'' .(Par)!^---^-■ ,:Rivoli--"3.,:l'ive Ghosts" (U. A,) '^-.y ' - -y. '■- ■ ; Roxy—"Salute" (Fox), ... ■ Strand—''Hard to Get" (FN). (Week Oct. 4^5) ; Paramount—"Fast Conifpany" (Par).. Rialt6-^"2 Black Crows" (U. A.) - - ' .. yy^^ ': Roxy—'They Had . to ■■ See P'arls" (Fox); ■ '■■ , .Strahd—"Evidence" (WB):. .. ■r ' : \$2 ppeiyi . Gaiety—"Sunny : Side (Oct. 3). Criterion —"Applause" ■Up'; (Oct Geo. Arthur Tiifii^ Out Act on Reporter,^ Most of It Innocent Miiggs A dPzeh mufrffs," Idbking^^ ^^^^^ ''The - Great - Gabbo"; feign: at. 40th arid Broadwayi h a v e chirped, 'iThat's a heck of. a way to.spell Greta Garbo;" They Draw '$m In MABY and MABGABET GIBB Americai's only hatiye born "Sia^ mese'.' Twins. • They-sing, play piano and dance. Opening at Buffalo Sept. 28. Ari ARTHUR KLEIN-TERRY TURNER ATTRACTION, Suite 1405,1B60 Broadway, Hevy York. GIRLS COULDN'T MOVE ONIJVING^ Selznick at Bat Hollywood, ' Sept.. 24. David Selznick will be in charge of production at Paramount during the absence of B. P. Shulb.erg, In Europe. Selznick is the youngest in age and service of the six producers responsible for New - York contact arid M. C. Levee, manager of stu- dio, is in. charge of tho business end. Al Kaufman .'Will be the Executive on the Paramount lot. "Co(A0d-E^^ Sequel . Hpllywood, Sept; 24. Fox scenario divitjion is. at work oh -a sequel to "The Cock-JSyed World" and preparations are under way to make, it: with the-same cast beaded by victor McLaglen. . Title tentatively picked and likely to . go through is "Wemen - of ; All .Waiions."..: .■.'■„. $1,250,000 FOB "KING" . Hollywood, Sept. 24. •'Vagabond \King" Paramount's operetta, Is budgeted at $1,250,000, with an" eight weeks' -shbotlng edhedule. Picture uses four times the usual number of sets and employs . 2,000 ixti'as.• ". ■ ^'.. . ; Salt Lake, Sept. 24, Seeking judgment for f150,000 .:wlth Interest at -61/4% from; Febru airy. 1929, MoX E. Miller of Chi- cago filed suit In equity In the United States District Court against the pioneer Film Corpbratlon of Utah. Suit declares the film com pa:ny Insolveht .and asks .that ti re- <5eiver be appointed. .. pioneer was^ formed in' 1926 .and finished its picture, "The Exbdus," produced in Salt Lake City. It was a dramatization of the coming of the Mormons to Utah. During the filming^ the Pioneer people sold stock. \ Joseph E. Bpud, trustee; David NefC, president; J. G. Sargent, sec- retary, and Richard W. Young, J; A. Rock^^lrood, Grant Morgan, Sanri- uei Kariter, and Myer H. Gladstone, dii-ectors of the company are made defendants. Neif is head of the Utah Radio Products Co,, producers of the Utah loud speaker? .and is prominent in Mormon Churcli. circles. . Miller. a;lleges he holds bonds and coupons against the firm amount- ing to $150,000 and that he is en- titled to certain property of the cbmjpariy,, chiefly, the film, "The Exbdxis," under ,th.e rterms bf aii, in'- dcnture of. trust, trohi' the company to Bpud, trustee, :inM928. ■ ThQ suit says paynicnts y.'Were made by t'liie company on not^s hcjld by Miller, until Aug. 1, 1929, when the cbmpany was unable to pay the Intcre.s.t. . . ■ ■ The indenture of - trust, Miller claims;, .included iats security for five bonds. :a contract fbr sale of '"The Exodus,". , to WiUiam. La PlJinte of 'HbllywoOd', ■ "Which Millar asks' as a. part of the judgments He also asks the script and motion picture rights for the filpS... The suit .further asks that prop erty of the cpmpany be sold, and if the proceeds do. nbt -total $150,000 that Miller be given judgment for the deficit.. : McCOBMACK SATISFIED Denial that John .McCormack is having differences .with , the . scen- ario of the Pox special is cabled to Variety from Dublin, where tlic film has. gone into production, by Dennis McSweeney, for McCormabk. McSweeney states Tom Barry, the alItho^^ Fra;nk Borzage, director, and McCormack are in complete ac- cord. Exploitation for "The Great Gab- bo/' han^dled by Harry Relchenbach for .Cruzbi Inc., caused thie -white haired boy among the picture plugging fraternity to try his hand at smoothing the difflculties ber liween the police and the iridepend-' ent producers, over the..human lalll- bbard gag at . 46Ui' street' and Brbadw'ay. • : :'■ Hsfrry invited. : Suprerhe Court Justice Cotillb .and Corporation Couiiser Hilly to get a load of the sigri from the Motion Plctute Club Thursday night, to decide whether the injunction granted the pro- ducers,., pre-^/enting -the police from stopping the girls firom dancing on the sign and causingf traffic conges- tion, should be made permaneirit or withdrawn. Justice Cotlllo decided the' girls could remain motionless on a silent sign." This brought about its dis- continuance, since that Included the ceinned song. Sign remains with painted boards of gltls on It. The. ahimated sign on which 10 girls posed at two free shows night- ly cost $7,000 to erect and $4j000" i. month for power, light and main- tenance. In addition to the girls oh the sigh 18 girls sing and dance oh a miniature stage fronting the sign proper. They were paid $5 a performance. Girls were from the Chester Hale iSchool, most of them showing In public for the first time. A group liability insurance policy covered them in case of accident. Supreme Court Justice CotlUp, after, viewing "The Great Gabbo" human billboard, continued the in- junction restpairiing the piolice from Interfering with the twice nightly free shows at Broadway and .46th street. The Justice ruled that Broadway, especially Times Squai'e, Is a street of ballyhoo and If a Movietone booth could be erected im^e Square for political campaign-piirposes he saw no reasbn to discriminate^ against the ''human billhoard." "iThe police claimed that the sigh tended to ob- struct traffic arid' create, a riuisaribe. Prior to the night Ju.stice Cor; tillo viewed the sign the. girls re^ riiained off the .<iipidor web reproduc- tion for the picture for three nights. Relchcnbach says the chorirtes "Will do their stuff on. the sign until cold •weathbr di'ivc.s them, indoors. . . TAX ADVISOE'S TEIAI _Los_Antj:plt\Sj.-Seiit_._2jL Fcacral trial 'of J. Marjorie Bcr gpr, inf'pmd tax adYiRoiS charged with conspiracy to defraud the gov ernmcnt on tax returns froih Holly wood players , and executives, put over until Oct. 22. Case, due for hearing today (Tuesday) adjourned due to illness of A. I. McCprmlck, attorney. About 100 witnesses are expected to be called. Inside stories told with ahthority say thiat Harold iB, J?'rankiin Is on the. list \tp come, east as the. William Fok g^eriei'al theatre operator. : : . . No knowledge of any such move is admitted by any Pox mian In New York. A phone query yesterday to Los Angeles was' answered to the effect tha£ Frankiiri \k in the. middle ■west.. The story sounds logical to the theatre m.en. hearipig - It. It Fox places all of his. theatres under one control, the choice would seem to lie between Franklin and Joe Leo, the iatier ripw pperatlng Fox MetropoU- ta'h .Theatres. : Franklin is a national theatre opr erator, haying handled the Publix circuit before It became Publix and Sam' Katz going to its hestd. ' Since, Franklin has. befen Jn solis charge oif the West Coast chain, running into hundreds of theatres and now 100 %.: owned by 'William- Fox. . Leo was elevated to the New Yprk positon In Fox through his heady work in operating Fox's Wisconsin and Chicago theatres. He turned them from the red to the black In a very short while, and received an immediate reward. :FranklIn is reiported satisfied with his coast woi*k, He had stated that he's for California and expects to remain there. When taking the west coast helm before Fox made the 100% buy,, that chain was.making a net of around $300,000, looked upon as nothing at all by the interested bankers.. That small profit for the extensiyeness of the circuit got Franklin the position of president of West Coast The atres. This year as Fox's coast chain, the same Franklin group .with addi tibns; will net over $2,500i00.0, from coast accburits. George, k, Ai'thur, from thb Coast to . start a vaude-ville : tour, may have to. think up a hew act. He seems.tb liavc spMl^d.half his stufC to. Variety's reporter. . "Since I hav.e been here at tiio, Ambassadbr Hotel," ; Mr. : Arthur , started;. "I ha-ye sighed so riiatiy. . photographs With 'Yours Sincerely, Gbbrge K. Arthur'. ;that the. other. . day I started signing a 'luncheon check in the same mannen 'llncidenthlly, the .K, in my stands for nothing at. ali, but I al- -ways say It.mean? 'knockout.'. ■ " ".Since in the ea,st I. h'aye- beeiii taken for Lupino Lane ' and Karl .Dane's partribr and. am thinking/ o£ weairing a: little, .placard on riiy back./-' ■ : ■'■ I'-'Wheri i start in vaudeville i. in-. ■ tiend to give my friends one ticket and let them huy the other to . in- . sure soriae business at lettsf. Before I thoug;ht of doing a turn i -was Intending to go.'abrbad and. make a picture with Adolphe Men.- ibu, but i got a/wire from Menjou, saying, '"What salary do. you wahtt Well, half of that?', : :•. "Since my.fan 'mall has doubled since I left the pictures I will Stiiy here if I click a-pd the' other night •. I: dreamed. I was. being .'.held over for fivcP—probably fiye days. . - 'Kidding Friends '. . "In my act,. If you'will b.elibve it, I Bihg. : . Mother always said .1 couldn't, but I haye made records, Scotch accent and all, and, by the way* l ani so very Scbtch that-in my.Hollywood home I ha^e a s^vim- ming pool Irt which i have placed quarters for my friends to dive for, . but they are cenibnted to the hot- , torn.' "And on the s:et on .the cpast-Bes- sle Love used tb make needlepoint and another E^'^i lingerie. I used to join theih and sew up the holes in the pockets of a Scotch costume I "The only thing I dislike about New York are the long distance phone calls. The other day I wired and said; 'Will send a box of candy, tomorrow, so why phone arid re« verse charges?'a "Whert 1 do my act I Want to be- come dramatic and recite Kipling's 'If,' but should have chosen 'Gunga Din* because . I am tsinned to the waist and nobody knows it." This det)ressing confession halted Mr. Arthur. I never stop talking, I am afraid,", he said, "but abcrut thesq New York ..theatre tickets, 5 for $85*. You know five into 85 doesn't make 6.60." FOX-COLUMBIA MERGE TALK WAXES HOTTER "World" at Reserved Seat Midnitc Does $2,275, Hub Boston, Sept.. 24, ' : With reserved seats scaled at. 6S cents, Keith's Memorial theatre here gave a midnight perforriiance Sept. 20 (li^'iday), featuring "The Cock- Eyed World" and grossed $2,275 for the show.. House has seating. capacity of 3,000 and this performance is the first of it."? kind undot a rcFcrvcd seat policj', opening up possibiliticfi "roF"tiTe=?rmTTiTiTintiOT show on the scat-check basis, at a ■pop scale. Milton Sch"wartz, son-in-law : of William Fox, has accepted the po sition. of foreign mana,ger fbr-Co- lunribia Pictures. . Messrs. Fox and .Sch-wartz ■ are on a very friendly basis, as befits the relation. ,■ Contiriuous reports of something dbirig between Fox and Cblurnbia have. been pushed aside by both side.5. The reports Iteep on, although no plaiisible irifo-Vcomes out. With Fox always after inan- poAver, in Columbia he would hiive -Harry Cbhn on .pi;oductibn, "vyifh Joe Brand t: and Jack Cibheri oh the busi ness endi Hpbked up with down town.bankers, the three partners re "tain control of their Columbia^ pahy • with .: b, "7.0 % interest divid ed between the trio. I Earle Foxe Quits Pictures To Head Military School . Los Anjgeles, Sept. 24. Earle Foxe is tossing, up $750 weekly, as a' Fox actor to become head man at" a military school to be known , jas the Black Fox Military School of Hollywood. Foxe admits, his maximum earn- ing power as an educator is arpund $150 a, week./: There—Back—Bride During a gap In production Phil Tannura of Pathc hopped an aero-' plane for Hollywood, . married- Eleanor Wiethoff, and returtied "With his bride alfTO via plane. All In a fejv days. Barbara Kent's Fall . Lp,S Angeles, Sept. 24. While ; riiakiriB publici,t,y- istills, Barbara. K("ht fell Off a bicycle at Universval City and split her knee. About three weeks before she can, work. In llollywopd Hospital. 3[.obking for $2 H ons6 \ I Anoflvor $2 .i^pvclin^^inatfMl^fpr^Sr P.roadway opening i:un is boirig de- layed bccuise no first ru,n,house is 1 now available. Talker, is Sam Gold-wyn's "Con- demned,'' starring Bonald Cplman/ Due to this Goldwyn left for the coast Suhday on .a business visit. He will return to New York In Oc: tober to begin anew h la search Xor an available house. L. A; TO N^ X Al Roseh,,, . ■yViliiam ; II. Fraser. ■ JDoris Eatph." M. D. Howe. Jesse. Li Lasky , B, I^ SchiilherE ; : y . .. Samuel Goldi'wh, William . Sistroiri.. / Dolores'Del Rio. Jpmriiy. Bryant. - Iibuis Bernstein, '. aiilton Ager. Jack Yellen. . • Florence .Vidor. Jascha Heifetz. George Bancroft Lioyd Sheldon' Charles Farrell ;;Capt. H, ft Goldewcll Katherinc Hillekor ' , , Dick Lnhinr. Lnurenco Schwab Barnby Gerard Polly Walker. Nat Cordish .Hpnry D. Meyer Sam Shipman John B. Hymer ■ Dolores del Rie Lillian Gish