Variety (Jun 1930)

VARIETY PICTURES Nothing but Hollywood Now in Sight for Misses O'Neil and O'Day R-K-O's vaucle option on Sally O'Noil and Molly O'Day has not been renewed. The film girls will be through on that circuit -when their three weeks have eJrpired; at the end of this week. They are cur- rently In Flushing, L. I., after first half at the 86th Street, New York. The picture sister team was vaude-booked under a most peculiar contract, which gave them a free trip from Hollywood to New York, with all fares paid, without the cir- cuit ever . having viewed the act. They were paid $3,000 for the second and. third weeks, combined salary, on agreement to "show" their act the first week for nothing. At the end of the three weeks the P-K-O booking office was to have set a regular salary if further booking the turn. A couple of those Godfrey book- ing office pronilses that.couldn't be or were not fulfilled started the trouble. At the break-in date for the Misses O'Neil and O'Day In Union City, N. J., the act- didn't ap- pear strong enough for R-K-Oi and an attempt was made to team them with' a standard two-man comedy act. This was decided against as tending to submerge the flicker sis- ters, especially since they were, considered a freak attraction to draw. They continued with the two-act, assisted by a pianist sup- plied by the booking office. Lost Interest "When figuring up, the booking of- fice discovered Sally and Molly would cost more than, estimated, and R-K-O began to lose interest. The trip from the Coast alone for the girls had cost the circuit $600, with- out all other production and trans- portation expenses. It was a burner when the sisters asked for cab fare back and forth from Union City, un-: der the transportation terms agreed to by the office. Among the busted promises was that which assured the Misses O'Neil and O'Day that they would not be booked into a New York City vaude theatre until after the first week .of playing, or until after they were .sufficiently prepared for a Broadway showing. They .had come east without a set routine or re- hearsal. When, in spite of the ngreement, they were booked for the Coliseum, New York, following Union City, and heavily ballyhooed In advance in the uptown neighbor- hood, it started another argument. "VVlth three weeks of practically nothing as their experience for the 3,000-mile of. ^rain ride, one way, Sally and Molly will return to Hol- lywood after the current week un- less booked for vaude by a circuit other than R-K-O. Weather Washington, June 3. Weather Bureau has furnished the following outlooic for week be- ginning tomorrow: Mostly fair Wednesday except for local showers and thunderstorms along the Lakes. Thursday and Friday (6), partly cloudy with probably local showers «nd cooler along the Lakes. Saturday mostly fair and warm. Pari,?, June 3. Weather here Is mild with occa- •iorial spring showers. Another "Parade" .Hollywood, Juno 3. Christie's "Sweethearts on Parade" ■will, be headed by Alice White, bor- rowed from First National, and Stanley Smith, borrowed from Paramount. ■ Columbia will release. Critic-Driver Hollywood, June 3.. Julius Cohen, dramatic editor of the New York "Journal of Com- merce," is motoring here with his toride. They will be guests of George Brown of the Chinese. Will remain eeveral weeks. It is very easy to find reasons why other people should be patient MB. AND MBS. JACK NORWOIITII 180 West 44th Street New York Dusting tbe Attic TEXAS GUINAN Songs 16 Mins.; Two and One Fifth Avenue (May 29, 1909) Someone got orders to build an act around a good soprano voice and whoever undertook the task did fairly well. Half the opening song is sung off- stage. When the singer ap- pears it Is in the basket of an airship, suspended about seven feet above the stage. As a finish a "moon" num- ber" Is rendered with the singer" in "one." From the moon on "■ the drop the face of a picka- ninny appears with a■ good•< Voice back of it,, and helps out with the final chorus. It i;sn't. a new idea, but It is so much better than the "plant-fn-the- box" that is must be recom- mended. Miss Guinan has looks and dresses well. . • • Dash. Texas Guinarl, former so- prano, still Is a good dresser. The Oash reviewer for "Vari- ety" in 1909 is now Charlie Freeman of the R-K-O book- ing office. Fairbanks Walked Decks With Story on H|s Mind Douglas Fairbanks says he doesn't know anything about Mary Pick- ford going into legit for Al Woods' "Melo," but admits his wife might have had some negotiations on dur- ing his absence in England. Laughs off the repeated rumors of their split. ' ' Fairbanks on the "Europa" com- ing back to New York last week, was fiirting with a story idea he had picked up and walked the decks at odd hours to concentrate on it in order to dodge the dmateui* pho- tographic juveniles and autbgraph seekers among his fellow passen- gers. Spaniard Engaged Joe Seidelman, returning with Adolph Zukor on the ."Europa;" last week engaged by 'cable • Vilches, Spanish screen personality. Vilches is an . Argentinian, cur- rently touring Chile, and elastic for every dialect of Spanish, hence his especial recommendation tor the ex- tensive and multi-argot Spahlsh market. Hunter Out of Cast Hollywood, June 3. Because of illness Glenn Hunter Is out of Tiffany's "Why Marry?" Rex Lease replaces. Hunter is going away for a rfest L. A, to N. Y. Howard Emmett Rogers. James Ashcra.ft. Jack Pegler. Harley L. Clarke. S. R. Kent. •Will Hays. Earl Bright. Fred Newmeyer. J. R. Grainger. Al Lichtman. Lloyd Corrlgan. Jesse L. Lasky Walter Wanger Cyril Maude Jack Buchanan Al Lewis. Joe Cook. Edwin H. Knopf. Edmond Breon. Ruth Selwyn. N. Y. to L. A. Edwin (Mike) Bartlett. Claire Luce. Johnny Collins. Lucila Mendez. Joe Phillips. Charles Ruggles. Ricardo Cortez, Mary LeWis A. M. Botsford diennon On "Barbarian" Hollywood, June 3. Originally engaged to direct "Snowbound" for Tiffany, Bert Glennon has been switched to "The Barbarian." It's an original -by A. P. Young- er and Harvey Gates. WILL MAHQNEY in Earl Carroll's , "Sketch Book." Chanin's 46th St; l-heatre N. Y.' C. The .NeTv.Yorlp, "Sun", said "Will Mahon'ey is,' of cburse, the star perv former of Earl Carroll's 'Sketch Book,' and he is as funny and as big a hit as usual." Qjrfction RALPH G. FARNUM 1560 Broadway GOODSAMPLEOF INTER-PLUUY RADIO FAMILY Wednesday, June 4, 1930 Use of R-K-O houses as exploita- tion medium for other members of the Radio family Is being tested in a national tie-up with General Electric (fountainhead of Radio) refrigerators, subsidiary product. Every R-K-O house Is conducting a two-week essay -contest ending June 14, with the prize in each theatre a G-E refrigerator. Tie-ups with, local .dealers were effected, with ■ all • houses using^ trailers. Contest also gives Radio a new mailing list of around 600,000. SAILINGS June 20 (New York to Paris or Berlin), Terry Turner, Sam Rach- man (Europa). July ^15 (NeCw.YorK to London), Ray W6st (Eilrbjpa). . June 15 (Neiir York to Naples), Mort Levine (Roma). June 13' (New'jYork to Naples), Rhea DIveley and mother (Coiito Biancamano).' ' June 13 (New York to London), Edmund Breon (Homeric). June 12 (New York to Paris), Lily Damita (Paris), June 11 (New York to Paris) Pauline Cooke (Paris). June 10 (Netv York to Paris), Mr. and Mrs. Harry Kline (Bremen). June 8 (Pai'is to New York) Lee Shubert ("Europa"). June 7 (New ; York to Paris), Helen Henderson (He de France). June 6 (London to Los Angeles) Mr. and Mrs.' Dick Henderson (■Vancouver). June 3 (New York to London), Georgette Cohan (Berengaria). June 1 (Paris to New York), Mrs. Jesse Lasky (Bremen). June 1 (Paris to New York) Dr. Paul Kornitz (Bremen). May 31 (Paris to New York) Helen Brown, Guy Bolton (Maure- tania). May 31 (London to New York) Helen Burnell (Mauretania). . May 31 (Berlin to New York), Curtis Melnitz (Bremen). May 30 (Capetown to London), Annie Louise Co., Jennie Hartley; Plaza Boys (Arundel Castle). May 30 (New York to Berlin), Mr. and Mrs. Joe May (Europa). May 30 (New York to London), Vaughn De Leath (Corinthian). May 29 (Sydney to 'Vancouver) Gardener and Dunham (Niagara). May 29 (Sydney to Vancouver) Gardner and Dunham (Niagara). May 28 (London to New York), Peter and Helen Montague (He de France). No Layoffs Between Hollywood, June 3. Larry Darmour is producing all of the six two-reel George K. Ai-thur- Karl Dane comedies at once without any lay-off between pictures. , Darmour figures to cut down the production cost by not having to carry anyone between pictures. Men of Brain Who Do Things "Who invented Television?" "We all did." That's all the satisfaction interrogators get from scientists. The city of Schenectady, N. Y., prides Itself with being the housing spot for more brain men than any other place of its Idnd in the world. The stranger of average intelligence listening to a group of scientists, marvels at the range of what is apparently every-day conversation for them. From Einstein (and Schenectady has the 12 nien who know what It is all about) to the value of ocean bed growths for Invention these gentlemen talk. Forgetful of the billions that th'eir'-'brain-work rolls up for the company and stockholders, these wizards take their science with the competitive spirit of a group of kids shooting marbles. Good Spirit On the day of the big demonstration this was particularly notice- able between Doc Alexanderson and Doc Moore, chief of a lot of other docs. It seems Dr. Moore scored with the Introduction of the neon light for television, while Dr. ^ Alexanderson takes the crown for breaking the dimension 'hoodoo with a lot of his .own- work and by discovering another electrical. physician in Germany, :Dr. Karolus. But Dr. Alexanderson good naturedly slapped Dr. Moore on the back and told him he had all good wishes for making the next point in the tele bridge game. Another amazing thing about the General Electric plant Is the number of boyish faces emitting six-syllable words, exclusively electrical property. Young lads, of high school appearance, these- are but all embryonic scientists. t No Up-Staginess The doctoi-s all talk straight from the shoulder. The flowery things .with which they are credited in the dailies is usually, it comes from "unimpeachable sources," the mimeographic oratory of the publicity department, called in Schenectady, "the news bureau." To'listen to these scientists talk, even after that money-making Television demonstration, would give the Impression that Television is as far off as the steamboat before Fulton had finished work on the hull. "UGHTNINV TALKER WITH WILL ROGERS Hollywood, June 3. Henry King, having completed his tenure with Inspiration, goes with Fox for six pictures. First of these will be "Llghtnln'," starring Will Rogers. Production starts in about two weeks. Sam Behrman is writ- ing the dialog and Sonia Levine the continuity. New Fox version will emphasize the mammoth lumber camp and Reno divorce colony angle, with story switched somewhat to fit Rogers. Held Out OA Fechit's Pay in Colored House Philadelphia, June .3. • Steppin Fetchit, former colored film actor, playing, a week at the f'earl, local colored theatre, last week for a $2,250 salary, was paid off $1,400 short,.. tile management holding the money pending result of Injuries received by a small girl patron in a rush for autographed booklets of Stfeppin's life. As a result of the hold-out Step- pin refused to go through with a current week booking for the same company's Royal, Baltimore. He got the $850 out of his salary, at the Pearl, by drawing it in advance. Handlers of Steppin are expected here to post a bond for release of the $1,400 balance, with the theatre agreeing to return the bond when the anticipated complaint from the girl's parents has been filed. Ruggles as "Aunt" Hollywood, June 3. Charles Ruggles is due here this week for Paramount. After one picture he may do "Charley's Aunt" if a pending deal between Paramount and Christie is closed. $75,000 A6cident Suit Hollywood, June 3. Mrs. John Cromwell, wife of the director, has been sued for $75,000 by Sterling Eastln. It is the result of an automobile accident March 26. He claims per- manent spinal injuries. Metro's Golf Hollywood, June 3. Metro Studio Golf Tournament will be held this Friday (6). -Prizes totaling $2,500 will have all the mashie fiends out at Palos Verde for the day. "Lost Ecstasy" by Par Hollywood, June 3. Paramount will make Mary Rob- erts Rinchart's "Lost Ecstasy." Marie Baumer, recent Paramount scenarist recruit, will adapt. Ruth Selwyn's Return Trip Hollywood, June 3. Ruth Selwyn goes east this Sun- day. She expects to return in a month or two. Blumenthal Goes After Columbia; And Universal A. C. Blumenthal is said to have secured an option upon Columbia' Pictures or proposed that one be given him, for the outright purchase! of that picture producer. . ; The same query presents itself, uhanswered as laist week with ' B^lumenthal's quest after Universal ' if William Fox is not the figure be- hjlnd the negotiator. I Whatever the Blumenthal-Colum-. , bia deal may be it is said the figf ure hariied and unreported lias Pf-oven most attractive to Joe Brandt and Jack Cohn, of Columbia, The deal, however, is understood to hinge on a long term contract with Harry Cohn, the Col's producer, and ' ohe of the three partners In control.- The story in New York is that Harry Cohn has not placed his as- sent upon the deal or its conting^rtt understanding that he must be iii'- ■ eluded. Columbia at present has a prpd'. uct arrangement with R-K-O, wfm the general surmise if It turns out satisfactory to each side R-K-O will eventually absorb Columbia. Laemmie No deal for Universal with any definiteness has appeared on the film horizon, although It is still re- ported two parties are dickering with Carl Laemmie. v Besides the Blumenthal negotia- tions the Warners is. said to h9.'?e become interested. While Warners balked at tl^e- Laemmie set price. o.f $15,0OO,0P0, Blumenthal is reported to have of- fered to take an option on U at that figure. If either affair has proceeded further nothing has leaked out re- garding it. I Jos. Schenck East . .,,. j Holly.,wood, June 3,..i; ' Joseph M. Schenck goes east late this month. He will see D. W. Griffith's "Abraham Lincoln" and a couple of others before leaving. Cortez in Lead Hollywood, Juno 3. Harry Weber office has set Ri- cardo Cortez for male lead 1^ Bathe's "Her Man." Cortez is now on way here. "Variety' For Summer JUNE, JULY and ACfil ST $2 Address "Variety," New York