Variety (Feb 1930)

Wednesday, February, 5, 1990 PI C T U R E S VARIETY LOBBY CHAIN STORBiyBLK New Studio Contract Will^^^^^^ 12-Hr: Rest Periods-250 at Meetii^; Hollywood, Feb. 4. A new motioh picture contract -vviith 12 hour rest periods lietWen calls, rather than a- 54 hour maxi- mum worldn? week, was acceptahle to some 250 actordi from all branches of the industry who as Ambled at a meeting last (Mon- day) night at the Academy ot Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Gathering was to listen to the re- ports of a committee of 10 players who have been conferring on the new agreement plan, with the pro ducerf. - , t Original conimittee which naa met with the producers repol-te* to the actors that various plans for regulation of working time had . been discussed, but no agreement could he arrived at in checking up time put in by the players at-the studios. They stated tha-t producers •would give them a 54 hour week to start, and ^hat if this should,not work out they could get a 4» hour week, but they explained that this time would not apply to players who were under contract to studios for long periods or run of produc- tion. . Committee Addition* Those who attended the meeting were not so much Interested in the regulation of working hours as In the 12-hour rest period. After three hours of discussion, wltb pros and cons advanced, the majority were in favor of entrusting the matter to the original committee with the following additions: De- witt; Jennings, Ben Bard, Frank Beicher, Ben Lyon, Monte Blue, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Helen Ware, Mae Murray, Lois Wilson, William Courtney and Francis X. Bushman. Meeting then unanimously endorsed the following resolution: Whereas a committee of act ors consisting of Robert Edeson, Jean Hersholt, Richard Tucker, Rod LaRociiue, Lloyd Hughes, , Sam Hardy, Lawrence Grant, Wallace Beery, Mitchell Lewis, and Conrad Nagel (plus the added new names) has met an official committee of producers consisting of Jack Warner, chairman; Sol Wurtzel, Irving Thalberg, Wm. LeBavon and M. C. iieyee, representing the Producers' Association . to dis-. cuss certain problems vitally . concerning the welfare of the motion picture players, and whereas these committees con- ferring jointly have arrived at a solution of these problems that is practical. Just and fair to both sides. Therefore be it resolved. That the gathering of scree/i, players endorse whole- heartedly the work of this Actors' Committee and author- ..ize said committee to cotoclude negotiations now pending, and 9 be it resolved, That this gather- ing places itself individually, and collectively, on record as refusing to support or counte- nance i strike or any. radical action by any group 6t actors that might be Injurious to the motion picture, industry so long as the letter and spirit o£ this agreement IS observed. . Academy Contract The contract, when Jrawn, is to be known as an Academy of Mo- tion Picture Arts and _ Sciences agreement and will take' the place of the present. Academy contract. The actors' committee will meet with the producers again tomorrow = =^=^__.(Wednesday)._to inform, of the_=mll- ingness of the players to try out imniedlttely the 12-hour rest period for six moriths. Then, if after that time a maximum working week is wanted, it will be submitted to an ^ arbitration committee of five to detprmine what further changes are to be made. Artors present were told that the Initiation fee would be cut to $15 for those who wanted to Join the Raskob and Warners Hollywood, Fe\>. 4. ■ A report says that J. J. Ras- kob, acting for himself and the DuPonts, Is expected to heav- ily buy in on Warner Brothers stock. The Raskob group has been rumored having made; large purchases of WarrieY commbn and this buying, from the account, has led tp the late rise In the Warner quotations. A purpose of the Raskob buy on Warner is to relieve the Warners fi-om their present banking afflliatlon, according to the report. Local banking opinion is that should the Du- Ponts take the Warners away from.the present banking con- trol, it will virtually leave the Wairner organization with the Morgan side of the New York banking line up. Raskob is looked. upon as of the Morgan group through his association with General Motors and oth- ers of the Morgan holdings. Should this go through, as the local hankers seem to think, they say that the acqui- sition of Warners, by Morgan, or its alliss, would give the Morgan side another picture concern, as the Morgans now practically hold BKO through Radio. WILL ySE SBLLS BUYINC FDRGLS Draft Max Schosberg, of Gimbels, and J. S. Middlfe ton, from Kre»ge, to Han die Project — Artistic "Storei Planned for Saleof Merchandise ani Music Fox Plans PAR. READYING IN 600 THEATRESi Academy and 30 applied for mem- bership. Equity's Studio Drive Cold iEquity's plan to invade pictures, parUcularly the talkers, appears to be all cold. It was announced after the "temporary" abandonment of the campaign last summer, that the fight would continue, probably cen- tered in th6 east. Support of the stage hands and musicians' union executives was «nlisted. If there have been any conferences with film heads on the matter, nothing has coine of it. It is probable the troubles in Fox has sidetracked the Equity Issue in- definitely. In the meantime there are 100-odd names on Equity's coast suspension list. That means nothing so far as pictures are con- cerned, since Equity has no control of the screeii players. Several on the list who returned to the legit were given actual suspensions, but disposition of the others on the list is still a knotty problem. Bile Dove to Gaddo? Hollywood, Feb. 4. Howard Hughes is negotiating with First National to buy BllUe Dove's contract. Agreement has three years to run. , Hughes is figuring on using Miss Dove in about three pictures a year. Jeff McCarthy East J, J. McCarthy leaves the. Coast next week. Hie comes to New York to handle the John McCormack pic ture (Fox) which arriyes for a. $2 twice daily run St, Patrick's Day, March 17. No house has been piqked Sis yet or has it been decided whether a Grandeur print will be used. ' McCarthy, who went west to work on this picture as well as to organ ize the studio's music department, gets credit for titling the . film, "Song 'o My Heart." He also pick- ed the story. Whether McCarthy returns to" tlie'^oaStlifter lfiuReh-' ing the feature in a few spots is not known. Planning to'get the utmost mar- ket play from K« theatres,' Publix ha» drafted Max Schosberg, of Gimbel Brothers, and J, Scott Mid- dleton, from S. S. Kresge, in a plan which will practicalfy turn this cir cult's theatre lobbies into nits in a nation-wide chain store system Tlie idea has been slowly devel- oped. Started six months ago as an experiment, the plan has rounded into an objective 'never before spotted even by the so-called in- dustrialists. It began with th6 es tablishment of music booths in the theatre lobbies. Later this was ex- tehde4 to lnclu4o candy and other novelty vending machines. Middletpn comes, to Publix from S.^ S. Kresge where he served as merchandise and exploitation ex- pert for that chain's music field For Publix he will head the sales division of the theatre chain's music department under Boris Morros. He is now at work with Frank eamt»ria in designing a model booth Which is to be installed in all Pub- lix house? fof th6 sale of sheet music and records, Present booths are to be discarded. He w-lU then make a survey for the purpose of establishing a division of aggres- sive salesmen to handle this en^ Middleton had been with Kresg'e's 10 years. Artistic. Stores Schosberg has heen Gimbel's mer- chandise expert for 14 years. His appointment with Publix wiB be. to select and build up lobby merchan- dise in Its theatres with an aim to put on sale marketable goods from every by-product source of the the- atre. Bruce: Powell, Yale graduate, has been selected as his assistant. As this merchandising department develops salesrtien are to be added, basic "idea being to convert the the- atre lobbies Into tasteful and ar- tistic store markets. . Full realization of this plan will mean that Publix will soon have a corps of expert , merchandising ex- executives equal to any employed anywhere. This will Include buyers as'well as salesmen. Magnitude of the plan can be gleaned from the fact that the chain owns and operates over 1,200 theatres with a potential customer value of 5,000,000 persons weekly. Howevei", the plan is to equip only aboyt 600 of the houses with the proposed stores.. It is anticipated by those Ih charge of the financing plan for tlie "WiUiam Fox companies that iC matters are not '(^'[orked oiit .in the prescribed' two weeks the court will grant a further postponement for its accomplishment. Prohi an account It has been agreed by the first trustees, J. E. Otterson and Harry Stuart, that they will resign as such for Fox If the plan, whe n completed. Is officially approved. The Fox financial plan to date is said to comprehend a large bond issue along with additional preferred and com mon stock, all underwritten with present stockholders of Fox given a preference for subscription. Auditors are working in double shifts, 24 hours a day, on the books of the Fox; br- ganizatibn. Despite the ex- treme effort it is almost cer tain, according to Fox execu- tives, that the reports will not be complete for several weeks. As a result it is practically sure that Fox will .seek fur- ther postponement when the hearing of creditors comes up again before Federal Judge Coleman Feb. 11. An adjourn ment for an Indefinite period, probably -until the middle of March, will be sought, it is be- lieved. Paramount-Publix is building a 100% program from brchestratioii to presentation unit and its run- -nirtg-order,~whieh- it-wlU-ship-Oul Portland, Ore., Feb. 4. Application for a receivership for Pacific Northwest Theatres, subsidiary of Fox, has been withdrawn by C. S. Jensen, of Jensen & Von Herbierg. BRINGING IN 2S CRITICS FOR "KING'S" PREMIERE Between 20 and 30 film .critics representing the dailies of Boston, f^hlladelphia, Chicago, Bufialo, De- troit and Kansas City will come to New York Feb. 17 for a. two-day visit as guests of Paramount, Event is in connection with the opening of "Vagabond King" at the Criterion, which Paramount and Publix will make a gala occasion. of New York to all of its pwn and other theatres where desired. Policy being introduced by A. J. Balaban, it is understood will become perma - nent. Programs will include all Para- mount material as to shorts, fea- ture, stage unit, etc., and to bo laid on running order by the homt' office. L C. DISGRUNTLED AT CLAIMED STUDIO FAVORS Hollywood, Feb. 4. A delegate named Barney, sent to New York by the Allied Amusement Crafts to set the lowdown from Equity and the I. A. on the Holly- wood situation,Is due to return and- report tomorrow (Wednesday).; Executive committee of Allied i.s incensed over what it terms politi- cal favoritism in studios for me- chanical men holding jobis for which the unions claim they are not fitted. Particularly, Allied desires sonie remedy so that their members can obtain top mechanical jobs. As a means for disseminating Its propaganda. Allied contemplates establishment of a trade monthly publication, with each of its mem- ber unions to have departments for the presentation of its arguments. Additionally, Allied Is nepotlaUng for a radio outlet to broadcast sev- eral nights a week in an effort to sell Los Angeles its contentions.. Formal abiindonment of lobby music isales was maide laSt week at the Capitol, New York, and in all other Loew theatres where the lobby stands had been established It is understood that the Capitol sheet sales ran around 300 copies weekly. Drop Circuit Names Church Complains of Theatre's Ads on "Rita Misleading exploitation on "Rio Rita" (Radio) at the Majestic, Bur lington, Vt., with the theatre using congratulatory -letters by Cardinals Hayes and O'Donnell, respectively, of New York and Boston, has led to complaints. Letters were written to RKO In connection with the RKO-"Variety" number of Jan. 8. The house played up these indorse- ments of the picture publicly. Catholic church In Burlington complained to Cardinal Hayes of the Majestic's stunt, in which b:'..iners emblazoned that "High dignitaries of the church Indorse 'Rio Rita,*" with the letters which appeared in "Variety" reproduced below. The New York Cardinal referred the matter for investigation to E. J. Kelly, executive secretary of the Cathblic Actors' Guild, RKO states that it does not oper- ate the Majestic; and throughout its chain has never taken advantage of complimentary messages of the type written by the Cardinals. Sued by Wife, Husband Pays 2d Woman's Defense Kennedy's Coast $tay Hollywood, Feb. 4. Jo.^pph P. Kennedy, head of Pathe, got here just in time to see tliree picturfs go into produc- tion. Kxped.s to remain until April 1. .^-^ ^ ..^-^^Ghioago, ;J&^eb.. i- I'iibh".x: is rcDorted . planning tlie pliiuination of the terms "f». .& K-," | '■Kiin.';ky," 'Oreat .States," and all, names of the circuits now part of- the chain. Idea is to unify the string in the public eye. Houses in Indianapoll.i are the. ception, not using tlie term I'liblix because of the thrift-way owner- ship which exist*. Young-Withers Won't Be Talked Out of Marriage Hollywood, Feb. 4 Grant Withers and Loretta Young, who eloped last week, have decided not to let the family talk them out of their roniance or Into an annulment. _ As the couple refuse to consent rrulliffcStHSn ji Los Angeles, Feb. 4. Describing hlS life as a "matri- monial Jekyll and Hyde," .Samuel S. Hutchinson, Chicago film distrib-: utor took the witness stand in Su- perior Court here in defense of Mrs-. Edith P. Taylor. Latter is bein*; sued by Mrs. Hutchinson for $300,- 000 for alienation of affections Hutchinson admitted that he 1^= paying all costs for the defense oJ B^Irs. Taylor. He is sUnding the cost of tno trial, he told Judge Keetch, for the sake of hla daughter, Jane Taylor, 18, who, until the trial knew him an "Taylor" and believed him her An "economy complex," drove hinr Into the secret relationship with Mrs. Taylor, Hutchinson testified. His wife, l^Irs. Mattie Dean Hutch- inson, of Chicago, was selfish and arrogant, he declared. "She was- socially ambitious. My home In Chicago cost me so much it became repugnant to nie and I found neither peace nor contentment there. So 1 went to Mra Taylor. I was the aggressor. She was an exceptionally good girl, very modest and,always trying to save money. That appealed to me." Case is expected to reach the jury this week. to nullification" proWcain'i,'s court ia helpless in the mfittcn', "vtlT? ZUKOR'S COAST 6 WEEKS Adolph Zukor will leave for thp coast, S.'iturduy (Fob. 8), to be gono six week.«j. He will vafatlon t^wo and Work four. 15 M. C.'S Hollywood. Feb, 4. Sixth annual-- gambol of the Catholic film Guild, at the Phil- harmonic Auditorium, Feb. 19, will have 1,' masters of ceremonies. ■■ Johnny Hines will be head m. c. AFTEE TWO YEAKS AftLT being hold up for nearly two yoar.s by the Ilays oflU-e, Uni- vcrs.'il finally is going ahead with production on "Command to Lo.ve," one of Broadway's legit hits of two yoars ago. StU'llo paid $20,000 for the play.