Variety (Jun 1930)

98 VARIETY Wednesday, June 25, 1930 WARNER BROS. (Continued from page 3) In the industry to whicli they have devoted their lives. The secret of Warner Bros, suc- cess Is no secret/ They have sa- eaclty, perspicacity and tenacity. These faculties are connmon to most people. The only difference is that Warner Bros, have gotten 100% value out of them. Loyalty and courage are the two basic characteristics which have brought Warner Bros, to the fore and held them there. It was loyalty that bound the four youthful brothers together In business part- nership 25 years ago. It was loyalty that helped them ride over business vicissitudes during the formative times of the motion picture indus- try's early development. And it is loyalty to the memory of Sam that prompts them now to credit talking pictures to him and to feel that the glamor of success will always be shadowed for them by the knowl- edge that he did not share in their triumphs. Courage That Won Courage must be credited to them because they were the first to give seriolis heed to an Invention, which, in spite of years of research, was merely laughed at when It was pre- sented to other motion picture In- terests. Courage is due them be- cause they mustered every cent to market It, notwithstanding the de- rison of their competitors whose policies and business .were subse- quently to be turned topsy-turvy by the very device that wasn't worth a minute's consideration or a dol- lar's investment. Courage goes to them not only for the introduction of yitaphone, but Its development. Even after the Industry conceded that the talking screen was a prac- tical innovation, its members pro- ceeded . warily. Everything new came from Warner Bros. When they had, established its success^ their competitors followed their lead. Thus,ail Industry, stagnant, Bjtlfling, dying in a rut, 'was lifted up and: revitalized by Wtirner Bros|. courage.^ For! it Is an adinltted fact that' the worst tlm^a. ithe flltn busi- ness ever knew were the years Im- mediately preceding the advent of. Vltapfaone and that the greatest era of profit were the years Im- mediately following. Always; First Under the Vltaphone tradertnark, .one'might trace the whole history of talking pictures. Warner Bros.' have always been first, as a glance back over the last four years.,wlU show. The first successful' audib)6 plctytje device was Vltaphone. :i?b9 firsp; stairs of grand opera to; b0 heat^.from the screen were through; 'Vita|^j|>one. The ilrst synchronized picture .was John Barrymore in ••Doii' Juan." The first picture ^ith •ouiid' effects was "Old San Fran- cisco;" The first with songs and dialog, was Al Jolson in "The Jassz Slngei-." The first all-talking pic- ture> Vvas "Lights of New York." The'first picture to be niade without a siitgle subtitle was "The Terror." The-flrst musical romance was "The Desert Song." The first all-talking picture photographed throughout In natural color was "On With the Show:" The first picture to feature as many as 77 stars was "Show of Showfe." Evjery one was presented by War- ner 'Bros. If was a sIgnlA<»nt tribute to them as showmen that not only did they Introduce "Vltaphone and develop It as an example for others to follow, but that after three years of leader- ship, the best picture of W29—voted so by the newspaper critics of the country—was'Georr e Arllss in "Dis- raeli." Presented by Warners. Not for a day have Warner Bros, been content to rest on their laurels. It Is literally true that every 24 hours brings some Interesting news of their business progress. Domination Every phase of work necessary .o producers of talking pictures can be accomplished within their own organlziatlon, which has been con- stantly augmented by the acquisi- tion of numerous subsidiaries. The majority of the big music publish- ing houses In America are today owned by Warner Bros. In addition to their own producing and selling organization they control First Na- tional Pictures. Over 800 theatres are today Warner Bros.-owned with more acquired daily. Their studios total five, their 93; their foreign branches 43. ^ Warner Bros, dominate Broad \«^y with five first-run houses—the greatest number operated by apy motion picture firm. And Proadway their domination reaches out to embrace America and every country in the world. Under contract to them are many of the greatest contemporary crea- tive artists, comprising composers, authors and players. The list in- cludes Slgmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein, 2d., Erno Rapec, Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach, Ai Jolson, John Barrymore, George Arllss, Winnie Lightner, Richard Barthelmess and many others. Loyalty An amazing number of executives and officials have carried on with them through all their vicissi- tudes. Dozens have been with them for a decade or more. Morgan Walsh, Coast Sales Manager, has been with them twelve years; Joseph Hebrew, Philadelphia Di- vision Manager, sixteen years; and their attorneys and counsellors, Thomas & Friedman, hold the seniority record with a service of eighteen years. The Best Known Today Harry Warner, Jack War- ner and Major Albert Warner, who head the firm are perhaps the best known film executives In the world. There may be a question In the minds of some fans which company certain producers are connectec^ with. But there is no doubt in the mind of any fan as to the fact that Warner Bros, are the heads of Warner Bros. The public as. well as -ilia'industry knows what they haye done for motion pictures. Some ■ people can stand poverty, but they cannot stand prosperity. Poverty never made Warner Bros, hard. And "prosperity has never made them tough. Charity gets a great portion of their Income. Th;y are democratic^ with an open door to all:' That Is the way they ran their business, that is the way they riin. their business—and that Is Warner's Last—Notice! This is Warn«r Bros/ first and last special number of or with any newspaper, period- ical, trade paper or house or- gan—until Warner Bros.' 50th Anniversary. A. P. WAXMAN. Warners and Teijipodor (Continued from page 82) cilities of his studio and one of his directors to produce ."Toll of the pSea," the first Technicolor picture to be made under anything like nor- mal studio conditions. Nicholas M. Schenck undertook the distribution of this picture through Metro-Gold- wyn-Mayer, as he did likewise a series of short Technicolor subjects and "The Viking." These were all prodjaced by the Technicolor Com- pany as a part of its demonstration that its processes were commercial and the confidence which Metro evidenced in undertaking the dis- tribution played an Important part i; encouraging the Technicolor en- terprise. Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer deserves further credit In this connection be- cause Messrs. Mayer and Thalberg were consistent users of Technicolor during its early formative stages In a long series' of inserts, as far back as "Ben-Hiir" and "Merry Widow. Jack Warner Stepped In It remained for Warner Brothers and their affiliated company. First National, to take the big step. About a year and. a half ago Warner Brothers, through the far-slghted-i ness of its vice-president In charge of production, J. L. Warner, deter- mined, since color played such an Important part in our intellectual and emotional life, that it must play a correspondingly Important part in motion pictures.' If color pictures were not then everything that could be desired of them, so neither were sound pictures when they started. F. N. Exploitation and Advertising RAYMOND SOAT President National Radio Advertisers, Inc. the way they will always run *Jielr business. wiien the final story is written about them, It can be summed up in four words: — Warner Bros.—regular fellows. Sam Lyons sez he doesn't speak with a dialect; it's character he's doin?. Will prove it also by speak- ing with an Irish brogue. Otnerwise admits he can't think; has sisterltis —one of the Dodge Twins. Pre- viously his brother Arthur went nuts over Lola Lane of the Lane Sis- ters, and Just returned from Cali- fornia, where he went to testify in a Lane versus Lyons & Lyons agency suit. Senator Francis Murphy and his bride went to Atlantic City for their honeymoon. That was Sunday, exchanges i Wednesday thoy returned to New York. Asked about the short stay in A. C, the Senator Innocently re- plied it was raining there. It's doubtful it he will use tliat In his frpm monolog. And neither were black-and white pictures for many years after their Inception. Jack Warner and his as- sociates reasoned that with volume production and with the organiza- tion and experience of Technicolor that further ''?hievement was sure to follow and that Warner-First National-Technicolor productions were sure to be successful. With these fundamentally correct thoughts underlying, Mr. Warner made contracts for "W'arner Brothers and First National with Technicolor covering the production of more than 40 pictures for the 1929-1930 season. Outstanding credit must, there- fore, be given to Warner Brothers and particularly to Mr. J. L. Warner for the great Impetus they '■■ave given the progress of color. But as in the case of any new departure all this accomplishment has not been without its trials and tem- porary disappointments, through all of which Jack Warner has often been heard to say, "Progress is made by looking up—not down." No Picture Opens 'Coif (Continued from page 24) abroad. This consists of news, house letters, reprints of' ads and other material that will be bene- ficial In acquainting them with pro- duction and sales activities. We are very proud indeed of our serial service which in the past five years we have built into the big- gest of its kind In the industry. A group of our .most notable produc- tions Is selected each year for serialization In approxlma,tely 30 installments each. Two thousand papers in the United States and Canada are steady customers for this service which Is of untold value to the local exhibitor inasmuch as readers follow the story for as long as four weeks before it comes to their neighborhood screen. Not only through these varied publicity channels, but through Warner Bros. large budget for na- tional advertising, does the ex- hibitors public hear about Vita- phone pictures. Full page . copy: runs on a regular ischedule in big city newspapers with a column left Isr the local theatre man's own' dkte. "This advertising," inci<iientally, benefits the small town Iioiise . as well, because papers are selected which have complete coverage over the surrounding rural districts. Fan magazines and other national periodicals are also on our ■ ad schedule. Thorough Exploitation Other fields-..for exploiting motion pictures are likewise thoroughly at- tended to. - We are constantly.' ar- ranging national tie-ups with mer- chants, details of which are promptly communicated to ex- hibitors, through our branches. Photoplay editions of Warner stories are to, be seen on sale 4n drug stores, bookstores and railway stations throughout the country at all times and the publishers are al- ways wiling to co-operate on local tie-ups to the fullest extent. Through Warner Bros, subsidi- aries, the exhibitor receives addi- tionl^ support in exploitation. Our niuslc publishing - houses, for , in- stance, liave many kinds of special niateriaf available for lobby- dls- playis, etc., for. exploiting Vltaphone music. Through their efforts. also, every radio station helps every theatre, for Vltaphone songs are sung ovier the air every, day by thbusands of radio artists or sire played by radio orchestras. V Radio, incidentally, is made an outlet for production news by a weekly radio continuity that goes from the Home Office to a selected list of broadcasting stations w'ho are glad to tell their listeners about ■studio activities on the Warner lot. ' Exhibitors have, no doubt, no- ticed the far reaching ad .campaign recently undertaken by the Bfuns- .wick-Balke-Cpllender Company in which a special sale of ^radios and Panatropes wais sponsored, by Vlta- .phone stars to celebrate the T^arner acquisition of Brunswick's Musical Division. This Is another example of how Warner Bros, are turning the activities ^f their. subsidiaries^ to the benefit of tiie exhibitor. Biggest Electrical Display . Warner Bros, endeavor to. make, every possible move a move toward showmanship. When they recently turned on the largest electrical dis- play sign In the world on top of their new Hollywood Theatre on Broadway, It. was with the ex- hibitor in mind. Not only does this sign help business in New York, but indirectly it helps the out-of-town theatre as well, for in the course of a year the sign will be read by millions of visitors from all parts of the world. In short,. Wajner Bros. ViU never be satisfied with simply delivering good pictures to the exhibitor. They will constantly strive to make his selling problem to the public as simple as possible. And this Is ac- complished largely through sane and thorough publicity and 'adver- tising. Jerry Mannes naunting the Hud- son shores and the sand lots In hope of finding a fighter with possibili- ties, and may cause Mannes to de- sert vaude entirely. TURN TO PACE 75 (Continued from page 32) employes of over 10,000 dealers th* "Jantzen Girl of 1930." In addition to a national cam- paign In the foremost magazines and weekly publications, a coast to coast billing progf.ui is in contin.% uous progress featuring First Na< tional stars. .The LaFrance Jewelry Company manufacturers and national dis trlbutors of the popular LaFrance Rings, have devoted their entire line to a series of dlstinctivel- beautiful mounted precious an seml-preclous gems, named after'' First National stars and featured players. Probably no national tie-up has developed so many diversified an.< gles as First National's hook-up. with ' H^lbros Watches. Wrtst- watch models nan\$d for Billle Dove^ Bernice Claire, Dorothy Mackaill, Doug Fairbanks, Jr., Jack Mulhall, Lila Lee, Alice White, Fred Kohler, Joe E. Brown, Loretta Young and Alexander Gray are already well, established. Leading Lady Frocks Leading Lady Frocks . Is another nationally exploited' product that Is tied In exclusively- with First Na« - tlonal stars. Additional national tie-ups whereby First National ex- hibitors have derived direct co-op- erative .benefits, Include Lux, Max Factor Products, Stein's Makeup, Martin Band Instruments, Pharaoh Draperies and Graybar Electric Ap- pliances. Each' embodies unique corpperatlve featureis, and distinc- tive tie-up canipaign units. . Kellogg's Ail-Bran is also tied in < nationally with Loretta Young and Dorothy Mabkalll. This co-operation Includes thousands of special wln- do.w trims with Kellogg dealers, sl- multaneyis with local showings, of ~ First National pictures featuring Mias Young and Miss Mackalll. The high-powek'ed exploitation record was originated by First Na- tional's publicity department. The more recent ex£kniple of this clever ■ feature Is the tie-iip' record issued by Victor on "Sally." The Radio- Victor Company supplied 1,000 of these records to First National ex- hibitors. The records, combining snatches of the tuneful: "Sally", hit numbers and a convincing sales talk on the picture, were used, over theatre amplication systems and lii lobbies of theatres everywhere. They proved a big 'box-offlce asset, ~ Not content with the: usual photo- play book. edition tie-up as ordi- narily handled, a definite series of campaign features were planned with the full co-operation of both Grosset and Dunlap and A. L. Burt & Co. Using the Radio One of the outstanding exploIta<^ tion stunts of the season was the Institution of ' First Natlonal-Lehn F.lnk hpur over WJZ and associate stations. This was put over through an arra.ngement whereby a First National star, featured player, com- po.ser, author pr other celebrity was the honor guest of the regular Lehn and Fink orch«;stra. Among the ce- lebrities to wiiom millions listened In were Irene BordonI, Eddie Buz- zell. Rex Beach, J. P. McEvoy, Lll- yan Tashman, Leatrlce Joy, Colleen Moore and Jacob Wllk. The latest broadcasting exploita- tion feature was the recently con- summated tie-up with the famous Del Monte Radio Hour. This ar- rangement started "Saturday, April 5, and continues for 13 weeks. Over the nation-wide network of the NBC and Its subsidiary stations, weekly, Del Monte program will be built around one musical comedy, operetta or motion picture contain- ing several good musical numbers. A radio stock company, located In San Francisco, consisting of a large orchestra and chorus, under the di- rection of Emil Polak and Mr. Do- lin, is hinintained and used exclu- sively for this series. The same star or stars having the lead in each production are featured on each program by remote control through First National's Burbank Studios. A national campaign worthy of special mention is the "Screen Se- crets" Free Trip t<- First National Studios Contest. For a period of seven .nonths "Screen Secrets" played up this appealing exploita- tion feature. Supplementary prizes, in addition to the thr'ee .free trips to BurbanU. were presented and all Fawcctt publications worked up an adili- tional interest that became nation- wide.