Exhibitors Herald (Oct-Dec 1921)

58 !•; x 1 1 i i : i t oks n !•: R a l d November 2f>, 1921 HAROLD LLOYD in a scene from his latest Associated Exhibitors comedy, "A Sailor-Made Man" soon to be distributed by Pathe. Publish Harold Lloyd's Next Dec. 25; Hailed As Great Comedy Achievement Hailed as one of the greatest productions ever made by any comedian. Associated Exhibitors announces December 25 as the publication date of Harold Lloyd's latest production. "A SailorMade Man." In a statement issued by Associated Exhibitors it is declared that, not discounting the quality of Lloyd's previous productions or.the tremendously successful offerings of all comedians, Harold Lloyd's "A Sailor-Made Man" ranks with the greatest box office comedies the screen has ever seen. Four Reels in Length "A Sailor-Made Man" is in four reels. It was produced by Hal Roach from a story which is the combined efforts of three successful writers of comedy scripts, Hal Roach, Sam Taylor and Jean Haves. It was directed by Fred Newmeyer. The publication date has been set for December 25th with the idea of providing exhibitors with an attraction for the holiday trade, which will produce capacity business. Associated Exhibitors states that extended runs in the biggest first-run theatres of the country will be a rule rather than an exception. "A Sailor-Made Man" will be sold as a feature and the exhibitors must make it the big attraction on their programs. Expect It to Be Sensation It is stated that it unquestionably will be the sensation of all comedies of the year and already the sales force of Associated Exhibitors is arranging key city bookings. The titles were done by H. W. Walker and are distinctly clever and humorous. According to the main title, the cast is Harold Lloyd as the boy, Mildred Davis as the girl, Noah Young as the "Rowdy Element" and Dick Sutherland as the Maharajah. "Great American Authors" Series Nearing Completion Eleven of the "Great American Authors" series which James A. Fitzpatrick is filming for Kineto Company of America are completed. The scries will include twelve, though in time it may be extended. The choice of subject for the twelfth is still in doubt. It has narrowed down to two names, Walt Whitman and James Whitcomb Riley. Cash Goes to Omaha to Handle Fox Production Lowell Cash, who is exploiting the Fox special, "Over the Hill," has been transferred from the Minneapolis office to Omaha to handle the picture there and in the surrounding territory. The feature opens at the Sun theatre, Omaha; Englert. Iowa City, and Strand, Des Moines, on November 27. Christie on Selected List A Christie again has been selected as the only comedy in the preferred list of pictures picked by the National Motion Picture League as being especially recommended as "family films." The Christie selected is "A Pair of Sexes" which features Neal Burns, with Viora Daniel, and has just been published by Educational. Previously the league picked Christie's "Nothing Like It" with Dorothy Devore. New Manager £har,es L. Davis has . o;__is been appointed man at Kivoli. ager q{ the Rjvoli thea_ tre at Grand Haven, Mich., by American Amusement Company. Mr. Davis opened the first motion picture theatre in this city. Rail Sets in Beach Film Cost $60,000 Alaskan Ice Scenes Represent An Expenditure of $20,000 That the accuracy of detail and the atmosphere of realism in Rex Beach's "The Iron Trail," a United Artists publication, were obtained at tremendous cost is evidenced by figures just made public by the producers. Two items alone for only one sequence in the production total $60,000, without taking into account the salaries of the players. Build Railroad Bridge The first of these items is $30,000, for building a giant set representing a large section of the real steel railroad bridge that crosses the Copper river in Alaska. The second item of $30,000 was for building a railroad crossing, and a third big single item of $20,000 covers the cost of making the Alaskan ice scenes for which a special company of ten persons were sent to Alaska, where' they remained for nearly nine weeks. Sets Are Necessary These items were not occasioned by a desire to elaborate the picture with an expensive dressing. They represent details vitally necessary to the production, because the story of "The Iron Trail" is really a narrative of facts rather than fiction, and the railroad and the bridge were really built under much the same spectacular conditions as Mr. Beach describes them in his book. Cohn Studies Effect Of Films on Patrons Makes Observations at 18 New York Theatres in One Week Visiting eighteen motion picture theatres in a single week for the purpose of seeing how the audiences take Hallroom Boys comedies is the record made by Harry Cohn, producer of these two-reelers featuring Sid Smith, which are distributed by Federated Film Exchanges of America, Inc. Studies Pictures' Appeal Mr. Cohn's trip East from the West Coast was made for the purpose ofr a close-to-the-exhibitor study of these comedies. After going over several exhibitor reports on these comedies, Mr. Cohn decided that the best way to obtain firsthand information was to watch the reactions of as many audiences as possible to the Hallroom Boys comedies, which have 125 play dates each week in the New York territory. Sees Films Twice Mr. Cohn made five and six performances each day. He started with Loew's New York theatre, where "Beach Nuts" was playing, and worked through the city to theatres on the upper West Side residential district, the Bronx, the lower East Side, and spending one afternoon in Brooklyn. He made it a point to verify his observation on how the audiences received these comedies by seeing some of them over twice. Mr. Cohn noted carefully every situation that got a laugh and that did not and is having detailed reports made to take back with him to the Coast.