Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24

THE Great Hollywood Revolution
- which was to result in drastic
salary cutting among the movie rich
has turned out to be flop.
The producers. prepared to gouge
their employees. have met with uneX
pected resistance, and have been com
PEELED to pull in their horns. Ar
armistice has been declared until Au
gust ], on which date the question OF
salary slicing will come up again ESQ
the producers pronise).
In the meantime a determined eff
fort will be made to find other means
of reducing expenses--by eliminating
waste, clearing out dead wood and SO
forth.
When August arrives 1t : reason
ably safe to assume that the produc-
ers will have found some good excuse
for their failure to slash salaries, as
threatened. and the grand old movie
industry will go on in its usual way,
spending enormous sums of money
and making even more enormous sums
of money.
AS confidentially suggested in this
column three weeks ago, the great
campaign for wage reduction in Hol-
lywood was instigated by Wall Street.
When the film producers need cap
ftal---and, strange to say, they some
times do need capital-they go to the
banks to get it; which is not par
ticrlarly unusual procedure.
The bankers. having read what the
press agents say about the opulent
film stars, the three million-dollar SUI
per-features and the ten-million-dollar
thea ers, are apt to labor under the
no q
p1e spend too much money.
The movie people do their utmost
to convince the bankers that they are
really careful. efficient, thrifty fell
lows, who watch every nickel with
positively paternal solicitude.
This recent outburSt of economy In
Hollywood, then, was no more than
gesture-and it's object was to impress
the Wall Street bankers.
Whether it accomplished that pur-
pose remains to be seen. 1t certainly
threw terrible scare into the boys
and girls whose daily bread and but
ter and caviar are derived from the
studios of southern California.
I don't pretend to be an economic
genius, or an efficiency expert, or any
thing like that. but l feel quite sure
that l could help the movie producers
to reduce expenses.
should begin with the scenario
departments, and should start by
firing every one now employed In
such departments, Further, / should
inaugurate the following policies: No
stage plays, novels or short stories
to be purchased for picture purposes,
or even accepted as gifts. In fact,
all the scenarios used by the COM
pany employing me would be prepared
by a staff of hackwriters, working
in the studio and receiving salaries
of from $35 to $50 a week. Q
In this way L should prevent my
employer from making mistakes such
as the following:
The screen rights to a novel mot
by any means a best seller were
bought for $4,000. Then a writer
was engaged to make Treatment"
of this novel for $4,000. AS his treat
ment was not satisfactory. another
and somewhat more famous writer
was engaged to make another treat
ment at a cost of $4,000. The new
treatment was then handed to an
$S00-a-week continuity writer, who
proceeded to disregard it entirely.
After working five weeks for $4,000
he completed his continuity.
Production plans were changed and
the story was shelved for several
months. Then it was resurrected,
and the continuity was handed over
to a director, who considered it hope
less.
A new continuity was made. at a