Exhibitors Herald (Jul-Sep 1922)

July 22, 1922 EXHIBITORS HERALD 49 Comprehensive Publicity Drive Will Herald Great Program of Specials A CHOICE array of special productions are announced by Fox Film Corporation for publication during 1922-23. The series includes big photoplays of varied themes and settings which are the result of the intensive combination of effort and wide resources of the entire Fox organization. William Fox has supervised each picture, and the direction has been in the hands of capable directors. Mr. Fox is now in England where "If Winter Comes," the H. S. M. Hutchinson novel, is being produced. Each of the attractions will be backed by an unusually substantial publicity and advertising campaign which has been devised by an expert staff of writers and exploitation men at the New York headquarters. Every conceivable angle of exploitation value in each production has been discussed, and the suggestions which are afforded the exhibitor are the results, not of one man, but of the composite ideas of the whole group. Heading the procession of big specials is "Nero." New York newspaper reviewers and trade paper reviewers were unanimous in their enthusiastic praise for this Fox special. Showing at the Lyric theatre continuously since May 22, "Nero" has attracted record audiences despite the summer weather and the advanced admissions which are being charged. * * * The picture, which was said by Don Allen of the Evening W orld to be the first "film to actually live up to the name of super-drama," was produced in Italy, most of the interiors being taken at the Fox studios in Rome. J. Gordon Edwards, who is now at work on "The Shepherd King," directed the spectacular feature. WINFIELD R. SHEEHAN, vice-president and general manager of Fox Film Corporation. The appeal which this special will have can be measured to a large extent by written testimonials sent to the offices of William Fox during the past month by members of the clergy, social leaders, business men and educators who have witnessed the pre-release showings at the Lyric. Hundreds of letters, praising not only the artistic value and historical interest of this giant spectacle but its great influence for good, have found their way through the mails to Mr. Fox. Following closely the popularity of this production is "Silver Wings," the Fox special, now entering the eighth week of a pre-release engagement at the Apollo theatre, New York City. "Silver Wings" features Mary Carr, who won international fame in her portrayal of the mother in "Over the Hill." The new feature play neither attempts to speak a moral nor offers a solution to the wide-spread problem of the modern home, yet it skillfully tells a story of the tribulations of the American household in the face of the irreverence of the spoiled son. Mary Carr again essays the part of the mother and, in the words of noted critics, she again scored superbly. * * * The next on the Fox program of spe . cials is "Monte Cristo," produced under the direction of Emmett J. Flynn of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" fame. The picture is an adaptation of the masterpiece of the immortal Alexandre Dumas. Thousands have been spent in an effort to make this production an exact screen translation of the work of fiction, and as a result reviewers of„ all the national trade papers have acclaimed it as the finest photoplay of its kind. "The Fast Mail" is the fourth of the series for the coming season. It is an adaptation from the stage melodrama of that name which has entertained thousands of theatregoers for many years. Lincoln J. Carter, celebrated as the "father of American melodrama," is the author of the story and will attend the Broadway premiere of the production at the Strand theatre, New York City. Following the engagement of the Carter melodrama, the Strand will show "A Fool There Was," another member of the Fox list for 1922-23. "The Fast Mail" was directed by Bernard Durning. In the screen adaptation, Charles Jones, who is cast in the leading role, carries the audience with him through a series of hair-raising, events, including a hazardous steeplechase in which many riders are thrown and injured, a fight on the stairway of a burning hotel, a leap into a fire net from the fifth floor of a building, a jump from a hand-car to a speeding mail train and then to the tonneau of a racing automobile, and finally a leap from one steamboat to the deck of another a moment prior to an explosion which wrecks the former. WILLIAM FOX, president of Fox Film Corporation, who supervised production of big specials for new season. "A Fool There Was," with Lewis Stone and Estelle Taylor as the modern vampire and directed by Emmett J. Flynn, is the next special on the list. It is the adaptation of the play written by Emerson Porter Browne, inspired by Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, "The Vampire."" The picture is marked by an unusual attention to detail More than $75,000 was. spent in material and labor utilized in the construction of a number of interior sets, according to figures issued by the auditing department of Fox Film Corporation. The next on the 1922-23 program is "Lights of New York," directed by Charles J. Brabirc who filmed "While New York Sleeps." The production offers a new type of photoplay and is of two separate episodes. Harry Millarde, who directed "Over the Hill," also directed "My Friend, The Devil," another special, the scenario of which was prepared by Paul H. Sloane. "A Little Child Shall Lead Them," another -special, was produced under the direction of J. Searle Dawley. This is not only a play which tugs at the human heart, it is a play of human hearts. Another special for the coming season, directed by Harry Millarde, is "The Town That Forgot God," the screen stor}' of a small community whose blindness to itsown inquisites bring the wrath of God upon it in the form of a devastating flood. Bunny Grauer has the leading part. Publication dates for the first eight above mentioned pictures are "The Fast Mail,'r August 20; "Silver Wings," August 27; "Monte Cristo," September 3; "A Fool There Was." September 10; "Nero," September 17 ; "Lights of New York," October 8 ; "A Little Child Shall Lead Them," October 15; and "My Friend, The Devil," November 19.