The New York Clipper (April 1917)

34 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER April 25, 1917 NEWS REVIEWS STATE RIGHTS RE LEAS ES FORUM EXPERT OFFERS TO HELP SHOWM EN GET R ICH IN FILMS Maurice Fleckles, Head of Universal State Rights Department Reveals Secrets of Money Making in Picture Field How a vaudeville, legitimate or carnival manager or any other trained executive in the amusement field can get rich, in films, is the subject of an interesting special let- ter now being prepared by Maurice Fleckles, of the Universal Film Co. Mr. Fleckles and Nat Rothstein, of the Universal selling department, have under- taken to pat this letter into the hands of all showmen who are anrious to try the state rights film field in their efforts to win wealth. "Fortunes in films are actually at hand for showmen with trained minds," Mr. Fleckles declared in an interview with Tub Cuppeb. "State rights handling of feature pictures is the great opportunity for such men. "The vaudeville or legitimate stage ex- ecutive is peculiarly fitted to enter the state rights field, because be has the groundwork of entertainment knowledge. He knows the buying and selling prices of films, through experience in showing them or association with men who do show them. He also has advantage in knowing local publicity methods, in know- ing the levels of cost and profit that en- tertainment houses must operate upon." Mr. Fleckles is head of the state rights department of the Universal, which is re- leasing "God's Law," a big feature well suited for State rights buyers, and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." He and Mr. Rothstein assert they can provide in their special letter a rich col- lection of guiding facts and advice for showmen, who wish to enter a field that has made many millionaires in recent years. Rothstein mentioned a half dozen legiti- mate house showmen who changed about and won reward in the state rights field. He mentioned in particular one man in Cincinnati who had figured $20,000 a year as his biggest revenue in the show busi- ness, and who made $25,000 on a single picture in three months when he entered what many persons call the greatest divi- sion of the film industry. He invites other showmen to write to the Universal Film Co. state rights de- partment for the inside facts. RUSSIAN FILMS COMING As a result of the revolution in Russia, a number of remarkable films depicting the dark political affairs of that country, which for two years were under the ban of the Czar, are now on their way to this country. Leon J. Rubenstein, sales manager of the Flora Finch Comedies Co., reveals this romantic news-last week. He has had a series of code cables from N. S. Kaplan, the leading film and theatre man in Rus- sia, telling how the revolutionists wiped out the censorship on pictures, and how he was leaving with the full Btory of Rub- sian affairs in films which have been locked up in safety vaults. The Russian pro- ducers were on the point of destroying the films when autocratic officials prohibited their exhibition as against Russian policy. But Kaplan persuaded the producers to hold them for the future. Kaplan will ar- rive in about ten days. PARALTA TO REVEAL SECRET Carl Anderson, president of the Paralta Flays, Inc., will confer tomorrow at the Paralta offices with a number of state rights buyers from the South and West on details of the original Paralta plan of distribution. Mr. Anderson met a group of important buyers last Thursday and revealed for the first time the full details of the Paralta plan. Wide interest attaches to the system evolved by this company, by reason of the confident statements made by Paralta officials that leaks and waste will be al- most totally abolished under its operation. For weeks the company has been adver- tising that it had devised a new revolu- tionary distributing method, but up to the present hag carefully refrained from giv- ing out details. STATE RIGHTS BUYERS HERE Among the state rights buyers who were in town last week were the follow- ing: ' William Williamson, of Dallas, Tex. Mayer Silverman, of Philadelphia. Dan Mundsruck, of Detroit, Mich. Abe Warner, of Cleveland. Sam Grand, of Boston. William Palay, of Detroit. Herman Garfield, of Cleveland. Herman. Rifkin, of Boston. Charles Klopot, of Los Angeles. R. J. Olsen, of Kansas City. R. J. Santicos, of Waco, Tex. R. W. Gallns, of Chicago. J. H. Hnlaey, of Dallas, Tex. H. H. Sherman, of Chicago. Fred Levy, of Louisville. George W. Trendle, of Detroit. H. H. Sherman, of Chicago. HII.l.F.R & WILK GROWING Hiller & Wilk, Inc., distributors of "The Whip," "A Mormon Maid," "The Battle of Gettysburg" and "The Wrath of the Gods," are moving this week into a large suite of offices across the hall from their present headquarters in the Longacre building. The company makes this change owing to its vast increase in business. BUYS "MORMON MAID" RIGHTS The Veribest Film Co., of which Samuel D. Mathews is the head, has purchased the New York and Northern New Jersey rights to "The Mormon Maid," which is having its initial showing at the Park Theatre this week. The picture is to remain at the house for four weeks. '•■ • NEW WARREN FILM ON WAY The Edward Warren Productions, which is releasing "The Warfare of the Flesh," will start on its second production about May 1. Mr. Warren has just signed a long lease on the Life-Photo Studios, where so many of the best William Fox attractions hare been staged. like "The Warfare of the Flesh" the new film will cost well up into six figures. SANGER FILM IN OHIO The Message Photoplay Corporation an- nounces it will give the first presentation of "Birth Control," featuring Mrs. Mar- garet Sanger, some time this week in Ohio. A Cleveland theatre probably will get the picture. It is released as a state rights "SEVEN DEADLY SrNS" SOLD The Australian rights for "Seven Deadly Sins," the McCIure series of seven five-reel features, have been sold to Australasian Films. Ltd.. represented in the United States by Millard Johnson, for one of the highest prices this important company ever has paid for seven photoplays. NEW FEATURE FILMS ENTER BIG LIST OPEN TO STATE RIGHTERS Following are current and pending re- leases for state Tights buyers: Ivan Film Productions—"One Law for Both." To-day Feature Film Corporation— "T<Klay." Gold Medal PhotoplayerB—"The Web of Life." Exclusive Features, Inc.—"The Liar." Cinema War News Syndicate—"Amer- ican War News Serial." Cines Film Co.—'The Fated Hour," Sheriott Pictures, Corp.—"The Black Stork." Max Cohen Co.—'The Fury of Civili- zation," and "America Is Ready." Edward Warren Co.—"The Warfare of the Flesh." Cosmofotonim Co.—"The Manx-Man." Bernstein Film Productions — "Who Knows?" in preparation; "The Seven Cardinal Virtues." Paragon Films—"The Whip." Frohman Amusement Co.—"God's Man." B. W. Copel&nd — "The Pendleton Round-up of 1916." Arrow Film Corporation—''The Deem- ster." M. H. Hoffman Co.—"The Sin Woman." Popular Pictures Corporation — "A Woman WDh"; "The Princess of India"; "The Bnrglar and the Lady"; "The Little Orphan": "Ignorance." The Corona Cinema Co., Inc.—'The Curse of Eve." Hoffman Film Co.—"Buffalo Bill's Last Performance." De Luxe Spoilers Co.—"The (De Luxe) Spoilers." Balboa Amusement Producing Co.— "The Twisted Thread." Graphic Features—"The Woman and the Beast" Abrams and Werner—"The Bar Sin- ister." B. I. S. Motion Picture Corporation— "Trooper 44." Sol L. Lesser—"The Ne'er-Do-Well." LaSalle Film Co.—"Lafco Comedies." Grand Feature Film Co.—"Rex Beach Himself." Enlightenment Photoplays Corporation— "Enlighten Thy Daughter." Hanover Film Co.—"How Uncle Sam Prepares." Ultra Pictures Corporation — "The Woman Who Dared." Flora Finch Comedy Films Corpora- tion—"War Prides." Variety Films—"The Price of Her Soul" Eugenic Film Co.—"Birth." Williamson Bros. — "The Submarine Eye." Shermann-EIliott, Inc.—"The Crisis." Universal Film Co.—"God's Law." Benjamin Chapin Studios—'The Lin- coln Cycle." "NE'ER-DO-WELL" SOLD FOR SOUTH Sol L Lesser, who, a abort time ago, announced that he would hereafter exploit his production, "The Ne*er-Do-Well," through his own offices throughout the country, except in those territories where he had no affiliations, anonunces the sale of the southern states to Tandy and Lynch of the Southern Paramount Company. "GOD'S MAN" IN DEMAND The Frohman Amusement Corporation reports that twenty-three theatres in the State of Ohio alone, which heretofore have shown nothing but spoken drama, have applied for bookings of the great film "God's Man." The company has a sys- tematic record of inquiries from all over the country and is turning them over to state rights buyers. CHAIN THEATRE COMBINE HITS STATE RIGHTS BUYERS DENOUNCE MOVE Investigation last week led many per- sona interested in the motion picture in- dustry to believe that the First National Exchange Circuit, organized last week by chain theatre owners, will be as great a menace to independent state rights buy- ers as to producers. The purpose of the chain theatre group is to purchase the national rights to fea- ture films, and apportion them to members of the chain, thus eliminating the usual buyers. It is frankly described as an agency to eliminate the middlemen entirely. Organizers of the exchange will hold sessions all this week to appoint directors for various parts of the country. Two will be named from the Pacific coast, two from the Atlantic coast, and three from the intervening territory. Producers are inclined to scoff at the im- portance of the exchange. The independ- ent buyers, however, regard it as a seri- ous factor in the industry. Max Cohen, of the Max Cohen Co., re- leasing several war pictures on the open market, was one of the outspoken critics of the chain group. "Those people have joined forces to monopolize the distributing end of the business," he said. "They are going to shake a big stick over the beads of the producing companies, fix prices and freeze ont all the independent exchanges. "The local chains that figure in the com- bine, already control the markets in their regions, and are already dictating prices to national distributors. _ "The effect of the national chain activi- ties will be, first, to force the program producers to meet the chain's terms, and, secondly, to prevent the state rights buy- ers from getting pictures. "The only solution of the dismal situa- tion is for the big producers and the in- dependent state lighters to get together, and do it quickly. They should form trade agreements that will give everybody a chance and will insure the distribution of pictures at a profit to all concerned." The fact that the sentiment of alarm is' felt by state right era scattered over the country was attested by letters which a representative of The Cuppeb saw in the office of another distributor. These let- ters contained inquiries about the chain organization, and in one case suggested that the buyers ought to get together in New Tork and talk over ways and means of meeting the peril of the chain theatre group. S. L. Rothapfel, owner of the Rialto, who is virtually the heaviest backer of the exchange, declared the latter had not the remotest wish to injure the buyers. He said there was room in the field for the combine and the independents both to exist in peace. Those composing the First National Exchange Circuit are T. L. Tally, of Los Angeles; Turner and Dahnken, of San Francisco; Jensen and Von Herber, of Seattle; Greater Theatres Amusement Co., of Portland; Silver Bow Amusement Co., of Butte, Mont; Swanson and Nolan, of Salt Lake City; Saxe Brothers, of Mil- waukee; Robert Lieber, of Minneapolis; E. Mandelbaum, of Cleveland; J. H. Kunsky, of Detroit; Josiah Pearce, of New Orleans; William Sievers, of St. Louis; Colonel Fred Levy, of Louisville; E. A. Hulsey, of Dallas, Tex.; A. H. Blank, of Des Moines; Jake and Otto Wells, of At- lanta ; Tom Moore, of Washington, D. O.: Frank G. Hall, of Newark: Rialto The- atre Corporation, of New York; Clark and Rowland, of Pittsburgh; Jones, Linick & Sehaefer. and Ascher Bros., of Chicago.