Variety (August 1925)

• wy^*-' ' *^LJf ^:;jWe<Ine8clay, Auguftf 12, IWf PICTURES VARIETY ^i WARNERS PAY $800,000 FOR OCR'S ,. PICCADILLY ON BROADWAY ^.^- i )' Final Papers About to Be Signed—Despite Heavy Handicaps, House Made Some Money Under ■^ Lee Och's Direction—Want Strand Chain V Th« Piccadilly, New York, has fr bean sold. The Warner Bros. '{,[ bought the house from Lee Octas % and his two partners at a price ^,«onMwhat in excess of $800,000. >|t .The theatre cost $684,000 to build. ■U. I>uring its operation, despite strong J6 OKK>sition and the difQculty encoun-' (tered in getting picture product, ther* has been a profit a little above ize.ftoo. tluroors the Warners were to se- -T,,«ure the house have been afloat. 1 It was not until Saturday the ^^ prelioiinary papers were signed, V with the final i>apers to be signed ,*, tomorrow (Thursday) at the offices of Nathan Burlcan, attorney for - Ooha. In the absence of Mr. Burkan. abroad, the details of the legal end have been handled by (Charles Sob warts. With the Warners taking over the Piccadilly the situation on Broad- ' yttij as to pre-release houses pre- v:i renting de luxe performances again ■, tightens. The Capitol is Metro- ,r Goldwyn held, the Strand is giving ;t- First National preference, RivoU, ^,,. XUalto and Criterion ar<» Famous Players-controlled, and the new Embassy, shortly • to open, is like- wise Metro^Goldwyn. This leaves but the Colony and the little Cameo, both owned by B. S. Moss tjt houses open to the independents. K. How About Roxy? '• It brings up the- question of Just -t" where the new Roxy theatre will J?V««t product when completed. That \^:^ house is to seat over $,000. At t>resent on the inside it is said that U Marcus Loew says the word it la a certainty that none of the tinited Artists' product will go Into the house and at the same time With the Strand having first call on the First National product It would ^eem hard to figure where the house ^an get a program that will ktand up. '^, The Piccadilly, right on Broad- ^ Way, seating a little less than 1.(00, lUd a hard struggle to get pictures that would pull at the box office. Product from Warner Bros., Firsl >{atlonal. Producers' Distributing Corp. and Universal was tried by Dcha. and it was not until within the last few weeks when Ochs ktarted playing the Warner Bros. . product as a constant policy the theatre started to show anything '■... IUm staple businiBss. ^ Ochs With Warner* The future of Lee Ochs following the sale of the theatre has not been ^ liettled. When Ochs* partners pro- ,; Itessed willingness to sell the War- >^: tiers wanted him to retain bis share %. knd operate the house as their ^5 partner. This Ochs declined. ■■'' The ground on which the Plcca- ;; (iniy stands is held by the theaUe % fcorporation under a leasehold, with - IS years to go and a renewal of 21 years following the expiration of the original lease. ' Ochs has been offered the post L 1^ bead of the theatre department f:. tor the Warner Bros. He mtr »c- ^ Jcept this and start building an or- * Iranlsation for the conduct of the theatre holdings that they are going Wter throughout the country. Tuesday it was reported that the '■* Warners were in negotiation with the board of directors of the Mark Strand chain of houses with a pos- •ibility that they would take them 'OYer. The Warners' theatre buying ac- >^ tlvlttes are believed to be directed bnly in the territories where they ATKINSON OFFERS TO RADIO FILM MESSAGE London, Aug. 11. O. A. Atkinson, film critic and commentator for the British Broadc8Mtlng Company, con- trolling the radio of this coun- try, requests Variety to an- nounce that he will broadcast a message up to 760 words over the radio here, from Will H. Hays or anyon<; of prominence associated with the American picture industry. Mr. Atkinson suggests the message be a reassuring one from the film trade in America to Great Britain. It need not be necessarily in reply to any of the statements made by Mr. Atkinson in his recent letteHi to Variety upon the subject of American pictures and his opinion of their Influence over here. FOUR PICTURES HOIDING OVER ON BROADWAY Unusual for August — Result of Good Films for Greater Movie Season HAYS BARS SPAS GIRL FROM FILMS Day Has Passed When Notoriety Wins Place on Screen There isn't a chance In the world that Mary Louise Spas will get on the screen. She will even be "out" as far as the news weeklies are concerned. Will Hays hasn't stated as much out and out in regard to this particular young lady, but he has intimated time and time again in the past that the day is past when notoriety can win a place for anyone on the screen of any picture made and distributed In this country. "Jimmie" WhitUker handled the story for the Mirror and got the girl to write her "life story." The "fairy godfather" Browning stated that the girl was virtually kid- napped by the newspaperman under a promise that he would win a place for her in motion pictures. If that Is a fact the chances are that "Jimmie" will "have to start his own film company, for none of the reputable producers will have anything to do with tne girl. Bringing out the fact that she hsul been a screen player in her stories upon investigation proved that she had only worked as an extra in a couple of "mob" scenes and was in no sense really a picture actress as was claimed. There are five holdover pictures on Broadway this week counting ''The Ten Commandments," which has already played for over a year at the Cohan and Criterion. It «oes into the Rivoil for two weelcs and then into the Rialto for one week. At the Capitol "The Unholy Three" holds over; at the Strand "Sally of the Sawdust" does the same, and that also goes for "Kiss Me Again" at the Piccadilly. "Or- phans of the Storm," which went into the Cameo as a revival last week, also holds over, giving D. W. Griflnth two simultaneous holdovers. These are all the out- come of inaugurating the Greater Movie Season. This holdover spell, coming as It does in the middle of summer, is a surprise, for so far this summer there has been an unrelenting string of six or seven new pictures weekly In the first runs and also many in the New York and Stanley. "VARIETY" SELECTED AS BEST PICTURE PAPER Washington, D. C Aug. 11. Variety has been settled upon by the Federal Trade Commission AB the best picture paper. This statement was made at the offices of the Commission. It was said that Variety gives better information on picture operations than any of the straightaway picture trade papers. Subscriptions for two of the film trade papers have been disoon- tinued, with Variety remaining the only theatrical paper received at the offices of the Commission. -r,.«.,. OVERCOONTRY Comparison of Grosses for Four Weeks—Bernie and ny ATFTA Cooling System Credited DI AUIU EDNA PURVIANCE'S FILM Chaplin Produeing, btit Not Direct- ing—Actress Due in L. A. Nov. 1 liOS Angeles, Aug. 11. Edna Purvlance will return here from hor European trip about Not. 1, at which time she Is to start work on another picture made by Charlie Chaplin. Miss Purvlance has been under contract to Chaplin since she made "A Woman of Paris." drawing a weekly stipend, it Is said, though Idle. Chaplin. It Is asserted, has her under contract for another two /earn and will make at least one more picture with her. Chaplin will be back from the east shortly and make preparations to start his own picture at about the same time Miss Purvlance la to go into production. It is understood he wiU not direct the Purvlance pic- ture, but that Harry D'Arrast, his assistant, will handle the mega- phone with Chaplin giving It his personal supervision. The story to be used for Miss Purvlance Is reported to be along the same lines as that of "A Woman of Paris." Charlie Chaplin HI; Must Take Long Rest Charlie Chaplin will take a long rest if the screen comedian takes the advice of physicians attending him at the Kits. Chaplin, was to have been the guest at a luncheon party of newspaper women yester- day, but was compelled to call off Mrs. R. J. Kern Sui<:ide Los Angeles, Aug. 11. Mrs. Robert J. Kern, wife of the film editor at the Metro-Goldwyn studio, committed suicide yesterday (Monday) by shooting herself during a fit. Mrs. Kern had become despondent because of a long Illness, and had returned to her home from a sani- tarium but two weeks ago. She Is survived by her husband and two children. OOMFSON LEAVES FAMOUS Los Angeles. Aug. 11. As exclusively announced In Va- riety, Betty Compson concludes her services with Famous PUyers- Lasky this week and win immedi- ately start work in a picture which Burton King Productions, of New York, will make at an independent studio here. Burton King wUl direct while Ed- ward Silton. here from New York, will officiate as business and pro- duction manager. The close of the four weeks' sea- son of Ben Bernie at the Rlvoli, New York, the two hottest months of the year, shows an advance of about $28,000 over the correspond- ing four weeks of last year. This is a remarkable tribute to the box of- fice drawing strength of the orches- tra leader. That the house has had a cooling plant Installed may have had some- thing to do with the part of the added box office return, but the Cap- itol, also with a cooling plant, didn't show any remarkable Increase. In 1924 the figures showed for the week ending July 19 with "Babbitt" at the attraction, 17,950; week end- ing July 26, with "The Side Show of Life," $14,767; week ending, Aug. 2 with Gloria Swanson lb "Manhan- dled," ■129,771, and week ending Aug. 9 with "The Covered Wagon" (for the first time at popular prices). $26,786. Total, $79,274. This year, the week ending July 18 with "Night Life of New York," $30,804.80; week ending July 26, with "The Street of Forgotten Men," $80,410.70: week ending Aug. 1, with "Not So Long Ago." $24,746.76, and last week, with "The Trouble With Wives," $21,820.85, a toUl of $107,288.10. Dr. Hugo Riesenfeld, managing director of th« Rialto and Rlvoli theatres, stated before he left for his camp in Maine for a short vaca- tion that from present Indications he will exercise his option for Ben Bernle's continued services at both his theatres. Bernie started at the Rialto this week after four weeks at the Rlvoli and will remain there In- definitely. The Bemte contract Is for eight weeks, with an option of 44. which will be taken up In due time, llie Rialto. because of its 42d street loca- tion. Is deemed the better location for the Jass maestros, In view of the character of the house, nearness of the stage to the audience and other contributory factors. "Ten Commandments" will stay only two weeks at Rlvoli, following which a new Jaxs band will go Into that house to continue the Jazz pol- icy which has been clicking so well. Irving Aaronson's Crusaders, at the Rialto the past several weeks, left this week for the Grand, Pitts- burgh. "Seven Days" Publicity Line-up and Tie-ups for B'way Opening Los Angeles, Aug. 11. Pat Dowling, head of the Christie publicity ,department, has worked out a publicity stunt for their re- lease, "Seven Days," which Is the most unique ever attempted for the transportation of a picture film. The stunt is to have an automobile leave here several days before the film Is to open in New York at the Cotony. Sept 6, bearing the print for that house. The machine will b« In charge of Mike Newman, exploita- tion man (or Christie. It is to stop at all of the key cities en route, where a preview of the picture will be held for exhibitors and local new* pai>er men. When the machine arrives In each city Newman is to give souvenirs to the public who greet the car. Another stunt for publicity Is the appointment of one newspaper in each city to check the arrival of the car. with the newspaper to give a prise to the reader who guessed la advance the closest time to the ar- rival of the automobile by bonr, minute and second. The stunt. It Is said, will ooist Christie around $7.I0«. Kidnap Case Widi Jury Los Angeles. Aug. 11. The expedited case of the three men charged with an attempt and conspiracy to kidnap Mary Plckford will go to the Jury tomorrow (Wed- nesday) with the sentiment her* that an aquittal will folk>w. The claim of tb* defense Is that the whole thing wm a press agent stunt engineered by a former polie* stool pigeon. the engagement, find it impossible to obtain repre- L An investigation as to the cause *eatation for their product. tjr;"V i' 1 * • •• CITY REGAINS THEATEE ,., , Redlands, Cal., Aug. 11. '. Through a Judgment obtained teainst the Inland Theatre Co. the City of Redlands, which owns the Wyatt theatre, has regained pos- flession of the house and is endeav- oring to find a tenant. The reason for the ousting of the Inland Company was that the con- cern had failed to pay rent for the past year. The Ivouse seats 1,200 «tnd was used for legit, vaud* and k>lctar* attractions. revealed Chaplin was at the hotel under care of the house physician and a specialist who had been called In. The comedian was pronounced as sufllerlng from a nervous attack which presaged a complete nervous breakdown unless he took a com- plete rest for at least six months. A member of the Chaplin staff stated yesterday that the comedian would remain In seclusion until Sat- urday night, when he would make an appeanance at the Strand for the Initial showing in New York of "The Gold Rush," after whith he would heed the doctors' advice and re«t SALAKT WHILE "EESTINO" Los Angeles, Aug. 11. Sally Long, who held a play-or- pay contract with Valentino at the time he expected to make "The Hooded Falcon," and who, on ac- count of being a blonde, could not be used for "The Lone E^agle." Is drawing salary Just the same. Generally accredited a "find," Miss Tvong will be used In a later picture, but at present she Isn't even being farmed out. Another Gal Gone Wrong San Francisco, Aug. 11. Another of the movie gals gone wrong— The burden of life, or at least the tough breaks of Fate, sent Gladys Mavis to an attempt at sui- cide via the poison route last week in her apartmVnt at the Grand court. Miss Mavis was saved by two girl friends, Mae Moran and Kvelyn Rellly, who heard her cry of agony as the poison seared her lips. Miss Mavis came to San Fran- cisco after a series of unfortunate circumstances In Los Angeles, where her name had been men- tioned In the recent investigation of the alleged seer and clairvoyant, Mohammed Ortaay. Hospital authorities report that the young screen player has a good chance of recovery. FAxoire smis sr. clairs Los Angeles, Aug. 11. Mai 9t. Clair, who came Into th* Famous Players-Lasky fold from Warner Brothers' directorial ranks, has been placed under a three years' contract by the former organisa- tion. The f. P. organization Is said to have handed St. Clair a contract which starts with $1,600 a week. SNOW'S AECTIG FILM "Hunting Big Game In the Arctic^ Is the title of the nevT H. H. Snow picture, second of a series, the first having been "Hunting Big Game in Africa." The latest "hunt" pirtur* Is in 9,000 feet > "3 FACES EAST/' DE lOLLE'S Los Angeles, Aug. 11. Cecil B. De Mllle has taken over "Three Faces East," the Anthony Paul Kelly play which Edward Be- lasco has recently held. De Millo's P. D. C. unit will make the film, with Rupert Julian direct- insr- Eddie Small Producing Los Angeles, Aug. 11. FJddle Small, the casting agent here. Is going Into the producing end of the bufiiness and has already purchased "Acro.ss tlio I'iclfic" from Charles B. Blaney. F ORV M ^^HEATPE BEAUTIPUL l.O<; ANG'LES