Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1917 - Jun 1918)

She Wants Bobo Back Bobo, the little dog with the black spot over one eye, that appears in a number of pictures with Mary McAlister, formerly with the Essanay company, has been kidnapped, and its little mistress is in tears. Bobo slipped out of the back door of the McAlister home at 4838 Magnolia avenue, last Wednesday, and has not been seen since. Little Mary ran to the back fence on hearing him barking and caught a glimpse of him fast disappearing down the alley in a man's arms. The Chicago police now are on the trail of the villain. Carl Laemmle Holds Sunday Conference With 40 Exchangemen On Sunday the Chicago offices of the Universal Film Manufacturing presented a scene of unusual activity and proved a veritable mecca for exchange men. The Chicago office has been expending a great deal of time and effort toward a successful "Kaiser" drive and it has been the desire of the officials to put the production over big. For this purpose Carl Laemmle, Joe Brandt and H. W. Berman came to Chicago with the intention of personally visiting all the exchanges in the Midwest. At the last moment it was decided to have a general conference in Chicago. Accordingly forty managers of the Universal's sixty distributing agents arrived on Sunday morning and a general inference was held, followed by a luncheon at the Palmer House. From there the exchange managers went to the Ziegfeld Theatre and viewed the feature, "The Kaiser; the Beast of Berlin." Two Men Beat Universal Operator and Steal Print of "The Kaiser" Attack Occurs Following Showing of Production Before Chicago Association of Commerce — Xo Trace Of Missing Film Found Stuart Mcintosh, operator of the Chicago Universal exchange, was set upon by two men at Congress street and Michigan avenue, last Thursday night and a print of the Rupert Julian production, "The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin," taken from him. Following the attack the men fled. Mcintosh, dazed from a blow on the jaw. delivered by one of the pair, was unable to give a good description of the men to the South Clark street police to whom the robbery was reported. Despite the fact that a city-wide search was instituted by the police, they have failed to locate the missing print up to this time. Earlier in the evening on the ninth floor of the Auditorium hotel more than two hundred members of the Chicago Association of Commerce had seen and wildly applauded the production which deals with the intimate life of ,the "mad dog of Europe." Irving Mack, publicity man for the Universal company, and Manager Leserman of the local exchange, had left the hotel ahead of Mcintosh. The operator had told them that he would follow immediately with the print. When he failed to arrive some concern was expressed, but within the course of an hour he reached Manager Leserman by telephone and told of his experience. Officials of the company are at a loss for the motive back of the robbery. The operator in question is a member of the union and all the requirements of his organization were complied with regarding the private showing of the film. Some theories have been advanced placing the blame for the theft at the door of pro-Germans, but of this the Universal people had nothing to say. It was necessary to get in touch with the Milwaukee exchange of the company in order to obtain a print of the picture for the first Chicago showing, which, took place at the Ziegfeld theatre last Sunday night. The run will continue for two weeks. PERSONALS The unusual activity noticed about the offices of the Unity Photoplays Company is partly due, of course, to the whirlwind campaign being made in behalf of bookings for "The Birth of Democracy," but most of it, Morris (the world's greatest shipping clerk), declares is due to the fact that Chicago golf links are to be decorated by two new figures this spring. They are President Frank Zambreno and Manager M. J. Mintz. Both have decided to take up the game at about the same time and each believes he will be able to trim the other. Morris is betting on" Mintz. "He's the biggest, he should make it more licks," is his explanation. H. A. Spanuth, president of the Commonwealth Pictures Corporation, has been showing some speed down through the south with that "Frozen Warning" picture. He closed with McMahan & Jackson, Cincinnati, for Ohio; the First National Exhibitors Circuit of Richmond, for Virginia. North Carolina. South Carolina. Georgia, Alabama and Florida, and with E. V. Richards, Jr., for Louisiana and Mississippi. H. A. is now in Dallas, Texas, where he expects to dispose of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Charlotte hasn't anything on "Spany" when it comes to gettin' around. Film fans and admirers of Julian Eltinge were given a close-up of the only "man who is a perfect lady" at the Palace theatre, where Julian is doing a fifteen-minute turn. He headlines the bill. This is his last week on the two-aday circuit, it is announced, as he expects to return to California and make more pictures. Eugene "Gene" Duffy, Mutual's exchange manager, who suffered a broken collar bone and other minor injuries in an auto accident two weeks ago. is still confined to the Ravenswood hospital, but expects to be on the job, he says, in ten days' or two weeks' time. It takes more than a seven-passenger car to put "Gene" outa biz. Bring on your tanks. 35 The publicity offices of the Selig Polyscope Company have been moved from the downtown building out to the factory. The company believes that this will bring the publicity department into closer touch with the producing end of the business and make for greater efficiency. W. E. Atkinson, of Metro, who recently suffered a nervous breakdown, was a visitor in Chicago last week. Mr. Atkinson had planned a long rest, but upon consulting his physician was told he might suffer a severe relapse and be unable to work for several months if he allowed himself to relax completely. Hence the flying trip to the windy city and back. Ruth Stonehouse, who has been in our midst for the past two weeks visiting relatives, left for New York this week, where sbe expects to sign up with a producing company, or possibly enter vaudeville. Ruth received some nice write-ups at the hands of the local motion picture column writers.