Exhibitor's Trade Review (Mar-May 1924)

March 15, 1924 49 ^ried and Proved Pictures 'WHITE TIGER' CONQUERS BAD CONDITIONS Los Angeles Showing Successful Despite Bad Weather rOR a period of four weeks, Universal's ■■ "White Tiger," starring Priscilla Dean did a corking business, at Miller's Theatre in Los Angeles, and this despite the adverse conditions which accompanied the engagement. Bad weather added to poor picture business, generally, were the tunes to which the film was ushered in, but clever advertising and original exploitation carried the picture over with flying colors. The underlying idea of the exploitation campaign was to inaugurate as many different stunts as possible so as to attract a great deal of attention. It was toward this end that Miller, who manages the theatre, worked unceasingly. One of the outstanding stunts was a fake raid which was arranged for in co-operation with the police department. At a set time there arrived at a house in the busy district of the city, a patrol wagon and several policemen. The patrolmen entered the house and stayed sufficiently long to allow a large crowd to gather outside. Then they emerged carrying out a struggling girl dressed like Priscilla Dean, and holding on to several other characters representing the principals in the production. As the crowds pressed closer to get a glimpse at the wagon and find out what was happening, a number of small boys passed out heralds announcing the showing of "White Tiger" at Miller's Theatre. A great deal of the credit for the success of the picture during its run is attributed to the publicity given the showing by means of this stunt. * * * AUDIENCE IS ENTHUSIASTIC OVER MANSLAUGHTER' "Manslaughter," starring Thomas Meighan, is still doing a great deal of business in various sections of the country, though it is r rather old picture. This is just another instance of the ability of a good picture to continue to draw crowds when newer films are booking in the same vicinity. This is a Paramount Tried and Proved picture which is doing very well for those exhibitors who are wise enough to book it and take advantage of the many opportunities it offers to give patrons the sort of picture they want, at a greater profit to the exhibitor. The film played recently at the Opera House in Moiintour Falls, New York, and both the performance that was given as a church benefit and the other showings did exceedingly well. The manager of the Pastime Theatre in Mason, Mich., was delighted with the way he fared with the film and took occasion to write and say so. In referring to it he said : "This certainly made the flappers think, blink and shrink. I got more compliments on this than on anything I have shown before in months." BIG CROWDS TURN OUT FOR 'MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME' So much depends on the title of a picture, for it is very often the means of attracting attention to your theatre. Moreover, a title that is easy to exploit, is usually the one that gets across. This is particularly true of Selznick's The Tried and Proved Big Little Feature ]\j"0 program is complete without a Big Little Feature ! Every showman knows that. Patrons have come to regard the short — be it comedy, news, scenic, or what not — as an essential part of the show and audiences demand them. Thus every wise showman appreciates their value. The Big Little Feature has long since been Tried as a program attraction, and has Proved almost from the start that it has decided drawing power. Hence it's right to a place among Tried and Proved Pictures— the sound money makers of the screen. "My Old Kentucky Home," whose name immediately suggests the popular song of the South to practically every one who hears it. Exhibitors have been finding ever since the first release of the picture, that there are innumberable exploitation stunts which can be very successfully used on this picture, and the result has been a very gratifying amount of business. The picture was recently run at the Vick Millward, Harris Theatre in Bancroft, Idaho, and according to the manager the title was largely responsible for the splendid business, although after the crowd once got into the theatre, the picture was well able to hold it. It was just the sort of thing a small town audience likes for substantial entertainment. BIG LITTLE FEATURE "What are you going to be when you grow up?" someone asked Buddy Messinger, juvenile star of Century Comedies. "A director," Buddy immediately replied, and struck this attitude which is his idea of how a real director looks when he is trying to dope out his next picture. 'THE BIRTH OF A NATION' SWEEPS CHICAGO Three Week Engagement Not Enough to Accommodate Crowds WHILE D. W. Griffith's latest great photoplay spectacle, "Amercia," is playing to capacity audiences at the Forty-fourth Street Theatre, New York, his first great film spectacle, "The Birth of a Nation," which began breaking box-office records ten years ago, was playing to capacity business at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago. The Auditorium in Chicago seats 3,800, and by some is not considered the best of picture propositions. However, "The Birth of a Nation" was put into the Auditorium for a two weeks' engagement. Capacity business was the rule at almost every performance, even the fourth gallery being packed. The engagement was extended for a third week, and still this "first great Griffith spectacle" continued to fill the house. At the end of the third week the demand on the part of the Chicago public was so great that it seemed best to transfer the attraction to another theatre, it being impossible to keep "The Birth of a Nation" longer at the Auditorium because of previous convention contracts. It was decided to put the Griffith picture into the Illinois theatre, a regular stage drama house, and this was done, despite the fact that conditions made it necessary to increase the price from that charged at the Auditorium. But the change of theatre and the increased admission seemed to make no difference at all to the Chicago public ; they still kept flocking to see the picture — the picture which, though made some ten years ago. is today being used by motion picture critics as a basis for comparison in their reviews o£ the new Griffith spectacle, "America." Mae Tinees, film reviewer for the Chicago Tribune, had this to say of "The Birth of a Nation" during its run at the Auditorium : "Some ten years ago D. W. Griffith produced the greatest picture ever made. It was —and IS— 'The Birth of a Nation.' It's just as great today as it was then. "Everything that has been done since 'The Birth of a Nation' Mr. Griffith did IN 'The Birth of a Nation,' with the exception of introducing Russian wolf hounds and 'trick' photography. "Actors? He had them. Sets? They were there. Scenery, pathos, humor, panorama, 'human' touches, all circling magically about the great, sweeping glory of Civil War days, which the producer transferred with such wizardy to the silver sheet. "It takes a lot of people to fill the Auditorium, but if the public of this city will take my advice it will be filled at every performance." * * * EDUCATIONAL SHORTS WELL LIKED BY PATRONS Several Educational Shorts have come in for special comment by some of the exhibitors who have found that their audiences remarked specially on the selection. Perhaps the best liked are "The Busher" series which are baseball stories and seem specially to please all classes of audiences. These are comedies, calculated by some managers to be even more popular when the baseball season is in full swing, although the public takes to them readily now. These Tried and Proved Shorts are becoming a real feature on the programs.