Exhibitors Herald (Jan-Mar 1920)

EXHIBITORS HERALD jpMMUiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiuiiiiw^^^ 1 "CHECKERS" SCORES IN ALASKA Fox Production Sets New Record for Films In Frozen North One Man Travels 120 Miles With Dogs to Theatre— Week Run at $2 Price •iMuiiiiiU ir iiuiiiiM 1:1 1 mi jti i i:l LUlilllJi Jt:i iti:iuiiiuii:iliilJiiutiiii!iMlMi ^iiiiiuiiii ji i nitm liiusiutiMMUiu utir i isb:iii»iiui:iiiii[iLi!iMiiiijiitii r i rTi tifiiiti)(MiiMii<ui u iMrnii in ULHiif :^4iiLiiiuwiuUjaRMaimti i»iti>uitUU^P "Checkers" has scored emphatically on aiiother "Great White Way." While its Broadway success was tremendous, its success in Alaska has established a new reeSord for that faraway territory. Playing at R. A. Thome's theatre in Fairbanks, the William Fox production established a record for continuous runs in Alaska, and also for admission price*. Two dollars was charged for the showing of "Checkers" and it ran for an entire week, with daily matinees. R. A. Thome is a progressive exhibitor. Before the rivers froze when transportation was easier in the Far North than it is at this season, he placarded the towns for one hundred miles around Fairbanks with the announcement that some time about Christmas "Checkers" would be shown in Alaska. When a telegram from the Seattle branch of Fox film Corporation informed the Alaska exhibitor that the print of the story had left Seattle on a steamship bound for Cordova. Thome wired to every town in interior Alaska that the greatest photoplay production of all time was coming to Fairbanks, that it would open on December :"> and that two performances a day would be given for one week. Only Theatre In Fairbanks Thome's theatre is the only one in Fairbanks. "The Golden Heart of the Golden North." It has a seating capacity of 500. Fairbanks has a population of .5,000. It has been the policy of the theatre to change the program daily, give no matinee and two evening performances. Only once before, when "The Birth of a Nation" was shown there, had this policy been changed. But for "Checkers" Thorne announced 14 performances, one each afternoon and one each evening for a week. He stated in full-page advertisements in the Fairbanks papers that the price of admission would be $2 and that there would be no reduction during the week. Wisely and well did he announce the showing of the Fox feature. From miles around the people flocked to Fairbanks. The federal court was in session at the time, and many visitors and witnesses were in Fairbanks. One man traveled 120 miles behind his dogs to see the Fox production. Indians. Eskimos. Americans and foreigners all flocked to the theatre. The opening evening performance, starting at 8 o'clock, found the house sold out at 7. The thermometer registered 45 degrees below zero; still the people came. S. R. O. Signs Five Nights Besides the cost of renting the picture for four weeks, for the journey between Seattle to Fairbanks requires ten days each way as a minimum at this* time of year — R. A. Thorne paid $1.50 a pound for a seventy-five pound case each way, a total express bill of $225 for the transportation of the film alone. Five nights of the seven he displayed the S. R. O. sign. One resident of Fairbanks saw "Checkers" fourteen times in the week it played there, and the press heralded it as the greatest picture of all time. Thi> unusual record in an unusual place has added new laurels to William Fox's visualization of Henry Blossom's immortal drama of the race track. REALART STARS ASSETS (Continued from page 47) trailtie* and devotions as has come to its photoplays previously released. Woody Reviews Achievements John S. Woody, general manager of Kealart Pictures Corporation reviews the achievements of the young concern as follows: "We have had the first public presentation of our first picture at a Broadway theatre, the largest theatre in the world. In the first few months of our ixi>tence, we have done what no concern has ever done in its whole history — established a consecutive run of five weeks of our pictures in one city — Washington, D. C. We have made certain promises to the exhibitors of the country, and the proof of our complete fulfillment is the congratulatory messages received from such showmen as Tom Moon, (ieorge Mayne. Glenn Condon, Fred Dahnken, A. E. Johnson, A. G. Talbot and other experienced and successful exhibitors. "In the first breath of existence we have put out 'Soldiers of Fortune' and The Mystery of the Yellow Room,' two splendid productions which reviewers have ranked with the greatest. And the Kealart stars are winning equal fame and popularity. Although Realart is only a few months old, where is there an organization that stands for better things in the industry, that has won so widely the faith of exhibitors, and that is justifying that faith with substantial return?" COHEN DEFENDS SCREEN {Continued from page 5/) and the men associated with its production and exhibition have no cause to be ashamed. The very men and women officially appointed to censor the pictures are giving them a clean bill of health. There was a time when rash, loose statements about the motion picture and its producers and exhibitors were much in vogue, in certain sections of the daily press. A change has taken place. Almost without exception the press today gives the motion picture the same serious consideration and intelligent criticism that it bestows on art and the drama. The exhibitors today, more than ever before, are looking for pictures with an ennobling purpose running through the entertainment. Today the American-made picture dominates the world. In Great Britain and on the continent, even before the war, 75 per cent of every motion picture program was of American origin. Since the signing of the armistice the domination of American film is practically uncontested. I have no doubt that you want to deal fair with the motion picture and men who show the motion pictures, article so full of baseless insinuations and loose statements as your recent editorial is a great injustice, not so much to the motion picture, which has nothing to fear from honest and sincere criticism*' as to the reputation of any journal that indulges in it. KIRKPATRICK WARNING" (Continued from page 50) same belief Robertson-Cole will continue! along the same line. Importance to Exhibitor "The importance of this to the ixhi itor cannot be overrated. In the strength of independent producers lies the real; strength and safety of the exhibitor for it means a large and varied selection of pictures. It means that competition in the making of pictures will always remain and therefore constant improvement in the quality of productions will go on. It means that it will be impossible to stifle development. "The main motive in the motion picture business is the acquiring of profits for the producers and the exhibitors who have invested their money. Competition in the making of pictures makes lor precisely this because it continually works for greater and better productions and this means greater patronage and a stronger foundation for the motion picture as the great permanent entertainment of the people of the world. Monopoly on the contrary means standardization which stifles public interest, arrests development, and tends 1 to the eventual decline of the entire industry. 1 "In closing this brief summary of my views I will take the liberty of repeating] what I said when the Robertson-Colej Distributing Corporation was organized:! "Of prime importance is the establish-l ment of the exhibitor on the basis of ai business partner. j Exhibitor Criticism Needed "Therefore his criticism and advice! must be accepted as the suggestion ol one busines partner to another. I "It is to our mutual interest that th<l product be the best, the price fair, ami that the square deal shall dominate busifl ness relations." I GUARANTEED Mailing Lists MOVING PICTURE THEATRES Every State— total, 25,300; by States, $4.00 Per M. 1070 Film Exchanges $7.50 313 manufacturer* and studios 4.00 368 machine and supply dealers 4.00 Further Particulars: A. F.WILLIAMS, 1S6 W. Adams St.. Chicago 110