The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

418 MOVING PICTURE WORLD December II, 1926 "MicKael Strogoff' Has Qreat Premiere fiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.iiiiiiiii^ s I "Michael StrogofF" created a | I tremendous sensation in Berlin | I when given its premiere in the | I German capital, and there was | I another demonstration in Paris | I when "Strogoff" first was | I shown. The London premiere | ■ was as sensational as that in | I Washington, D. C, several | I weeks ago, but the New York | 1 showing the fifth in order, gave | I "Strogoff" an approval that is | 1 final. I ?,..iii:iiiiiiuiiiili;iiiliillililiuiillililliiiiiiuillillllilllliiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilii^ Striking scenes and powerful personalities mark the picture throughout. Colorful Universal Film de France Launches Broadway Run With Elaborate Opening-— Blizzard Has No Effect on Crowd Attending ^r|i% ICHAEL .STRO4ml GOFF," the long ^ heralded French production adapted from the famous novel and play by Jules Verne, which Carl Laemmle acquired for distribution in America and elsewhere, had its New York Premiere last Sunday night in the George M. Cohan Theatre, where it opened to a brilliant assemblage, starting a long run on Broadway. A severe all-day snow-storm, which at times reached blizzard intensity, failed to keep New Yorkers from jamming the Cohan Theatre. The house was packed to the roof, every seat in the second balcony even being sold out long before the showing. The sweep of this great melodramatic spectacle made a deep impression upon the audience and it was loudly praised as the most gripping picture ever filmed in Europe. As a melodrama it was characterized as the equal of any thrill-picture of .American origin. The production was made by the Societe des Cineromans, using a cast composed mostly of Russian screen favorites headed by Ivan Moskine, a favorite on the Continent. The exteriors were taken in Latvia, where the terrain, the architecture and the types closely approximate t h e people and places identified in the Jules ^"erne story. Distinguished f o reigners now in New York, prominent New Yorkers and dignitaries of the stage and screen made up the bulk of the smart audience welcoming "Michael StrogofI" to the Gotham showworld. The George M. Cohan Theatre is at the neck of that scintillating, intoxicating, pleasure giving bottle of life known as Times Square, and into that bottle-neck Sunday night flowed the cream of New York's amusement lovers to see the new Carl Laemmle importation. Audience Is Held If a hushed, breath-catching silence during the gripping thrills of the picture, if a generous applause at its highlights, if rapt attention to its story of heroic adventure and Ohs and .\hs at its colorful and magnificent sequences indicate the entertainment value of the picture, then the opening night's audience definitely stamped its approval on the production and okayed it as a first-class boxoffice oflfering. In keeping with the majesty and color of the picture, Universal had provided apt touches in decoration and in prologue to sustain the atmosphere of the story The pretty ushers were garbed in attractive Russian peasant costumes and the door-man towered over all in the fierce habiliments of a Cossack. The picture was immediately preceded by an invisible choir of men's voices singing Russian folksongs. The singers, the Boyans Choir, recruited from Russian refugees in this country, were a decided hit. A special musical setting by Dr. Edward Kilenyi gave a foundation to the picture such as few films enjoy. "Michael Strogoflf," as explained by Dr. Kilenyi, is especially suited to musical accompaniment of a unique nature, being a moving picture with Russian imperial grandeur, Russion rusticity and Oriental barbarity intertwined in vivid sequences. Included among the notables present at the opening were Maxine Mongendre, consul-general of France ; Andrew Brouze*, the French consul ; Madame Bronislawa Petechcnko, chairman of Russian refugee children's relief organization; General Peter E. Traub, Rear-.^dmiral C. P. Plunr kett. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Conde Nast, Louis and Paul Meyer. Herljert Bayard Swope, (Continued on page 432)