The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

MOVING PICTURE WORLD Fighting Men Make Picture Men of the 364th U. S. Infantry aid Columbia in making "Remember." Left to rieht: David Selman, director; Willard Cooley, master sergeant: Earl Metoalf, a captain and male lead: Joseph O'Brien, commanding Co. C; Col. Dwight M. Green, Lincoln Stedman, of the cast, and Jack Cohn, treasurer of Columbia Pictures. Lloyd's New Paramount Comedy, "The Kid Brother" December 11, 1926 Mason Hopper Is Signed By Metropolitan One of the finest directorial plums of the year was plucked by E. Mason Hopper when he affixed his signature to a contract tendered by General Manager Sistrom of Metropolitan. Hopper is regarded as one of the most consistent directors in the business for, during his sixteen years behind the megaphone, he has never made a production which has been labeled a "flop." "Up in Mabel's Room" brought him back to directorial activity after a year's absence from the screen. This production was released as an Al Christie special and was directly responsible for his contract with Metropolitan. Countess Tolstoy is quitting the stage in favor of pictures. Her first screen appearance will be in "Resurrection" for United Artists. <<Tp HE KID B'ROTHER" has A been selected as the title of Harold Lloyd's new feature comedy, scheduled for release early in 1927 for Paramount. Lloyd's new opus, which has been in production for the last six months, is rated by those who have seen it as the rovnedian's finest endeavor, to date. In gag sequences it is said to surpass anything that the star has done heretofore. Jobyna Ralston is again the star's leading woman, and in his supporting cast are Walter James, Olin Francis, Leo Willis, UNIVERSAL JOY WEEK, the annual institution by which exhibitors from Coast to Coast pep up their holiday patrons with exceptional offerings in Universal comedies, will begin December 24th this year, Universal announces. From then on through the week which separates Christmas Day and New Year's Day, Universal one and two reelers will be blazoned from marquee and billboard. The Universal sales organization has gone to great pains to arrange for special Christmas Week offerings, including prerelease opportunities on many pictures which otherwise would not reach the screen until 1927. Eddie Boland, Ralph Yearsley and Frank Lanning. The locale of the story, which was written by Lloyd and his staf¥, is laid in the mountains and on shipboard. While most of the action is in a hillbilly town, it is on board a ship that a terrific fight, reminiscent of the fight in "Grandma's Boy," takes place. Plans are being made by the Paramount distribution department to hold simultaneous premieres of the comedy in the leading capitals of the world. Tlie great volume of spot bookings during Universal Joy Week attests to the popularity of the Joy Week drive and its chances for increased box office profits. Universal is in far better shape this year than ever before in the quality and quantity of the releases available for Joy Week. Several new real money-making series of comedies have been added to the Universal output. Special Joy Week one-sheets are being given away by Universal for this period. Ample advertising material is at hand in the Universal exchanges on ail the subjects available for booking. 417 Syd Chaplin Has English Comedy Next Syd Chaplin, having completed the picture made under the temporary title of "The Missing Link," is getting ready for his next Warner production which will be "The New Boy." Warner Bros, announced this week the purchase of the story from Samuel French representing the estate of Arthur Law, English playwright who wrote it. Law turned out the play several years ago and it met with success in Great Britain, but never has been produced on the stage of this country. The scenes are laid in a British preparatory school. In "The New Boy," Chaplin will again be seen in a role entirely new to him, this time as a man who is mistaken for a boy and is compelled to go through with it for the purposes of the plot. George B. Hill, director of Metro Goldwyn Mayer's "Tell It to the Marines," with Blanche Sewell, the film editor. Universal Joy Week Is An Annual Institution