Paramount Press Books (1919)

PUBLICITY NOTES FOR LIVE-WIRE EXHIBITORS For Use in Newspapers and Theatre Programmes MR. EXHIBITOR: — On this page are just the kind of news items the motion picture editors of your local newspapers WANT and WILL PRINT at any time. Send a column of this page to each of your two or more important newspapers. If you prefer it, have your stenographer typewrite the stories and insert the name of your theatre in each item and then send them to the motion picture editors. THIS MEANS DESIRABLE PUBLICITY FOR YOUR THEATRE AND ATTRACTIONS. These items also may be used to advantage in your house programmes. Exclusive Stories For Photoplay Editor From Theatre A RECENT editorial from the New York Tribune, written very evidently after the writer had witnessed Caruso’s first picture, “My Cousin,” is entitled “The Protean Powers of the Movie.” We quote therefrom: “It is banality that a vast nation like ours, covering a wide area, could never have been long held together save by the binding forces of the steam engine, electricity, the printing press, and other powers of modern invention. We sometimes wonder if the once humble movie is not destined to surpass them all as a force of cohesion, education, and, we had almost said, enlightenment. We are moved to these reflections by the latest development in the film world, the irruption of the operatic stars into the arena of screen favorites. . . . “We have made a guess that probably half a million different people in this country, even through twenty years, have heard Caruso sing ; possibly not a quarter. Presto ! he appears upon the screen, and in a few weeks all his characteristics and mannerisms become familiar to ten million. And the same is true of our dramatic stars. In the flesh they can be heard nightly by a thousand or two thousand people. But flashed upon the screen they become familiarly known to a quarter of the population of the country.” A mighty interesting editorial, and a true one. If Caruso’s first Artcraft picture brought this dignified comment forth, what may we not expect when the editorial writer in question views Caruso’s second picture, “The Splendid Romance,” which Artcraft officials believe is even better than the one that marked his screen debut? Exclusive Stories For Photoplay Editor From Theatre W. GRIFFITH has turned • away from the war, and for the first time in several years has produced a picture in which the Great War God is not introduced as the deus ex machina. “A Romance of Happy Valley,” the third of his Artcraft productions, deals with life in the Southland. The cast is virtually the same as that employed in “Hearts of the World,” “The Great Love,” and “The Greatest Thing in Life” : among those present are Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, George Fawcett, Kate Bruce, George Nicholls, Bertram Grassby, Porter Strong, Adolph Lestina, Lydia Yeamans Titus, Andrew Arbuckle, and Frances Parks. * * * * “If you read it in the Saturday Evening Post, you’ll see it in the pictures,” is hereby suggested as a slogan for the magazine with the two-million-a-week circulation. The latest Post yarn to be transferred to the screen is “Venus in the East,” by Wallace Irwin. Bryant Washburn appears in the leading role of this Paramount film. * * * What screen favorite is this ? See if you can guess from the description : rather slovenly, if the truth be told ; his suit doesn’t fit ; hair unbrushed; shoes run down at the heel ; scraggy mustache ; cold cigar usually drooping from the corner of his mouth. A screen hero ? Ave, and a popular one. Give up ? ELLIOTT DEXTER — as he appears in Cecil B. De Mille’s latest Artcraft, “Don’t Change Your Husband.” It will be shown at the theatre soon. Exclusive Stories For Photoplay Editor From Theatre WHEN is a screen hero not a screen hero? Answer: When you don’t recognize him. Bill Hart happens to be a modest man, and he has often wished he could wear a veil in public, that he might enjoy the privacy of the average man. Out in Frisco the other day Bill had the thrill of a life time: he roamed a'round the city and nobody recognized him. The picture in which he may be seen requires him to wear his hair clipped short in order to represent a convict. And, dressed in citizen’s clothes, and wearing a fedora on top of a close-clipped head, the Artcraft star found privacy. The moral seems to be that if you want to disguise yourself, you can do one of two things: either add some hair, via a wig, toupee, or a hair tonic, or lose some. * * * In commenting upon the loss of Col. Roosevelt, Adolph Zukor, president of Famous Players-Lasky Corporation brought out the fact that the former ex-president was a great friend of the pictures. “The screen,” Roosevelt told Zukor five years ago, in the days when the films were still regarded as a toy, “is destined to become a great national force.” The famous fighter lived to see his prophecy fulfilled. In the war just ended films were used by the government as one of the best methods of letting the public know the government’s attitude on many of the national questions involved. It is perhaps not too much to say that the films aided most effectively in presenting the case for prohibition to the country.