Reel Life (1916-1917)

‘SHORTY’ SERIES Famous Hamilton to appear in thrill p ic t u res HORTY HAMILTON will ap¬ pear in a series of Mutual “Featurettes.” The Mutual Film Corporation has contracted with the Mono¬ gram Films of Los Angeles for the release of a series of fifteen two-reel dramas under the gen¬ eral title, “Adventures of Shorty Hamilton,” the first of which en¬ titled “Shorty Hamilton and the Yellow Ring,” will be released on January 15. This is a new series to be put out by the Mutual as one of its “Featurette” star productions, just announced by President John R. Freuler. Claude Slater, who closed the contract with Mr. Freuler for the “Adventures of Shorty Hamilton” a few days ago, is an old Mutual man and an excellent judge of high class material. He returned to Los Angeles after making the contract and is now engaged with Mr. Hamilton, who is an ex-officer of the United States army, in the staging of the fifth play in the series. John Hamilton, or “The Loot,” as he is called by his intimates, is one of the best known motion picture stars in the country. He served six years in the United States cavalry and became associated with film enterprises four years ago, registering an immediate success in western char¬ acter parts because of the precise local color he was able to inject into cowboy and western types generally. Mr. Hamilton was for five years a cowboy working on the plains of Montana and Texas. He had a distinguished career under Thomas H. Ince, being featured in “The Great Smash” with especial success. In the “Shorty Hamilton” featurettes, Mr. Hamilton is at his best because they portray the adventures of a cowboy character— a cowboy who is at the same time used to good society and clothes in his own home town of New York — in contact with all sorts and conditions of people who think he may be a chump because he wears “chaps” and who live to rue their short-sightedness invariably. The character is an appealing one from every point of view. Hamilton is handsome after the manner of an athletic young plainsman, and he makes love with the grace of a Don Juan while preserving the simple code of honor that belongs to men whose lives are spent in the great out¬ doors. The plays are being expensively produced with a strength of cast and general technical excellence hitherto unusual in the production of two-reel features. “FEATURETTES” Short Mutuals all to offer high quality PRESIDENT John R. Freuler of the Mutual Film Corporation announces the coming of a num¬ ber of series of important short releases under the general designation “Featurettes,” which by their artistic merit will illustrate the meaning of the new title — that they are all star and specialty productions. Mr. Freuler has long labored to bring about general recog¬ nition of the importance attaching to one and two-reel pro¬ ductions, and success has crowned his efforts to the extent that offerings formerly characterized as “fillers” by the ex¬ hibitor, are no longer in demand, while there is an ever¬ growing inquiry for the short film of the quality presented in “Featurettes,” which are one and two-reel productions of the highest merit artistically and dramatically. Among Mutual productions that are now classified as “Featurettes” are four Gaumont single-reel releases, “Tours Around the World,” “Reel Life,” “See America First,” “Mutual Weekly,” the George Ovey one-reel “Cub Com edies,” produced by David Horsley, the Vogue two-reel com edies and “Adventures of Shorty Hamilton.” Referring to the greatly improved quality of short release productions, Mr. Freuler said : “It is the intention to release as ‘Featurettes’ only produc¬ tions of sufficient speciality and feature quality to insure box office value and to enhance the artistic and commercial pres¬ tige of short releases. It is my view that no room exists for the use of ‘fillers’ in any well conducted motion picture theatre.” Exhibitors all over the country have come to realize the importance of one and two-reel attractions because of the immense popularity achieved by high class Mutual releases of the “Featurette” type. * * * Mr. Strine, manager of the Lyric Theater, Boone, Iowa, was so bombarded with questions concerning the “Sequel” to “The Diamond from the Sky” by the fans of his town that he complained his ticket office was changed to a question and answer box about that particular picture and the only way he could do business and save himself from doing nothing but answer questions was to book the serial. W. C. Treloar, manager of the Opera House, Odgen, Iowa, was absolutely unable to handle the crowds that thronged to his theater to see the sequel to “The Diamond From the Sky.” It took twenty minutes to clear the house on the first showing of this picture and he was forced to re¬ move the orchestra pit and make a rear exit in the building to be able to handle the multitude of people with any facility. Most sequels are a disappointment because they do not hold up to the original interest but “The Sequal to the Dia¬ mond From the Sky” is even more dramatic than the orig¬ inal and with the conclusion of each chapter the whereabouts of “The Diamond” assumes additional mystery. The “Sequel” forms a fitting conclusion to what has been pro¬ nounced by many the most mystifying scenario ever written. REEL LIFE — Page Four