Variety (Jan 1930)

VARIETY Madrid, Dec. 18. Some of the quickie Latin-Ameri| ean talkers, chiefly shorts, perco lating back here for exhibition, dem|. onstrates the multiple variations of Spanish dialects and is making pieture people here Spanish-conscious with an eye to an improved: talker production, © The doggerel ‘Spanish’ of LatinAmerican artists.is difficult to understand here. With localisms, idioms and varying accents, the Span of Argentina, Chile; Colombia, or of: Castile in Spain, of 2ll of which differ in vernacular. criterion of all the Spanish coun tries, native talkers, when and ‘if (Continued on page 25) ENGLISH BY RADIO: AIDS U.S. TALKER IN VIENNA ; Vienna, Dec. 31. Due in-some measure to the. lessons in English broadcast here by Prof. Thomas McCullums and one of the most popular features of]. the ether, “Broadway Melody” has] ° ‘had a favorable reception although: it is a 100% taixer. That style of picture has not fared 80 well on -the Continent. . Advance sales indicate it will do well. English speaking transients, favorably disposed. The McCullums radlo series jg offered. asa possible. explanation. Austrian fans, Viennese, Hke English better than German talkers. Gutteralgs and “eases” in German do not reproduce agreeably, making «annoying: lisp| ings. . Local reviewer raved over the technica) splendors of “Melody. an ENGLISH TALKER DELAY Clayton-Waller Venture Deferred by NonDelivery of Studio: London, Dee. 31. Start of talking picture production by Clayton and Waller has been . deferred for the time being. ~° Delay is. due to the non-delivery . of a completed studio plant as contracted. Landholder at Ealing had undertaken. to have: the’ completed studio ready for start of operations, but failed to make good on time. ° Newsreel Not Compulsory; 31. Stage O. K. in Latvia Washington, Dec... 31. Latvian. Parliament id expected to drop the regulation requiring all theatres in that country to show local newsreels: in every program. Another change expected, says a report to the Commerce Department, does away with the rule that pic ture houses must confine their pro' grams entirely to films. Latter rule came about through selling the idea to the government that for one house to have a stage show and an-| other not would be unfair competi tion. ‘Spanish Film Actors Poorly Paid: Producers Advertise for Casts | HOLLAND WELCOMES 1ST] portant * German talking. picture ‘to ‘reach this territory, which has -had |’ only American sound and. ‘dialog product, was greeted. with enthusiish spoken in Mexico. is not that }asm, Public reaction. and newspa-| per comment were favorable. dialog) was shown. at Tuschinski’s As the Castillian Spanish is the Amsterdam cinema and was _excel~ lently recelved. F OREIGN TAIK At Same Time Native ” Spain, like Italy, has promulgated a ban.on foreign language dialog films on home territory... Since Vienna ‘has very few announcement here that the first of it |aseries. of features. is. being comfollows that the native public is| pleted in Paris with ‘Spanish. dialog, or at least.. the]. — FOREIGN FILM NEWS. (SOUND QUALITY ; . Copenhagen, Dee. 31. An important. ‘test suit is pending here,’ holding ‘large possibilities of |trouble for’ independent | sound device concerns. “| .Valby theatre, important suburban house, contracted. for Powers' Cine‘| phone’ equipment. ‘Powers | ‘people. -closed. a. deal on the: basis ‘that the Cinephone people: expressly guaran-, teed thatreproducing quality. of the’ device would equal that of ‘Western Electric equipment. On: top of that they pledged exj{hibitor. would have: all ‘advantages of Anterchangeability. . ‘When payment | came. due. the Valby people. refused | payment on | the. ground ‘that Cinephone : quality BIG GERMAN TALK FL " anisteraain, ‘Dec, 31. “Melodie des . Herzen,” . first im “Abie’s, Trish Rose” (Paramount, ‘| clared it; was not satisfactory. In addition the. theatre-men set up the ‘|defense that distributors were. ‘refusJing to book product, with them, owing to the deficiencies of their apparatus, , BAN IN SPAIN} — ee Paris, ‘Dec: 31. “Exhibitors: in’ Paris are /in many mont equipment. on the strength of ‘the maker’s warranty that it’ will ‘equal Western. Electric’ g. quality, -|leaving it to be assumed that there* ; will be no trouble about interchange. Talker Made i in Paris | Paris, Dee. “81, contract makes provision that Amer‘ican distributors may cancel. sound product. bookings if they ‘find the reproducing apparatus in use is of @ quality inferior to the Western Electric or RCA Photophone standard, /M-G-M DROPS $180,000. IN PARIS BOOKINGS ‘Paris; Dec, 31.: M Ge M has cancelled voluntarily $180,000 in contracted bookings with the Gaumont Palace, biggest cinema in the French. capital, rather than have its general release schedule held up at the pleasure of rancoAubert. — The exhibitor chain’ stalled on “Metro product, playing Paramount and ‘Warner Bros. pictures first be-|fore playing: Metros under the agr ee, ment. . : ‘Gontract dates back. to the time Edict comes: right on the heels of ‘the undertaking employing Spanish. ‘players exclusively and the. venture. being financed by Spanish capital. Work was ‘started in Seville, but the.troupe was later moved to: Paris in order to obtain better. studio. facilities, ‘-. . Nabriele Neegrier, ‘French’ ‘technician, is in charge of the technical -work, the rest of theProduction staff being Spanish, ; Dominion of Canada’ S Ow Film Stopped on Sunday “* ; * Ottawa, “Dec. 31. Province of Ontario compelled ‘the PLEDGE FL. here ‘to ‘wiretheir houses: and SUp| ‘I ply. dialog: pictures to a public that |: was not up to the guarantee. and de-|. FRANCE UNDOES ‘cases’ installing ‘the cheaper ‘Gaus | theatre taxes’ from. about. 7% -The ‘new: uniform .talker. booking | MUSSOLINI TALK BAN; Rome, Dec. 31. “Ambitious plans by exhibitors ds hungary for. them has been ‘balk ed by. the Mussolini ‘ukaseforbid| ding all ‘foreign tongue screen prod. -|-uct in: Italian theatres. | There are 65 picture | houses in |. ‘Rome alone, Of.that. number about. 26. establishments: are. ‘in -the de ‘luxe : -class, and these ‘were in the market for’ equipment.” Then came chronized. films could be exhibited, | All talk is. ‘banned.. Even if a pic ture has only. songs ina foreign, | language it may. not be. screened.. The de luxe. ‘proprietors. declare the public. is avid for talking : pics tures; none: exist in Italian, and. the exhibitors are. Powerless | under ; the Mussolini edict. . RELIEF ON TAX!" . "Paris; Dec. ‘81: Parliamentary Finance. Commission, after voting © to cut the brutal}: 246%, reversed. ‘itself, lief. -First action of the commission was a recommendation to reduce the government entertainment tax from: 7% to 2%% of prices of admission. -At the same time there was every indication that ‘the poor tax of 10% collected by the ‘municipality “would’ be. eliminated in the same way. The loss of the poor tax, itwas ‘promised, would be made up in in creased imposts starting Jan. 1 on subways, trams, busses and: taxis. 30,000,000 francs.a year. | .Promised relief followed the threat of showmen ‘some “moriths ago that they would close their houses in a national] “strike” unless something was done to frelieve ‘them of tax burdens which totaled 30% of their gross. “Two days. later the commission. reversed ‘itself on: the admission tax. cut due to. the fight.made. by pro-: vincial members, who. insisted: that the money would be needed for im BALKS WIRING PLANS| ‘German dialog. the order that. nothing but ‘syn| “Atlantic.” to}. leaving: the theatres without | the promised . re-. "Wednesday, January 1, 1930 B.L'S ‘ATLANTIC CCOPENHAGENS BIGGEST HIT Copenhagen, “Dec. 31, ‘Greatest dialog picture success at’ Copenhagen’ 8 biggest cinema. so: far is. “Atlantic,” British: International's | feature done in both English and q This; of. course, .is the’ German: version and the Danes express their * ‘preference for that tongue, fancying ° ‘its distinctness as compared to the blurred British -speech. . (This Teverses the reaction reported ‘from . Vienna and set forth. elsewhere ‘on this page), .Copenhagen.fans. are raving over | Fritz Korner, who plays the lead in. ‘Applause for him. is. constant and emphatic, “Newse.oe paper reviewers ‘take this ‘view -also,;. declaring the ‘picture. is the first example of the’ ‘fine. acting and suffers In no way from comparison. with nigh class stage performances, *|ANTIPODES HEAT, TAXES WRECK XMAS BUSINESS’ " Sydney, Dee, 31. ; ‘Christmas: week was the worst in ° am hae e “inany years for the theatres of this part of the world. “Bad enough here, due to heat and j business ‘depression, | ‘but in New.” j South Wales there was the added: ‘| burden of amusement taxes amount— 4 4 ! ‘ing to from 2 to 14 cents on every | ‘admission sold. This has: fur ther crippled theatre business, already | a plentifully burdened... _— Four Fuller houses have bane: ‘aoned legit productions, turning <0 ‘talkers: Two. houses are in Mei-" bourne and two in. ,New Zealand, On this basis ‘it was calculated | showmen would: bé saved a total of Spanish No Like Eengleesh;’. {But 0. K. for Sound Shorts Madrid; Dec. 18. . While talkers. in the English ° ‘ltoneue of a dramatic nature haye been voted unpopular, as evidenced by the hissing and: feet-stamping © that suth ‘exhibitions have. recently inspired, the news reels and novelty Dominion of Canada, a relationship: similar to state and federal. gov-. ernment, to cancel its Sunday night performance of.“‘The Arctic. Patrol” at the Avalon here, . Over 1,000 persons had purchased tickéts for what was to be the pre‘miere performance of a special fivereel production made: by the Do‘minion Government, Cancellation followed a threat of the Ontario Provincial government to rescind when M-G-M owned. the .Gaumont Palace.. Subsedyently Metro sold all its houses except’ the boulevard cinema Madeleine... “With the Pal-. ‘ace, Franco-Aubert inherited the contract which was ‘unusually elas‘tle as to play-dates, Auburt. found themselves’ able to arrange Playing dates at pleasure. Metro thus found itself tied up indefinitely, and rather than coritinue the handicap, cancelled the otherwise valuable agreement, . provements films, among sound films, are liked in country districts throughout Spain, notably in the which. were more. necessary than capital. the prosperity: of the city theatres. ‘The novelty shorts of a travelog nature, Nee nae the. re of foreign w German E shibs Deman 1 neous modes and manners of foreign. More Foreign’ Silents .| cities, are particularly liked; regard= ~. less of the linguistic handicaps, but when the Bnelish dialog is extended ~" for: feature length, and’ despite’ the Spanish titular translations, the. public here resents it markedly. : Although the’ first exhibitions of Berlin, Dec, 31.. Avalon’s license if show was given. Sabbath fanatics responsible. Once Italy’s Film Idol, Ghione Broke and Ill) Would Place Foreign Films Under Treasury’ s Control . Washington, Dec. 31. ° With Senator Reed Smoot deRome, ‘Dec. 17. ‘manding an executive. session. to The sad case ‘of. Emilio Ghione, | place ~the censoring of imported ‘one-time Italian picture star in the books again under customs agents, golden period of Italy’s :cinematog@ movement is ‘being launched to q ) eA raphy, has touched the hearts of. the | also write. back into the new tartff Commissioner of education, in| public, following Ghione’s return to law, now in formation, the Treascharge of government control of | his native land broken and’ penniless | -ury’s supervision. of imported motheatres, has okayed these changes |. after a bad time in Paris, ' tion pictures.» . to the law-making body. They. yemember: Ghione when his ' Treasury control .of foreign pieincome was in. the’ “millions: of lire | tures coming over here is the only .-| annually and when he was the fdol| Sample of Federal censoftship ‘on of youth who reveled in his Apache the records. It went out in the vory “Fool” in Paris: Smash; Brrlin section of the national association of _exhibitors has asked ‘the parent body to demand a re-. vision of the film contingent rule so that the way may be opened for the importation of silent. pic-. tures in the ratio of one-for-one for every native picture made. . Motive behind the move jis the increasing pressure of. picture ‘shortage in the big towns. \ The provincial showmen do not join in the plea, ‘and-are disposed to oppose it, setting up the argu| ment that the shortage is confined. to metropolitan areas, cue entirely tofeatures being -sent in on long. runs’ which block prompt. general |. releases in big town zones. he ee talkers, . regarded as a novelty.. and curlosity with good attendance, . were generally ill-received . and deprecated at first, now that the novelty has quite worn off, the talkers have. won a substantial and ap parently. permanent place in. the public’s cinematic consciousness. Italian directors of. the picture .. palaces through the nations are still | in a state of uncertainty regarding | the future ‘of sound films; ' The inclination is that the public will grow to Hke the mechanicalized and sound Pictures. ; DANISH STRIKE WINS. Operators Get Higher Pay — On May Rival . “jazz Singer” Jazz Paris, Dec, 31. Succeeding “The Jazz Singer” the Aubert Palace, after that fea‘ture had run more than a year totaling 1,200. performances, Jol-. son’s “Singing Fool” clicked heayily.. Indications aie it ‘will enjoy as long a run, having the added adof Kingsway has voted ‘to yay off all vantage of the miechanicals roles," A committee has been appointed to administer to the former flicker at: ido. _ whose health is very poor. _ Kingsway Calls Bonds. London, Dec. 31, “The Stoll picture theatre in “Sonny Boy” song theme, now a|its outstanding debenturey,amount familar pop together with. “Rainsass ~-bow.+Round, -My.-Shoulderstes vee eres 2s New | Era Div. Passed” London, Dee; 31, The New Era National Gompany, of which Sir Gordon Craig, now associated . vith J. D. Williams, is head, passed itg interim dividend on | wise mob, the. “the ordinary. stock. . .Vote came up onthis dividend meeting of the board, week's | ture, ‘at prices from ing 1 to $300, 000. fion...1s, Ata pT! Iee of. \ 05% mh and Interest ‘cna operation {will be completed in June, i ee et rr re “ATLANTIC” FQOLS ’EM . Lonidon,. Dec. 31. ‘Contrary to the predictions of the. alhambra is doing big business with “Atlantic,” pic25 cents to $1.25. early stages of the present deMberations on the proposed. new law yet to. be voted on. Senator Smoot is credited with having killed the provision. Now, those who did away with the control of. books, which the Utah Senator. wants put back, finds a strong group set *o {do some bargaining with the foreign: pictures. as one hase. of that dick|. ering. Vote on. the bill: expected shortly after ‘Congress ‘again. Bets ‘together = : pega ee Dutch -Ase’t. atPar’s. Hollywood, Dec. 31. Ww 7 Duschingski, clinskl, Dutch. theatre owner, recently brought here from Holland by B. Pp. Schulberg, has. been made ansistant to Geoffrey Shurlock, in charge of Paramount's foreign department, | story. son of A, Tns|: .merce Depar tment. Czechs: Ban German Film . ~ Prague, Dec. 31. The National Film Co.'s picture first called “The Bridegroom of Babette Bomerling,” andretitled “A Kingdom For n Man" for exhibition in Czechoslovakia, has been banned in Prague, Picture. had ‘been | shown olse~ where in Czech, territory and its banning’ here. is without explana,tion, other than ground for _objec“tion 1s alleged” “immorality” of the ‘Claim Talkers Are Exacting ae ‘Copenhagen, Dec. ‘3. A strike Jof picture | operators — ‘from Christmas to New Year's was. averted only by’ ‘the. exhibitors sranting ‘the men an. increase in wages. ; ‘Men set up: tl: ‘e ‘augument to back their demands that. sound film apparatus calls for greater skill in’ ~ handling and the old scala of pay was out of proportion | to the new |. gaeman 1 a Fox’s English “Find” London, Dee. 3J. Jullian Sande, comparativ ely new English leading woman and a dis covery of Henry Sherek, will play leads in Fox pictures-under a ‘term contract. She has received notice that the agreement is in the mails. ——_ Spain’s First Talker ReadyWashington, Dee. 31, Spain’s’ first talking picture has been completed, made ‘in Ciudad: Lineal, suburb of Madrid... It is scheduled for immediate release, says a report to the ‘Com