Variety (Jun 1930)

W^ne^d&)r> Jutfe>2&, 1936 Pl C tU^R E^S VARIETY -■ I V 113 Cliques Apparent in Allied- Myers Side Largdy Opposed; Many Indies Don't Want "Zoning" A. rupture within th« ranks of Al- lied States Organization Is drawing fire from exhibitors numbered among Abram Myerd' most consci- entious lieutenants. Admittedly yteary of the way In which they «tate the former Federal Trade ; Commissioner has been "hood- winked and steered!' by "a couiile of 'men who are in organization work for what they can squeeze out of It," Ithesse exhibs, one of them among the best known in the business, are Bet upon demanding a bouse clean- :lng or else openly declaring the ; Allied-Myers outfit for the rocks. ■ Introduction of Myers*, monthly i house organ haa precipitated a row ; which is described as being based iuiJtlri so many otter defective moves ! that; Allied wUl |iftve t6 adopt a !'brand-new policy If Jt hopes to sur- [ylve another year. . • [ jjigalnst the advlt:e;of organization in^inbers In several states. It is claimed, Myers or^«ired the maga- !:cin^ published. ■ That the first Issue, with a pos- sible second, wiU be the last was thiB) declaration of one indie organ- i|z*r, who said that Che Allied treas- ,uri!^ at present la tdoi weak to stand iprinters' bills that A.te not sustained by even a. ce^rtain amount of adver- itlsing co-operation. Not Much from 6-5-5 The 6-6-6 conference is regarded ■within Myers' own organization as *so' much boloney." One of the Kyers men said he will attend At- aantlc City Just out of curiosity, but that. he and many of the others Scnow, by pa^t performance, not to «xpect anything. : With the imminence of open flre- !<work's also comes a lowdown that exhibitors were first sold on Myers by the lordly manner in which he i^omlnated producers and distribut- <orff from the Federal Trade bench. Admlssic^n Is 'inade In some of the franker quarters that theatre own' •ts'aa a whole did not then visual Ize a Ijand-sbaking, head-nodding TURN TO PACE 75 leader which, they say, Myers has developed into since the payment of that year's salary In advance. Inci- dentally Myers* salary was widely publicized by his own organization as 26 grand. That that is also hooey Is contained in the ofBclal revelation by aggravated lieuts. Against Zoning In making these statements, far heavier than the attacks which Myers has repeatedly stated the Hays organlzaLlon has made In a now-'evldent effort to pass the blame back of what has' been actually smouldering within his own outfit, thiese lAyers spokesmen also say they" are In direct opposition to the intermediate ihove being made by Hays t6 get Indies Into regulated ^ones. "In my estimation," said one, "the zoning , plan ia on a par wl%h the arbitration system whjch the gov ernmeht"ruled out. I.'iC^r i>n0,^,^nd I know that there are plenty of .others who.wlll stand by me, infllLnol cgun tenance any kind of zoning regula' tlon. •■•-.■-■■..•..•..•il', ir.'.'-t "If an independent exhlMtor is; in depe'ndent, he Is running ;lirGi~'bwn business and will not ;^otl]^teiiance an outsider dictating Ills poilcy.";: Won't KicT French Hollywood, June 21. When Paramount starts this week on Jack Oakle's next starring pic- ture, a yet untitled French navy yarn, it will change the locale of the story due to a possible un- favorable reaction from the other side. Story, It's said,, takes a seml- klddlng attitude against the French people, hence the studio's reluctance to arouse any III feeling over there. Supporting Oakle in the cast will be Harry Green, Bugene PaUette and probably Ginger Rogers. Staying to Gossip Hollywood, June 21. C, D. Peck, one of the group of foreign correspondents, who were here two weeks on a good will tour of the country. Is staying over In Hollywood for a few months. Peck, Identified with an Hun- garian political paper. Is sticking to send home a column each week on the lowdown here. It Is not probable he will stay more than two months because of his limited passport privileges. THE eth ANNUAL InterDational Numlier Will Be Issued During JULY, NEXT Advertising copy at fitr away points from New York City should be for- warded as tjfoickly as convenient to 64 VARIETY" NEW YORK CITY, U. S. A. Myers' Statement Washington, June 21. - When Abram F. Myers, preLldent and counsel of the Allied States Ass'n, was asked yesterday by*- a "Va- riety" representative for a, statement regarding a story "Variety" had obtained from members of his organization, to the effect he (Myers) is beiiig. "steered" in the opera- tion of Allied States by lead- ing associates of Allied who act without consideration ■ for the remainder of the membership; that the Allied States Is near collapsing and that a new constitution for it Is needed, besides the indie exhibs of Allied States giving "Variety" the information adding the 6-6-6 conference date for At- lantic City June 30* looks like a gag as far as the whole body, of indie exhibs is con- cerned, he replied; "I know nothing of this matter,'^ said Mr. Myers. "No dissatisfaction has been ex- pressed to me and unless the men are named I decline to credit the story. "I can not understand why ^•Variety" constantly lends it- self to this sort of thing. It has abandoned its policy of handling the news impartially and has ' waged ' a canipatign against-' Allied States for sev- ,eral° months. "Nothing better could illus- trate the., need , for; a house organt:t)iGCtt the fact that t^de papers^: '• oistentatlously -j, iri- dependient ^should constalntly take sides against the exhibit- ors In the Industry;, , "Membership, on the "advis- ory |>oard ot; Allied States Is a reward for effort In behalf of Allied. No clique exists Jn the Ass'n except in the sense ^hat preferment is giver, those who do the most for the Association." Forgetful Mr. Myers did not plead the alibi' of an anonymity when he. Steffes and Rlchey went into a panic over the .quota- tion of an unknown "Hays- Ite" In the "Variety" story that .first .brought about a surmise that Myers was being "steered." That "Hayslte's" story specifically referred only to Steffes. Rlchey and Myers. After the trio had done their shouting over the anony- mous "Hayslte" they claimed the entire Allied States had been Insulted and Myers is said to have threatened to call off the 6-6-6 conference un- less the name of the "Hays- lte" were divulged. Myers In- cidentally makes no threat if the identlUes of his Allied States' members giving "Va- riety" this information are not mentioned, Those members may > be agreeable to having their names printed. It Mr. Myers''^ expresses the wish, "Variety" will ask bis com- plaining Allied members If they have any objection to be- coming known. It's possible they will make themselves known without an invitation. Not Pleased Now As none of the Allied States membership, excepting Stef- fes, Richey and Myers, has objected to the news policy of "Variety" in printing cur- rent opinion, whether It be between exhibs and distrlbs or between indie exhibs only, Mr. Myers' opinion that "Va- riety" has altered Us news policy can only be considered from the standpoint that "Va- riety" of late has not pleased Steffes, Richey and Myers. Not Apt to Please Nor Is "Variety" apt to please either of them until Myers gives more thought to all of the Indie exhibs who are- members of the Association that is paying him his salary to aid and protect them. In an annbuncement issued by Myers June 17 mention- ing the 6-6-6 renewed con- ference June 3, a paragraph says: "While the Association is Indignant at the libel- ous attacks on its delega- tion in certain trade pa- pers and inspired by an unidentified Hayslte, it realizes that to with- draw would be to play Into the hands of this under- cover agent who Is ap- parently bent on wreck- ing the Conference." None of Myers' members In the association is indignant at the "libelous attacks" except perhaps Steffes and Rlchey. Myers' realization about with- drawing seemingly came quite late, after "Variety** bad t>ointed out that neither he nor Steffes nor Rlchey could well withdraw for their pure- ly personal reasons. If they had the welfare of the Al- lied membership at heart. G. E's Frigidaire Stunt Went Bust Around N. Y.-Cost Akut $100,000 Sweden Is Anxionsly Awaiting First Output AU Swedish Talkers Stockholm, June 10. The distributors here are passing through a tough period. They started out with American dialog pictures and while the biggest American sound hits so far have really been talkers, operettas and song pictures, the Swedish people are naturally not so keen on dialog In a foreign tongue. Merely syn- chronized pictures have also proved to be of even less appeal to the au- dience. When the Swedish talkers appear on the market they are sure to clean up, whether good or bad, If only because of the novelty. - Paramount htfs gone .in for Swe- dish talkers more than anybody else, with the big local producer, Svensk. Filmindustri, as practically the' only competitor. Parainount's first Paris-made Swedish talker Is ready arid th6 following • -Bta^ plays in' Swedish are slated for immediate production in Parlsr 'The Doctdr'ia Sectret;" "Lady lites" and "The First Mtrsi Fraser." ^ ■ . Par's next' picture Is mbstly made up of players from the Oscar .the- atre, with John: W. Bfiiniuft:a», din rector and Pauline Brunius in one of the leading roles. . Among the latest releases Radio's "Hit the Deck*' at the Skandla (Klang-wired), with American dia- log and Swedish titles Is okay. Scenes of the Negroes' spiritual seance In Harlem were acclaimed* Paramount's "Cocoanuts" at the Astoria (W. B. wired) in the Amer- ican dialog version with Swedish titles drew good houses, further helped by the one-reel Ernst Rolf talker In Swedish made In Holly- wood, describing Rolfs trip to Hol- lywood and showing Paramount's west coast studio, with Rolf and Tutta Bemtzen In the picture. Many of the big. theatres have cloised for the summer,~but the ma- jority keeping open do a fkir busi- ness. Foz'i Foreign Directors Hollywood, June 21. Fox studio is now ready to handle Spanish releases. James Tinllng, Dave Ho^rd, Richard Harlan and Jack Wagner have been assigned as directors In the foreigm department. General Electrlc's frigidaire stunt, tied In with R-K-O theatres, went bust around New York, costing G. £1. about $100,000, from reports. Theatre patrons didn't just go for the request of sending in an essay why the G. E. refrigerator was the best, although the prize winner in one section is said to have won by way less than the required maxi- mum number of words—100. She wrote: "I'm ashamed when the Ice man calls as my ice box smells." Page ads in the New York and other metqipolitan dailies told of the essay contest Eiach R-K-O the- atre was asked for its mailing list by the G. B. promoters. The affair was also publicized by trailers, but the public failed to fall $20 Added Gross One house reported its gross'had increased to $20, but couldn't sweai^ whether it Was the O. E. frigidaire P03slblllty or the show. Another manager mentioned his gross had gone up on three' days while th^ essay contest was bubbling—$31. Several R-K-O showmen are salld to have suggested to the G. E. banctl that the Ice boxles, woVth $296'each; according to the adb, be glveh awaV* by a'raffle In iftach theat'r^ 'THUl was turned down by the ilipi^tafd ^oiip. ■ "'The -tl-lc:-6' theitre ttaartagers''aritt feporfed'to have'be'eh' glveli a -ma*^ ri i' for the idcky peridn With thtt best ess&y, of offering $260 In cksU if the "winner did not VranC the' re> frlgerator In person In the kitchen. GREEKS NO LIKE GREEK TALKER MADE IN U. S. By Dr. P, M. yEVTICH Athens, June 10. . Despite the great excitement ot the first Greek talker and extraor- dinarily keen public Interest there- in, espeliially with T. Dlmitriadls, favorite native. Greek singer. In a, principal role, the talker flopped quickly. Public deemed It too shoH- —it was only a short In the first- place—and monotonous. Greek press panned it mercilessly. Orthophonlc Picture* Corp. ot New York, using Universal studies^ made "The Blow of the Lame One'* (its literal translation), with N. De- larmln and T. Dlmitriadls featiired.' Athens Is bidding heavily for the southeastern European title amont( film centres. Two new clqemaa, 2.- 800 and 1,500 seats each, are being built for winter debut. About a dozen first run picture houses here already. LEW WHITE EXCLUSIVE BRUNSWICK RECORDING ARTIST Radio's Foremost Organ Virtuoso and Roxy's Premier Organist Enjoying his third year (exclusively) with Brunswick. Thanks tO hU colleagues, Louis Katzman and Jimmy Q'Keefe. A radio program by this. International artist. Lew White, heralded by . N. B|C. as "The Master of the Organ," is a genuine commercial broad'* casting novelty—a unique entertainment by a world-famous nanMi known wherever radio is a household word. Now featured on "Lucky Strike," "Tone Pictures" and other N. B. Ct commercial hours. LEW WHITE ORGAN STUDIOS. 1680 Broadway, New York.