Variety (Jun 1930)

VARIETY Wednesday, June 25,1930 BUT A FEW SHORT YEARS W. B. Production Executives J. I. WABNER (Vice-President in Charge .of Production) DARRYL FRANCIS ZANUCK, associate executive. William Koenig, general studio manager. Col. N. S. Slaughter, chief Vitaphone engineer. Frank N. Murphy, chief electrical en^^lneer. Robert Crawford, executive In charge of music.-. Major Nathan Levinson, associate Vitaphone engineer. George H. Thomas, director of publfclty. Joe Marks, casting director. Erno ,Rapee, general musical director. Lquis Silvers, musical director. Arthor. H^lddock, chief engineer. Lucien Hubbard, story editor. Larry Ceballos, dance director. P. A. Chase,, comptroller. By Walter Meyers, Manager . Not so many years ago' the pro- grams in the major portion of TaudevUle houses were changed to Include pictures. In ianswer to the public's demand for screen enter- talnihent. Particularly was this the ease following the general accept- ance of talking pictures. The pic- ture, however, was tMoked more or less at random, without considera- tion of its relation to the balance of the program. This . indiscriminate bookins no longer prevails. Theatre managers Boon realized that the picture must be the pivot around which the stage presentation revolves in order to have a uniform show. . .. In arranging the programs for the Warner Bros, theatres of this type, we select the picture first and the vaudeville acts that accompany It are chosen to blend with the screen portion. This, and the fact that the new theatres are built with much larger seating capacities than the old ones, places the booking of vaudeville acts on an entirely dif- ferent basis than it was four or five years ago. Acts For De Luxes Personality sketches are entirely eliminated in the larger theatres. The audience must experience a certain amount of comraderle with the player or the player will not get over.' Therefore, the noisier and more spectacular acts are selected for the theatre that has been built especially for the all-important pic- ture. We rarely book a dramatic playlet, except In an Instance where the film Is entirely slapstick. The screen feature, even the average comedy, eeemib to supply all the drama an audi^ce requires. If the picture it- self Is intensely dramatic, the sur- rounding acts will be of the light, frivolous variety, with an occasional novelty niimber. If .the picture is comedy we use material that Is more substantial, theatrically speaking, than the pat- ter of the average vaudevlllian. We do not have any trouble locating tal- ent for our various theatres. From morning until night agents stream Jn and out of the Warner Talent Bureau, submitting the talent they have to offer. Placing Acts We never book an act which we have not seen. If an agent outlines a new act and it sounds good, we arrange to witness It before mak- ing definite steps toward including the act In our line-up. When we do see It we classify it immediately so that If we decide to use it, we knoTC where It will go. over and where It might he liable to freeze. Audiences vary according to lo- cality, which is a fact long known to those In the amusement field. But they do not vary as greatly In jibe matter of pictures as vaudO' Ville. A picture has a . much wider apipeal. The W^amer Talent Bureau often discovers talent for thh Vitaphone Varieties anC the Warner ieature pictures, Many of the players In the shorts and features who are now. gaining fame on the screen were given their first film tests on advice from our office. In many cases a vaudeville player will attain a fairly satisfactory de- gree of success on the^. stage, leave it'for a turn In talking pictures, then return to vaudeville to break records at every appearance. This was the case with Winnie Lightner. Miss Ughtner, shortly after the release of "Gold Diggers of Broad- way," came east for a vacation. We By J. L. Warner (Vice-President of Warner Bros^) It b Just • few short year*—«o few that you can count them on ona hand—since the development of our company and its many subsidiaries. While the origin of our entry into the motion picture business dates back over a span of 26 years, we have been through many triale and tribulatione that brought us to the point of Vitaphone. That day when my brother Harry viewed the first experiment at the Bell Tele- phone., laboratories, New York, wae indeed the marking of a new era not only in the form of entertain- ment but in education as well. Immediately followed the discov- ery of Vitaphone, How nitiarkable the trend,, how far reaching It has be<iome, this sweeping Innovation! Liittle did! we realize Its possibilities on thiat day.'Just a ^hort four and pne-half years ago at our Brooklyn studios; when my brother Sam made one . of the . first , subjects aa an ex- tterlment, with myfielf. But we knew that It was the ultimate. This, was long ! before we photo- graphiisd and recorded for public exhibition. ■ Future of Vitaphone The phase that Is most Important 1b the better understanding among nations In hearing the spoken word. Instead of merely seeing the former cold and. silent film. The future of Vitaphone has a great deal In store. It has gone through the time of ex- periment. It has changed the mode of motion pictures. From the day of the making of our first .Vitaphone short subject, namely, Martlnelll singing "Pagll- acd," and then right on thrpug'h with the numerous other Vitaphone ■short subjects up to the production of "The Jazz Singer," much water bad gone under the bridge. The re- sults and achievements that have been accomplished, they alone speak for themselves, although volumes might be written. Danger of Bad Projection The danger facing the continued F. N. Production Executives J. L. WARNER, SUPERVISOR IN CHIEF. HAL WALLIS, eo-executlve in charge of production. C. GRAHAM BAKER, co-executive In charge of production. Robert Crawford, executive In charge of musla Louis Helper, business manager. Robert North, production supervisor. Robert Lord, production supervisor. Hubert Voight, manager West Coast publicity department. Erne Rapee, geheral music .director. William Mayberry, casting director. Val Paul, assistant studio, manager. Lee Forbstein, music','director. Walter Strohm, electrical engineer. Larry Cebailos,' dance director.; Henry Straub, comptroller. Frank N. Murphy, chief electrical engineer. Building the Picture By Darryl F. Zanuck (Associate Preducer, Warner Bros. Pictures) ■ not take the reproduction-In their show places as seriously. Many ex- hibitors are still using already, old methods, and It seems-impossibie to get them out of the first routine. Just putting on the'Aim and going down to the comer store, and then coming back to find out how much they took in, is not sufficient. Today the picture Industry has changed, and the public will accept only talking pictures. Irrespective of the great many minds who once thought differently. Acoustics Imperative The running of talking pictures must be handled in the same man- ner that a stage director rehearses players In a play on the stage. Tou Just cannot run a picture and set the "fader" at 8 and say "goodbye." Operators and managers must fol- MR. AND MRS. BENJAMIN WARNER Parents of H. M., Major Albert, J. L. Warner, Mrs. Harry L. Chamas, Mrs. Dave Bobbins, Mrs. Lou Halper prevailed upon her to play four weeks in vaudeville and booked her in a few Eastern theatres. The crowds she attracted almost re- sulted in riots. Plenty of Work Warner Bros. Talent Bureau places artists for Warner Bros. Pictures; First National Pictures; Vitaphone Varieties; Warner Bros. Theatres; National Radio Advertis- ing, Inc.; Warner Bros. Commer- cial and Industrial Dept.; Bruns- wick Radio Co.; Warner Bros, le- gitimate shows and numerous other enterprises In which they are in- terested, thus assuring the artist every possible opening. success of talking pictures is one solely of the method employed in the projection of motion pictures in the theatres throughout the world. A great many theatres fall into the rut of their former existence that "anything will do." This has re- sulted In thousands of motion pic- ture fans not welcoming talking pic- tures, due to inadequate equipment or careless management in the thea- tres themselves. At the studios where talking pic- tures are produced It is a serious task In accepting proper recording. If the scenes are not properly re- produced they are Immediately re- taken and liiade perfect. Unfortunately, many theatres do low the cue sheets sent out by the exchanges, and also watch the acoustic troubles in their theatres, as it is a fact that no two theatres have the same acoustic problems. Each one is a problem in Itself and there is a right way of overcoming them, Just as a stage director has his cast speak their lines over the footlights instead of standing with their backs to the audience. If proper attention is given to this phase of the talking picture, its success is a foregone conclusion; otherwise danger lurks on the hori- zon. 260 Engineers in 4 Studios Warner Brothers, as producers of (Continued on page 28) The most vital end in the produc> tion of talking pictures has been neglected. It to nnappreciated by the critics and the public alike. ' Tou may assemble In your pro- duction the jgreatedt cast conceiv- able; you'iaijiy.-'.ipiurchase for pro- duction a recofittued piece of liter- ature or a succeeMul and estab- lished play; you may produce the picture with all' the care, detail, lavlshness and extravagance In the world; you may have your picture directed by the finest director in thia Industry. But all. of this wttl not present to the public a perfect picture nor an almost picture If the cutting and editing departments fall In their Job. The cutter of a picture," or the editorial Supervisor (sometimes the producer himself la. the one who gives the final cut to his produc- tions) cannot fall, or the whole production falls, too. It the super- visor does not know wbat to leave In the final finished picture and what to take out, the production Is certain to flounder. Many great productions are ruined by over- footage; many fair pictures are Im- proved 100% by clever and Intelli- gent cutting. Juggling to Fit On Warner Brothers' pictures^ special care Is given to the editing. Weeks and very often -ftionths are spent in cutting and recutting, and Juggling to the best advantage se- quences or episodes of the finished picture. Personal supervision is given to each production, not only In cast- ing, selection of material and cor- rections, but also in the ediflng of each scene. Five out of 10 pictures, as pre- sented to screen audiences, are too long and have too much emphasis on unnecessary scenes. It is the aim' of .Warner Brothers Pictures to eliminate and present to audi- ences only the essential and vital parts of the finished picture. The editing of pictures does not start in the cutting room. It starts with the heart of the production of the picture—when the story is being put into manuscript form. While this is being done, the pic- ture Is timed with stop watches, and cut down to the desired length before it goes Into actual produc- tion. This is not only a great saving of time' and money, but is an Im- provement to the picture In the matter Of continuity. The first talking picture cut down and edited was "Olorlous Betsy." At that time it was unknown how to cut Records and eliminate slow unnecessary footage. Grad- and ually, step by step and picture by picture, the editing became more important. Now Warner Brothers' pictures are recognized for their tempo, speed and direct continuity of thought and action.