Evening star., 1933-11-30
ROOSEVELT STAYS
FILM CODE CLAUSES
Anti-Raiding and Salary Cut
Provisions Held Up for
More Study.

By the Associated PreSS
President Roosevelt and the National
Recovery Administration will have the
last word in the two most controversial
sections of the motion picture code.
Gen Hugh S. johnson, who returned
to Washington late yesterday from
Warm Springs, Ca, revealed that wner
the President signed the code ne also
issued an Executive order making inop-
erative the anti-raiding clause and the
salary curtailment provision.
The Executive order also reserved to
the administrator veto power over all
acts of the code authority and the power
to remove any member of the authority
or of the boards set up by it who shall
fail to be fair, impartial and just"
Further Study Planned.
The salary curtailment provision gave
employer in the film industry up to
$4,000 for payment Of excessive In.
ducements" to new talent. 1t was sus-
pended indefinitely for further investi-
CATION by the administrator and re-
port to the President. The report will
be made within 80 days and the section
then may become operative.
The section designed to outlaw
"raioing'' of a studio by a competitor
seeking big film naceS provided that no
employer could negotiate with the en-
ploye of another until within 80 days
of the expiration of the existing en-
ployment contract. When the contract
had less than a month to run rival
employer could open negotiations for
stars services, but would be required
to give full details of the offer made to
the stars employer and a registrar,
who would keep records on all con-
tract players.
Writers Are Exempted.
The executive order stated that "be-
cause the President believes that
writers, authors and dramatists are
engaged in purely creative work." the
anti-raiding clause shall not become
effective with respect to such en-
ployes" No such exception was made
of actors, and after the administrator S
investigation and report the section
may become applicable to them.
The membership of the code authority
was made public yesterday. 1t included,
as representatives of affiliated producers,
distributors and exhibitors, Merlyn H.
AlesWorth, president of R-K-O; Sydney
r. Kent of Fox, George j. Shaefer, gen.
eral manager of Paramount Distrlbu-
tors; Nicholas M. Schenck, president OF
Metro GoldWyn- Mayer and Harry M.
Warner chairman of the board of War
ner Bros. and as representatives of un-
affiliated producers, distributors and ex-
hibitors, Robert H. Cochrane, vice presi-
dent of Universal w. Ray Johnston,
president of Monogram; Ed Kuy-Ken-
dali of the Motion Picture Theater
Owners of America; Charles L. O'Reiley,
of the Theater Owners Chamber of
Commerce, and Nathan Yamins, an in
dependent exhibitor of Fall River, Mass.
Marie Dressler Named.
Three other members of the authority
we're named IN second executive
order. Marie Dressler, film star, and
Eddie Cantor. screen comedian, were
named to the authority to represent the
actor class of employees when any ques-
ton directly or indirectly affecting the
class should be considered. In the
same order DR.. A. Lawrence Lowell,
president emeritus of Harvard Uni
Versity and chairman of the Motion
Picture Research Council, was desig-
mated as one of three administration
representatives on the authority. The
remaining two have not been named.
Actors and writer's in Hollywood Wig
orously opposed the two sections of the
code that we're suspended. Cantor. as
president of the recently formed Film
Actors Guild, was one of the principal
spokesman of the opposition.