Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

MOVING PICTURE WORLD 45 Crashing An Aeroplane Into a House — For Fun! Just a stunt for Christie comedies in which a plane was driven into a barn. January 1, 1927 Smith Soon To Start On ‘The Poor Nut’ JESS SMITH has chosen January 15th as the starting date for work on the filming on the West Coast of the screen version of the Broadway stage success, “The Poor Nut,” by J. C. and Elliott Nugent, which will be produced for First National by Jess Smith Productions, Inc. Jack Mulhall has been selected to play the title role. Gertrude Olmstead the leading feminine role. Charles Murray has the chief comedy role. Industry Watches The industry has been watching this picture, for, in the selection of Smith to produce it, Richard A. Rowland, general manager of First National, has again shown his hand as a film executive who believes in bringing to the front the young producers who can give the business new thought and new ideas. Rowland has been watching the work of Mr. Smith for several years, and when Smith secured the screen rights to “The Poor Nut,” he did not hesitate to tell him to go ahead and make it for First National. “The Poor Nut,” is a story laid in a Jittle, “fresh water” college, and is built around a young college student who is thought more or less a nut because his natural modesty and retiring nature keep him in the background until the inspiration of a beautiful “co-ed” makes him one of the outstanding figures in the college. Campus scenes will be shot at one of the California colleges. Christie Plans Arvid Gills trom, well-known comedy director, has been engaged by A1 Christie and will start this week directing Neal Burns in one of the Christie Comedies for Educational. At the same time, William Watson will be directing a new Billy Dooley comedy and Harold Beaudine will be assigned to a Jimmie Adams Comedy. Earle Rodney has just completed a new Christie Comedy featuring Anne Cornwall. “Cool Off” Two favorite comedians, Jack Duffy and Bill Irving, aid materially in the funmaking in Cool . Off!” the EducationalChristie Comedy featuring Anne Cornwall. Both have been provided with unusually funny gags and make the most of these funny situations. Mabel Normand in the Hal Roach comedy for Pathe, “Anything Once.” “Sure Fire” Bill Irving, who has been seen in many comic supporting roles in Christie Comedies, appears as the Italian bandit leader in “Sure Fire !” the latest EducationalBobby Vernon Comedy, which is scheduled for late December release. COMPLETELY DEMOLISHING his airplane and a frame house and coming out of the crash absolutely unscathed, is the novel “kick” put into an Educational Billy Dooley Comedy, starring Billy Dooley, by Finley (“Fearless”) Henderson, aero stunt man, who performed the feat recently in Los Angeles. Witnesses who watched, the aviator descend toward the dwelling after a 10-mile trip from the flying field gasped as he shot straight for the house and completely wrecked it and his machine. Silence enveloped the group of spectators for a few seconds THE LYRIC THEATRE, at Dover, N. H., conducted a highly successful picture coloring contest among the school children of Dover when “The Blue Boy,” second Romance after the impact was heard. Henderson wore a football player’s headgear, an umpire’s mask and a chest protector but otherwise was unguarded as his fuselage collapsed. In making ~his , spectacular crash, he turned his plane toward the side of the house where two telegraph poles were firmly imbedded in the ground in front of the structure. As his ship struck these poles, both wings were sheared off the plane, permitting the plane to plunge straight into the house with less hinderance. “It’s quite a kickl” said Henderson. Needless to say, he doesn’t do it very often. production for Educational m Technicolor, played at that theatre. The electro supplied by Educational was obtained by the exhibitor and a supply of the outline drawing of “The Blue Boy” was printed for distribution. . There were two prizes offered for water color work and three prizes for the best coloring of this drawing to be done by crayon. A framed reproduction of “The Blue Boy” was the most elaborate prize, the four others being a large drawing book, box of paints, box of stencils, and an unframed reproduction of “The Blue Boy.” Considerable additional publicity was obtained in the local newspapers in connection with “The Blue Boy” and the contest. The Romance production was played up in the newspapers as the feature of the program with the longer picture mentioned as also being on the bill. One of the laugh scenes in Harold Lloyd’s “Captain Kidd’s Kids,” with Bebe Daniels and “Snub” Pollard for Pathe. Novel Exploitation on Educational’s “Blue Boy”