Exhibitor's Trade Review (Mar-May 1925)

Page 58 Exhibitors Trade Review Hammons to Build 20 Theatres To House Short Subjects Los Angeles, Cal., March 24. — That he is planning to build twenty theatres throughout the United States to inaugurate the "Vaudeville of Screen Eentertainment," was announced publicly by E. W. Hammons, president of Educational Film Exchanges, Inc., in a talk which he made to rad'o f?ns from the Warner Bros.' West Coast broadcasting station KFWB as part of the Mermaid comedy night program, Monday, March 17. Mr. Hammons' announcement of his plans to build theatres to run short subjects exclusively came at the close of a very interesting talk on his experiences in the short subject field. His promise of a chain of theatres running only the shorter pictures — the "Vaudeville of Screen Entertainment" — has aroused the keenest interest throughout the area covered by KFWB, not only among those directly interested in the motion picture industry, but with the public at large. "I have been asked to say a few words regarding the short reel subjects," said Mr. Hammons in his radio talk. "A few years ago the motion picture exhibitors considered all short subjects as merely fillers or chasers, meaning by this that they were only used on their programs to fill in enough time to give a complete performance for their patrons and to empty the theatre between showings of the feature. It did not matter to them what the quality of these subjects were, if they were one or two reels of film they were fillers, nothing more. I could see no reason why these short subjects should not be made just as important to the exhibitor and the public as his so-called feature picture, and they should be selected with the same care and attention as he gave to selecting his feature subject. The theatre patrons were paying to see a complete diversified evening's program, which should be a balanced one so far as quality was concerned. With this idea firmly implanted in my mind I started an organization known as Educational Films Corporation of America, which was solely a producing organization. "In addition to produc'ng. from t^e available material I endeavored to select the very best short subjects, which at that time consisted mostly of scenics and travelogue pictures. There is a distinction between a scenic and a travelogue picture, though at that time they were considered ,,the same. A scenic picture is one on which the director has spent many weeks of hardships in seeking out the wonder spots of nature that he might photograph them and have them projected on the screen for your amusement, whereas a travelogue picture is one that has usually been photographed in a foreign country, or in some city in America, as the case might be. that will depict the habits and customs of the places and people. And I might add here that of all the pictures that have been and are shown on the screen, I know of none that have done or will do as mluch as these subjects can to bring about a better understanding of the problems of the different nations of the world. Unfortunately, these scenics and travelogue subjects have not received and are not now receiving the proper support of the theatres, and in a few years more, it looks as if they will completely disappear from the screen. "Another short subject, the two-reel comedy. Contrary to all predictions that it was suicidal to try to build a world-wide organization to distribute nothing but so called short subjects, we have conclusively proven that if the quality was there, there was a demand for such pictures. At the time I organized Educational there was a scarcity of good two-reel comedies on the market and from the scenics I E. W. Hammons, President of the Educational Films, who has just announced that he will build twenty theatres devoted to short subjects exclusively. and travelogues which we were handling almost exclusively we added to our program the two-reel and one-reel comedies. Branching into this I then organized the Educational Film Exchanges, Inc., and opened 36 exchanges or branch offices in the so-called key centers of the United States and Canada as distributing centers. "At the present time I am planning to build twenty theatres throughout the United States to run and feature short subjects exclusively — and to inaugurate the 'Vaudeville of Screen Entertainment' for your pleasure. "In conclusion, if my efforts to furnish clean and wholesome short reel entertainment for you have met with your approval, I am amply rewarded." Century Has The most pretentious schedule of comedy production ever projected by the Century Film Corporation, is being planned for the coming season, word comes from Julius Stern, president of the Century Company, now in Los Angeles. A budget of $500,000 has been definitely decided upon. This vast sum will be devoted exclusively to the production of two-reel comedies. Production under the half-a-millo'i Holhbudget will commence early next fall and continue through the following winter. All production will be made at the Hollywood studios of the Century company, with the exception of frequent trips to locations in Southern California, it is announced by the Century official. Decision to undertake the enlarged production schedule is the result of the unprecedented success being had this spring with Century Comedies. "We inaugurated a new production policy this winter and the results we have obtained with it, encourages us to an even greater effort in production," explained the Century president. "Instead of making just 52 comedies a year with assorted stars and players, we determined to make four series of twelve "Egypt" Historical Films 1 reel This is the first of a series depicting life as it was lived in the days before the pyramids were erected to suit a Pharaoh's vanity. The habits and customs of the people are vividly protrayed, and a slender thread of story is interwoven so that certain characters may be established and the picturization rendered more interesting. We see the market places where food, cosmetics, copper mirrors, etc., are sold. We are shown the desert nomads arriving in the city; the all-high nobles being "made-up" with all the artistry of a Follies beauty, and the poverty of the masses. If the remainder of the series is interesting as Part 1 this bit of history will prove entertaining and educational in a decidedly "different" way, and should be welcome to any audience. * * * "Tempest Cody's Man Hunt" Universal i reel Hhe re is another of the "Mustang" series in which Marie Walcamp is starred. Tempest Cody and Tex Andrews own a big ranch. Tex proposes marriage after the spring round-up but Tempest refuses his offer, telling him that she prefers to play a lone hand in everything but business. At this time a rustler blows up the jail and releases his Chief. The sheriff intercepts the fleeing man, and is shot from behind, by a man who has blown in the jail door. The bandits escape. The Countryside is aroused and goes in pursuit, under Tex's leadership. Tex receives word that the outlet in her vicinity might be a possible escape for the rustlers. The rustlers hold up a stage coach and attempt to use this as a means of escape. The driver jumps from the vehicle, meets, Tempest, and warns her. She sets out to overtake them, shoots one of the bandits and lassoes the other. This bandit puts up a terrific fight, but she knocks him out with a big rock. This is a good western with plenty of action and not a few thrills Marie Welcamp is the leading player and she does well with the role of Tempest Cody. two-rellers each with four popular stars. These stars are Wanda Wiley, Edna Marian, Eddie Gordon and Al Alt. This new production and release policy met with instant accord on the part of exhibitors. We began to get sales reports showing a wide-spread interest in Wanda Wiley comedies or Eddie Gordon comedies, or Enda Marian comedies, etc., on the part of big first run exhibitors who previously had used our product only at rare intervals. Sales jumped up, bookings began to establish new records. "We realized that we were on the right track. Now, with a definite schedule of star comedies lined up, it only remains for us to put more into them. This means better stories, better settings and more care in production. We also are taking steps to assure that our comedies are second to none in the excellence of their 'gags.' "With our new production methods, our popular stars and our excellent directors, we have gone far in taking our comedies out of the filler class and putting them into big firstrun houses as featurettes. We are working on the theory that the comedy part of a program belongs in lights just as much as the feature. That's what our $500,000 production plan is shooting at." $500,000 Budget