Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1921 - Mar 1922)

46 ) EXHIBITORS HERALD March 25, 1922 Joe Weil The WEEK in NEW YORK UNDER the heading "If you don't like it— Lump it," the A. M. P. A. Bulletin comes to bat with the following: "It has been charged at recent meetings of the A. M. P. A. that the Bulletin is dead from the neck up, ossified, Oslerized, cancerized and hypnotized. It has been said it's so dead it couldn't draw a breath out of a bottle of Old Crow. Well, the Naked Truth is coming along, and so that you can form your own opinion of the Bulletin, we're spreading a little truth ourselves." And then it proceeds to spread something, whether naked truth or not, the reading of which makes us hope that the editor is a fast runner and in good condition to run fast. Here's a little of it, and you can take your choice whether it would be fight or foot race : There's Bill Yearsley. They say he was a sign painter. It's a pity he didn't stick to it. First National believed in signs. They've got one now and as Vic Shapiro has pointed out they'll have "one" everywhere. Sign painter, eh? Why didn't he pick some respectable occupation like pipe fitting or card sharping? And that's how First National handles its publicity and advertising problems? Jerry Beatty went to Famous Players to exploit a serial. The serial flopped so they made him director of publicity and advertising. You can't tell Paul Gulick anything he doesn't know about Mt. Vernon and whoinhell wants to. Paul sticks to topics of conversation that he knows well. Ask him about picture production and he'll tell you how much he holed out in and the time trains leave for Dunwoodie. Can't fool Paul on the hard ones — can you, Paul? Charles W. Barrell, the boy wonder against salacious advertising. Going to Europe, eh, Charlie? Yurrup don't care who goes to her any more. We're thinking of sending Eddie, the office cat over next. Going over for educational production, Charlie? Well, take a squint from old man Pope. A little knowledge, etc. Sam Palmer had sore teeth so they removed his appendix. Tf he gets two full pages in the trade papers they'll make him sales manager. Don't worry, Sam. You're safe till the cows come home and you know, living in Jamaica, they sure come home, every night. That little shrimp. Walter Eberhardt, sits in a corner and buttonholes you with the latest anecdotes from Aesop's Fables. Is it a boy or a girl? Walter has an unusually keen eye, none of his missiles directed at the wastebaskets of numerous editors ever having failed to reach their mark. How about trying shoe making. Walter? And this guy Briliant. Arthur Briliant! Who in blazes ever wished a name like that on a dumbbell like him? We read in Arthur's autobiography how he worked in 36 cities in every part of the world since he was born in 1892, and stayed at the University of Minnesota long enough to look at an A. B. (A Boob) degree. We'd like to say a lot about George Gamp, who galloped into one meeting and galloped right out again. If a fellow who has a sincere thought can't get up in meetings and express his optnion whatinhell's the A. M. P. A. for anyway. We don't care, George, even if Hodkinson did get more publicity out of that one meeting than of any four issues of the trade papers — it was worth it. . * * * Reginald Denny, who is directing "Leather Pushers" for Universal, left Saturday for Universal City, where the remainder of the series will be made. The start on the series was made in New York, and no reason for the change of locale has been made. * * * Hiram Ap.rams. big boss of United Artists, who had expected to sail for Europe last week, has delayed the trip long enough to spend a week or two in a local hospital, where he will undergo a minor operation. • * * MlLTON C RANDALL, of exploitation fame, haf returned to New York from Ohio, where he helped stir up the muss iii which tin censorship situation in that state is now involved. Crandall just dotes on scraps. Paul Gulick heartily approves of the movement to have the famous Longacre Square clock returned to its former position facing towards Times Square. "It should never have been taken away,", said Mr. Gulick. "Its removal has caused a lot of trouble to many of us. It was a great convenience to me. Whenever I wanted to know the time all I had to do was to walk down two flights of stairs, then a block down Broadway, turn around and face north and there was the time right in front of me." Seymour Pierson, well known in New York newspaper circles, leaves this week for Tokio, Japan, where he will look after the interests of Douglas Fairbanks and screen family. Pierson was night city editor of the Morning Telegraph and recently asked to be put out on general assignment work to get his feet rested up. One of his early assignments was the covering of the Wilkenning-Pickford trial here a couple of weeks ago. There he met Fairbanks and during a conversation they talked about Japan, of which country neither of them knew much. Finally Doug asked : "How would you like to go there?" "Fine," replied Pierson, "lead me to it." "You're on," said Doug, and then and there in the court house, while waiting for the verdict, the deal was made. And this, we arise to remark, is some quick action. Being in a monologue and a singing act, Nat Rothstein also wants to be the leading actor of the motion picture for The Naked Truth. It is said he didn't even overlook the Hawaiian shredded wheat act, and wanted to cut in on it. * * * Victor Beals, whose art work has been enlisted at various times for some of the leading companies, has been one of the first men to join the reorganized publicity and advertising department of Robertson-Cole, doing their art work. * * * Claud Saunders, Paramount's director of exploitation, has a contender now for Ned Holmes has been put in charge of the exploitation staff that First National is organizing under C. L. Yearsley. * * * When the Naked Truth dinner is over the A. M. P. A. boys admit they will be under a deep obligation to Barney Randall of the Green Room Club, who supervised the staging and rehearsals of their acts. Barney acted in the same capacity at the successful Naked Truth dinner last year, (living his services for such affairs is the best thing he docs outside of acting. * * * Future editors of the A. M. P. A. Bulletin are announced at Morrie Ryskind for the April number and Fred Baer for the May number. * * * Ceremonials for A. M. P. A. members in the future will be under the direction of Jerry Beatty, who has been elected master of ceremonies, as the result of the departure of Harry Reichenbach, former holder of the office, for Europe. John S. Sparoo. Advertising Expert, Editor, and P. A. With an Unerring Aim JOE WEIL, editor the Bellyache, and expert handler of advertising exploitation and publicity for Export & Import Film Co., has in his short but checkered career been and done many things but he indignantly denies that he ever wrote poetry. He admits having assassinated actors, actresses and human beings in the public prints and in press books, has hurled bombs from a military airplane without giving thought to how many or who fell victims to his unerring aim, and has even occasionally sent out a true story as publicity, but that poetry stuff — never. Born and educated in New York, Weil early started to write for newspapers and magazines, but this life being too exciting for one of his retiring nature, he hopped into the air service at the beginning of the war, first as a bombing military observer, later becoming a pilot. During three years' service he netted himself more than 400 hours of flying and three crashes. Leaving the service he became managing editor of "Tale Spins," a monthly flying publication, and later became Aviation editor of the Evening Telegram. Joining Universal he directed the national exploitation of Locklear's first picture, "The Great Air Robbery," and for a time handled that company's trade paper publicity. After leaving Universal he handled publicity and exploitation for several companies and then established a free lance bureau of his own, looking after the interests of a number of stars. While in this work he established The Movie Bellyache, which is published whenever Weil feels like doing it, and which has a foreign circulation of 1, secured through free advertising in J. R. M.'s column of "Re-Takes."