Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1921 - Mar 1922)

EXHIBITORS HERALD March 11, 1922 The WEEK in NEW YORK TRUST motion picture directors to be up and doing. While the entire industry is guessing and wondering about the formation of the association of producers and distributors of which Will H. Hays has been engaged as pilot for the next three years, the Motion Picture Directors Association lias taken the matter into its own hands and issued invitations for a dinner dance which is to be devoted to introducing Mr. Hays to the industry. The occasion is the fourth annual dinner dance of the association, which will be held at the Hotel Astor on the evening of March 10, and the invitations issued by George L. Sargeant, chairman of the executive committee, read : "In view of the fact that the motion picture industry is about to welcome the Honorable Will H. Hays within its doors, the Motion Picture Directors Association indeed feels it a privilege to render Mr. Hays in some tangible form a demonstration of its appreciation of him as the industry's chief executive. "Therefore, we take pleasure in announcing that our fourth annual dinner dance will be devoted to the inauguration of Mr. Hays, and in celebration of his becoming a part of our industry. We courteously and wholeheartedly ask all branches of the motion picture business to join in making this the memorable occasion it deserves to be. An informal reception will occur at seven; a dinner at eight in the Gold Room, with entertainment and general dancing to follow." All of which listens like a regular big league time as the first big social function after Mr. Havs gathers up the reins of the industry on March 5. * * * And speaking of motion picture directors, the Beau Brummellesque figure of John Anoi.pm is again seen on Rroadway. After a considerable siege of illness Mr. Adolphi took a long sojourn in the balmy breezes of the sunny South, from which he says he returned in time to get acclimated before the directors' dinner dance. * * * Some times the good die young and some times they leave us for other reasons. All of which is preliminary to announcing that a good man is leaving the industry, said good man being Georcf. Schor. For several years past Mr. Schor, ably assisted by Louis Gardy, has been telling the papers what was doing in the theatres presided over by Dr. Ricsenfeld. Mr. Schor sometime ago reached the conclusion to let the picture industry shift along by itself while he proceeded to put the newspaper business back on the high plane it occupied when he was a shining light in that profession. So next Saturday night (maybe that's pay day), Mr. Schor's resignation takes effect. He is succeeded hv Mr. Gardy. * * * Some wise person once remarked that there was nothing new under the sun^but he was all wrong. Here's' a new one. We have long been accustomed to seeing the pictures referred to as the "silent drama." but now an inventor has given us silent music. This is done with what the inventor, Thomas Wilford. calls "a color organ" which is now in operation at the Rivoli. The instrument is played by the inventor and "plays symphonies in color on the screen. Colors and forms blend into each other, torrents flash across the screen, ice seems to contend with flames, carrying the spectator along upon imaginative active colors much as the orchestral symphonies play upon the emotions." All of which is pretty deep stuff, but the P. A. says it's so and he ought to know. * * * A man's popularity and success are often shown by the fact that he is not called by his full name. No one at 1(500 Broadway would dream of calling P. D. Cochrane — the Universal executive at the head of exploitation— anything but "P. D." Even the office boy calls him "Mr. P. D." and hopes some day he'll grow up to have ideas like him. P. D. Cochrane is responsible for the sensational "Outside the Law" billboards that kept everyone guessing, and the "Foolish Wives national holiday" one. In fact that is the best thing he docs : think up the ideas. The only poor exploitation he does is his own. * * * Doug and Mary have been playing the two-a-day for the past week with a free sjate. According to some wise statistician it is costing the Fairbanks family $f>,000 per day to sit in the Federal Court two sessions each day in an endeavor to prevent Mrs. Cora Clara Wilkenning from collecting $108,000 for which she is suing. The S. R. O. sign is up and crowds are being turned away at every session, but there are no box office receipts to count. Incidentally evidence was adduced showing that Mrs. Fairbanks collected $1,123,625 for two years' work. Mrs. Wilkinning, who is a theatrical agent, is suing Miss Pickford for 10 per cent commission on the screen star's contract with Adolpb Zukor, made several years ago. The case has been dragging in the courts for several years and it is expected that the present hearing will be completed some time this week. * * * And studying over those Pickford figures one comes to the conclusion that it's pretty handy to have a helpmeet who is able and willing to do a husky day's work — especially in the pictures. * * * Word comes that Sig Schlacer has severed his connection with Hugo Ballin Productions, of which he has been a general business representative for some months. No announcement is made of his future plans. * * * Albert L. Grey, general manager of D. W. Griffith productions, has sailed for Europe on a business trip. He was accompanied by Mrs. Grey. * * * Tom Wiley, secretary of the A. M. P. A. is thinking of broadcasting a notice on the radiophone to the effect that a lot of persons will be left on the outside looking in the night of the "Naked Truth," dinner if they do not get busy and acquire the tickets. The attendance is limited, and the limit is almost reached. So there. * * * I lartnony in the industry is peeping over the horizon. Jack Connolly, Washington representative of the N. A. M. P. I., has already made hotel reservations for a number of members of the M. P. T. O. A. who will attend the national convention in the Capital in May. John S. Sparco. Harry Reichenbach P. A. de Luxe Whose Specialty is Lions and Things HERE is one you all know. Harry L. Reichenbach — probably nicknamed Henry in infancy but nobody knows who will tell — P. A. dc luxe (French slang for real money). And he proves that de luxe stuff by being the highest paid publicity man in captivity in ancient or modern times. Born in Frostburg, Maryland, which is a cold place where hot ones come fr 'in. Reichenbach entered the employ of the Maryland Sheet Steel Company shortly after leaving school, but the material our hero was given to work with was too hard so he looked about and decided the theatrical profession was about three shades softer, so he hopped to it, away back in 1898. Please notice right here Mr. Reichenbach's flowing white tresses and also that we are not tipping off the date of his birth. After various connections and tours of the world with many theatrical attractions. Reichenbach became press agent' for the Jesse L. Lasky Company and handled the exploitation of many of the biggest pictures produced, besides many that were not so big. Reichenbach holds the world's record for banishing sleep from the supposedly restful hours of city editors, many of them spending wakeful nights wondering how much space they were giving to Reichenbach's publicity stunts. Recently London papers warned against Reichenbach as "the man who put' the lion in the lake in Central Park and locked the Japanese girl in a hotel room," After carrying the exploitation of Universal's million dollar "Foolish Wives from the cradle to its opening night, Mr. Reichenbach transferred the scene of his labors to the Paramount offices, where he is exploiting "The Mistress of the World."