Variety (Dec 1929)

6 VARIETY PICTURE S Wednesday, December, 11, 1929 In Stormy Session, Zukor Tells F. P. Can. Stockholders Is None of Their Business Now Toronto, Dec. 10. I>emands for information of why the Britleh Gaumont offer of $76 a share for control or Fariious Play- era Canadian Corp. Was refused caused a flai-e against Adolph Zukor last week and prodded him into telling shareholdera that con- trol of the company wasj none of their business^ . . , Occasion --vvas. the stormiest an- jiual. meeting on record. There was .suggestion after^wards that a-liaw puit be started to see :wha,t right the three man voting trust bad to reject an offer, which mea;it mil- Jions in profits .to shaa'ehDlderB. ' At 'the same "time . an unknown group put $25^000,000 on th« Unq foi*' a cbmpetitiye - chain to , PP to be started at once, ' " Zukor, president, and I. W, Kil lam, director, were quizzed as why the "offer" was rejected, and at first replied that no definite offer had been made; This brought a cross examination by lawyers, iat the -meeting for that special 'pur pose, and eventually drew the aii-r gry retort from Zukor, "This Is none of your businesra. ^ This is a, shareholder's meeting ' and the Bhareliolders cannot sell the com pany. That is in the hands of a sroting trust»" When the questions continued Zukor admitted he would sell out to a British gipup, but would cer tainly see that ho American' com- petitor got a leg up in C anad a. That, of course, is the reason the offer got air. Zukor knew Fox was trying to get into the Canadian field, and wfte'n he found Fox controlled British Gaumont negotiations sim- ply shrivelled.' Unknown Company "While this iheetlng w^as on some- one .laid $600,000 ca^ih on the line for main stem; land with, hotice • filed in the city architect's depart- ment that the property would be used fojr- a picture theatre. A blopl^ ;|way Famous is about to erect the largest theatre In Canada. New company Is known as the Dundas Holding Co.- Dallies Interpreted this as meaning -Regal Films, a dls tributing organization, presided «ver.by N. Di Nathahson, who* un- til recently, was managing -direc- tor of Famous Players up hi^re Nathanson promptly denied any .As- sociation with the deal, but one of the vendors publicly announced Fox was purchaser. ■■ Nathanson Angle On the same day the 'Tlnanclal Post," leading money sheet, an nounced the probable formation of a new Fox-Metro-lioew group In Canada to be financed In Montreal, but centered in Toronto. The out- fit, they say, will line up behind N Jj. Nathanson, Hon. W. D. Roes, gov ©rnor of Ontario, and Sir Herbert Holt. All three have resigned from the Famous Players board within the past three months. Holt Is the wealthiest man in Canada, and cer tain theatres, personally owned or controlled by Nathanson, are like 3y to go into, the group. This explains why Nathanson was, and is, so anxious to hang on to property located on Montreal's main stem. Fa.mous Players Insist this land was bought by Nathan- son on the company's behalf. Nath- anson Insists it was bought by him- self ahd for himself. The case comes up for trial shortly. Routine announcements at the FP shareholders' meeting stated the compainy now controlled 196 houses, and 1929 earnings were 124% higher than last year. Thomas Bragg was named successor to Arthur Cohen as secretary-treasurer, and Cohen was placed in Natlvanson's place as managing directors. No directors were named to take the places of Ross and Sir Herbert Holt. Time to Quit A New Tork Jeglt entering the Hollywood studios for his first picture taking, took the director ^sldis and explained he had a sort of carbuncle on the back ol his neck. , v'-'Just aa soon as you find they aire taking pictures^ kid, of.'il)e l?acjt JOf youfc neck, it will tie time to quit," the di- rector repliedi FOX SENDS FIVE Diiring the past few days Fox has formed the .first permanent Grandisur detail of Fox Movietone News. Composed of five units, this detail, within a month, will commence working out of New Tork solely on 70 mjn, film; It is also reported that the silent verslbh of the Fox newsiteel may be discontinued within another six months. Staff has already been cut to the bone.. "Hero 'Tis" Yours very truly LITTLE JAGIC LITTLE It won't be long now. WLW, the nation's radio station, will again present yours very truly in; J.5 pro- grams weekly. Be smart, mister manager; and plan to capitalize on- this immediate piibllcity. . Ask the man who has played this natural attraction. Pathe N. Y. Studio Catasbroiihe KiDslO-^uresJor^H^^ l%i ^plosion Started it $5 a Pose A new Sid© line confined to Central Park, buj. liable to de- velop and take In all zoos, con-, cerns Mae Murray, Posing the star with a New York City peacock cost "Tiffany $6 a pose. Providing they 4o not embroil the bird, anybody can be pic- tured with • the symbol .of vanity. Tiffany'had arranged, to.haye two of the birds" meet'.Miss Murray at the train. . Biifthe weather became cold and the park- ofliclalp w;anted a guar- antee" ihat if either of the blf ds siicquiftbed the film firm would pay $1,000. TOO HARD TO FIND Bonid Co. Turiis Over ..Barnett U. Mi, b'aiiey Disappears . lourt Rides Actor Can Hold Trade^Marked Name BdH Montana Tossed ■Toledo, Dec. 10. Bull Montana, wrestling to pay expenses on ,his honeymoon trip, was tossed at the armory here by Hughle Clark, former, middleweight champ. Clark took last two falls from the screen Adonisi Resting between falls, Montana Bnng the song he crooned in "Show of Shows." Customers went for the Avrestling and accepted the singing. . Los Angeles, Dec, 10. A film player who officially adopts another name for trade-mark pur- poses has a legal right to that name and cannot be deprived of it by a prpdtfcer at wTiose instance he Orig- inally accepted it. This was brought out by Judge Vlcliiil in Superior Court, who enjoined Denver DixOn and Dwain Esper, producers, and Art Mix Productions, from giving ite name of "Ar,t Mix" to any other piayen , George Kestersori, cowboy player who adopted the name seven years ago, can us© it no matter who his employers are,- the court ruled. Suit was brought by J. Charles Davis, Kesterson's present employer, against Dixon and Esper by whom Kesterson was formerly employed and who^ mad© pictures with an- other player to whom they had passed on'the "Mix" cognomen. Heam, Chevalier's Itep And Gen* Mgr., Here Following a friendship of many years, T. Elder (Tom) Hearn, Eng- lish, lias become the personstl rep- resentative of Maurice Chevalier, French comedian, now a Paramount talker star. The representatloh by Hearn takes on more of a ftta'na- gerlal capacity for Chevalier in his engagements outside of pictures and in the Frenchman's business mat- ters. At present Chevalier Is engaged In his third starring talker for Par iat the Liong Island studios. A proposition by the Club Montmai-te, New Tork, for Chevalier to appear on the fioor nightly at |5,000 weekly, an abnormally high nite club sal- ary, has been declined by Hearn Vaudeville and concert proposals also have been received by Cheva- lier, between his picture making periods. So far the only stage engage ment accepted by the star is the Auto Show at San Francisco, for eight days in February. Chevalier will receive $25,000 for the date appearing twice daily for 20rminute turns. Last Februiary Paul White man's band, played the same Auto Show engagement for tiie" same • ■ ' Los Angeles, Dec. 10. ■ v. M. Barnettj recently .sentenced to six months in iall and fined $500 fdilowJhg iils' 'conviction on petty theft. In cdrihection with operating a so-called filni school, was sur- rendered to pbllce by the H. S, Hall- ner Co., his . Jboha holders When It developed thit U. M. Dailey, head of the school, and under like sen- tence, had Tiot been seen around Hollywood for the past three weeks. Inquiries failed to reveal Dalley's whereabouts when the bonding com- pany, triefi, to get in touch with him. Ells house has been sublet and his wife clklms she has hot seen him In tyro weeks. Reason given by LeatriceJoy Not In Hollywood^^ Providence, R. I. Ten persons were reported kllleft and a score Injured In a fire break- ing suddenly 9.80 Tuesday morningf at the P^thie Manhattan Studio, I98g Park avenue, southwest corner of 134th street, Harlem.. Of dead four are girls, reported extras, , who> were to take part in talklhg shorts to be made that morning. The studio was completely ruinei. Identified dead are; Al Kramer, married, 1631 Gr^n4 av(B.. Bronx,: electrician,!, \ ^ Bob M,U8dinan, married^ 617; Forii^ , ham road, Bronx, a grip* , j : Jack, Quinn, 56 • • Dean street,- Brooklyn, property . man.- •• Harold Bischor, address unknowi;u Most prominent among . the ln« jured rreported Is Eddie Elkins, bariji leader/ 470 West End avenue, who . escaped when the fire started. ■ Kramer. Musdman and .Quinn loat their liyes in attempting to save those trapped. Among those who narrow^ escaped were John Flirin, vlce«( president of Pathe, and Phil Reel- man, sales manager. Both were in the building when the conflagratlbu started. Reslmian eSc'aped through a door but Fllnn had to-use a scale, ladder from the second floor window. Unidentified dead were ..removed to the city morgue. Origin of fire unknown, but bo- lleved to have started from the spontaneous combustion of film Providence, Dec. 10. Leatrlce Joy, picture star, must be a couple of other girls. Either that or she has perfected shot the day previously and pre- a system of projecting herself paring for cutting. = through space. Building Is owned by the Blu*- Miss Joy was 4n Providence and menthal Realty Companx. on 42d, Hollywood at the same time last atreeti and leaseii on yearly op|0n- Thursday night. She made a by^Pathe, -^i?*.' gracious speech from the stage of Fllnn and Relsman stopped at the Albee theatre. In this burig, | the studio to see about ar- ^ _^ which set masculine'hearts a,fflut-I rarigements for the shooting of a Hallnet fpr having the appeal bond I terlpg and then stepped Into the shot by Harry Delmar, titled ;TDel resclrid^d was that Barnett was too I tirlngs to allow a couple of wise- ' TJa-irioTO-" m hard tO find when he wanted him. ■ Syracuse,,N. T.,,Dec. lO. . Hia,rry B. Fatreli, ,59, selfTStyled picture director, who operated what he called a school of cinema acting .here, ■■'will face trial on a charge of using the. malls ' to defraud at . the December Utica term of Federal Court. Farrell was indicted a year ago, and since, has been at liberty under bail.; ' mar's Miniature Review.' Fire gained big headway and, according to -iJye-wltriesses, th« Btudlo w^s a maSs of flames in-twb" minutes, giving occupants no tliile to escape. AH available apparatus, i cracking vaudevillians the' spot- I light. ' • One hour later, more or less, "Miss Joy" spoke into the micro- phone from a Hollywood broadcast- ing station. She was announcied by I ambulances and police froni nearbjr Harry Richman as one of the en- precincts were Imniedlately rushed tertalners on a program, by a West iq scene. Coast station and relayed In this This is the second big fire of the city by Station WEAN, Shepard industry Irt less than twO months. Stores. " ' Other was a coast hlaze that de» Wlthlii 30 seconds of • tlie an- atroyga ^he Consolidated lab- nouncement phones In the local ] oratories, ruining negatives, but no [newspaper oflices began to ring; for Rhode Island theatregoers wanted Charges Against Explorer I to know where I^tnce joy really " " * 'was, in Hollywood or Providence? Miss Joy and the Albee manage- ment denied Miss Joy was in Holly- wood. Miss Joy certainly didn't speak from Hollywood. Affidavit Besides creating a lot of- noise lives w^re lost. Help Jungle Film Uinstatel Syracuse, N. Y., Dec. 10. Charges made in New Tork against the personal Integrity of Dr. Daniel Davenport, English ex- plorer-scientist, touring with "Jan- money. Tom Hoarn appeared over here in vaudeville several years ago as "The Lazy Juggler," scoring instantane- ously. He repeated also. Later the juggler quit his novelty act to be come a revue producer in, England He sent several touring combina tlons throu.sjh the English provinces and still has a fow traveling In Britain. go," African jiihgle picture, brought from the fans, who don't know what sharp denials, explanations and | to expect next from Hollywood It FARNOL ON BOARD OF BIRTH CONTROL LEAGUE Lynn Farnol, publicity director for Samuel Goldwyn, has been ap- pointed to the board of trustees" of pMof of the yp,lidity of his claim in made Miss Joy do a little stepping the Birth Control League of whld* this city, where "Jango" and the herself to assure Providence film Mrs. Margaret Sanger Is the head, explorer are appearing at the Em- fans It was really herself In person , Farnol, the only theatrical press pire theatre. Engagement opened at the Albee, and that the "Miss | agent connected with the National last Thursday and continues this Joy" of the radio, broadcast was week to okay business. sorhethlng Richman would have to Plans to later show the Daven-] explain. A Providence notary was called in to help dispel some nasty cracks going about town. In his presence, and representatives of Albee thfe- pbrt picture In, the schools of New York for a 'aight.fee" led to the at- tack upon the explorer, with the New York . Academy Government Democratic Committee In the Al Smith campaign, will undertake .a large scaled public presentation ,of the Birth Control League's side of this controversial matter. Connec- tion Is an honorary one, Farnol. serving without compensation. Ho authorities disclaiming any ofncia.1 atte. Miss Joy signed an affidavit remains with Goldwyn In his regu- connection with the Davenport ex pedltion to the Congo. Charge was made that fhe two styled "canni- bals," . appearing with Dr. Daven- port, were in reality Harlem ne- groes "Jango' swearing she appeared for one week at Albee. In i)erson lar capacity. AGENT WANTS HIS 10% Hollywood, Dec. 10. Leatrlce Joy's brother, Frank I Los Angeles* Dec. 10. Joy, accompanied by a girl friend, Walter Hess has filed 6ui.t;.i.n Is beleng presented on attending the opening of "Con- Superior Court against Jesse Well tour by Davenport-Quigley Exppdl tion. Inc., of New York. Edward Quigley Is the financial bac'ker of the corporation. demned" here. It was the girl who Julliin Eltlnge, Tec-Art Studios an^ spoke into the mike and said she! the Bennett Film Lab. for $2,5P'' was Miss Joy, as a gag. . claimed as commission due him iot There were microphones outside money he secured to "produce "Maid Penn. Censors Ease Up, But Then Bear Down Pittsburgh, Dec. 10. Something's happened to the Pennsylvania movie censors. "The and inside the theatre. Into the one outside. Broadcasts Co.'s Angle Air adyerstisers, have free rein once the contract has been signed and the bill paid. At least the Co- lumbia network figures that way. Sacred Flame" (WB), which had company holds It is no more re most ofnts"imiFwta«t"diai^^ close chopped in New York state, the paid time than the telephone went through without a cut hero, company is for what goes on over All of which should be a cause for its wires after the nickel has been rejoicing of some sort. dropped. Boys and girls who dictate the | This definition, the first to be of She t«ilked | to Order," starring Eltlnge. Hess alleges he got Harold v. Smith to Invest $25,000 in the pro- duction and claims he was to re- ceive 10 percent, whicTi he says* has not been paid. Eltinge, tbo studio and lab are na,med as co* defendants and part owners of -ww picture with Weil. screen morals were on the job, however, in "The Lady Lies," (Par.) They saw to it that a sub-title] ficially made since networks came into being, followed squawks to Columbia about Its broadcast of the had Charles Ruggles and his blonde premiere of "Condemned" in Holly- mamma married before they went wood and to the voice announced into their love nest. I as Leatrlce Joy. ^ SID KENT'S VACATION Mr. and Mrs. Sid Kent are salllnS Saturday (14) on the "Bremen.'., ^ It's a vacation for Mr. Kent an.a his first recretion trip in Europe sonie years. The last time Ken went over he raced across to keep .Ufa from going wrong. Everyone else In the race also liv^-d .t" r©' gret iti