Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

328 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 7 Latest News of Chicago Kj\ E. SMITH, general manager of the J'l* Kleine company, is in Pittsburgh on business. * * * Theda Bara, William Fox star, spent two days in Chicago last week, enroute to the Fox studio at Los Angeles. * * * Hiram Abrams, former president of Paramount, is in the city on a special mission. He is stopping at the Blackstone. * * * Ben Judell of Bijou-Judell, Inc., the well-known Minneapolis exchange, was a visitor at the exchange of Griever & Herz last week. Theodore Stover, a salesman attached to the Chicago office of William Fox for some time, has been transferred to Milwaukee. He succeeds C. N. Sutton. Lynn A. Hazzard, director of the orchestra at Ascher Brothers' Chateau Theater, one of the show places of Chisago's motion picture world, has been engaged to write the music for "The Unbeliever." * * * M. J. Bloomburg, manager of Friedman's Palace Theater at Racine Wis., dropped into the Paramount offices last week and reported that Mary Pickford, in the Artcraft production, "Stella Maris," was shattering all of his previous house records. The Friedman interests are building a $175,000 theater in Racine that will give the picture industry a big boost. Nothing but pictures will be shown in the new house. The Illinois branch of the Motion Picture Exhibitors' League of America has elected the following officers for the ensuing year: President, Joseph Hopp; vice-president, William E. Heaney; secretary, William J. Sweeney; treasurer, Fred W. Hartmann; sergeantat-arms, William Rohe; members of the executive committee, John H. Frundt, Alfred Hamburger, Robert R. Levy, George T. Hopkinson, John Bobeng, Harry C. Miller and W. D. Burford. All of the above are Chicago men with the exception of Mr. Burford, who is a resident of Aurora. <• + * Harry Weiss of the First Exhibitors' circuit has just returned to local headquarters after a two-weeks' trip through Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Mr. Weiss said he found business bad, but many indications of a bright future. In fact, he said, there is every reason to believe that the turning point of the present period of depression has been reached. Gradually recovering from the shock of war, fans are renewing their interest in the pictures and before many weeks have passed, in the opinion of Mr. Weiss, the situation will be on a par with that in Canada. Canada, stagnant for the first two years of the war, now is held up as the liveliest territory — considering population — in the world. * * * The Chicago Motion Picture Theater Owners' Association has sent a resolution to The Chicago Tribune, protesting against the frivolous treatment accorded the pictures by Mae Tinee, the Tribune's reviewer. Miss Tinee, an Eva Tanguayesque feature writer before she was put in charge of the picture department, apparently never has outgrown the "Oh, girls" style of writing or else she fails to appreciate that the motion picture industry is a big and a serious one, so big that it ranks fifth among the industries of the nation. Exhibitors are a unit in saying they do not object to her unfavorable criticism, but they do object — and strenuously so — to her treating the pictures with so much inelegant levity. Morris Fox of the Orpheum Theater at Terre Haute, Ind., visited the Paramount office last week. He reported the future as bright, especially in view of the fact that the ban on Tuesdays is about to be lifted. Mr. Fox praised Motography. He said he read it religiously each week, and was especially devoted to the department, "What the Picture Did for Me." He confessed to a failure to report for the department, but said it was not because he was not interested. "I suspect I'm like hundreds of others," he said. "We read every line of 'What the Picture Did for Me,' think we'll help out and then put it off until it's too late. But I realize that more of us must participate if the department is to improve constantly, so I promise solemnly that you'll hear from me soon and often after that." W. H. Jenner of the Kleine exchange reports that Kleine will reissue ten Broncho Billy pictures, beginning March 1. All ten are single-reelers. Tworeelers may be reissued later. "Mention of the 'Broncho Billy' pictures recalls what seems to be a longdistant past," said Mr. Jenner. "But age in this case is expected to add to rather than detract from the feature. Broncho Billy had many admirers in the old days and we believe all of them will flock to see their old favorite." Mr. Jenner also announces that Edison's super-feature, "The Unbeliever," with Marguerite Courtot, will not be presented in Chicago until the latter part of the month. Arrangements have been made_ with the marine corps to have a marine in front of the box office of every theater showing the film and a machine gun in the lobby. By all accounts "The Unbeliever" is one of the greatest of the many recent war features. Peggy Hopkins, selected by James Montgomery Flagg to appear in the reproduction by Edison of the artists' types of the American girl. Three New "Juveniles" Three new subjects have been announced for the Judge Brown Stories being distributed by General Film Company. "Tad's Swimming Hole," the first, is an entertaining and wholesome story of boy life with plenty of lively humor in it. Following this release comes "Marrying Off Dad." Another deliciously funny subject, "The Preacher's Son," which had been scheduled for earlier release, is the sixth release in the series of two-reel stories of youth written by Judge Willis Brown, the famous children's advocate.