Exhibitors Herald (Jul-Sep 1922)

58 EXHIBITORS HERALD September 30, 1922 William Sciter THREE interesting scenes from the new Wesley Barry starring vehicle "Rags to Riches," a Harry * Rapf picture which Warner Brothers will distribute. Wesley has just been signed to appear exclusively in Warner features. "Rags to Riches" is the initial Warner publication of the season. Warners Offer Film Versions Of Seven Popular Novels THE roster of seven productions to be published by Warner Brothers for the coming season include three Harry Rapf productions and four Warner features, directed by prominent directors and adapted by well-known scenario writers from seven popular books and stage plays. A group of prominent screen players were engaged to interpret the varied roles for each production. "Rag-s to Riches," featuring Wesley Barry, is announced for issue in September. This is a Harry Rapf thousands of natives against the back William Beaudine production, directed by Wallace Wors ley and adapted from the stage play and book of Charles A. Taylor by William Nigh and Walter De Leon. Barry is featured in what is declared to be one of the finest roles of his screen career. He is supported by an exceptional cast of players, including Niles Welch, Ruth Renick, Russell Simpson, Richard Tucker, Minna D. Redman, Eulalie Jensen, Elaine Manning, Gilbert Clayton and "Snitz" Edwards. * * * "The Beautiful and Damned," with Marie Prevost and Kenneth Harlan in the leading roles, is named as the second publication. S. L. and Jack Warner produced the picture, E. Mason Hopper directed and Olga Printzlau adapted it for the screen. The combination of director, scenario * writer and producer of E. Scott Fitz ^H§j gerald's widely read and discussed novel dealing with the modern flapper is said to have brought forth an unusual box office attraction. It is a picture which reveals in a vivid, entertaining and truthful manner the stirring conflict of two souls in the mesh of wealth and social gaiety. "Brass," the Charles G. Norris novel of marriage and divorce, features Marie Prevost. It is a Harry Rapf production, directed by Sidney Franklin, who has been responsible for "Smilin' Through," "East Is West" and many other screen successes. Monte M. Katterjohn adapted the story for the screen. The Norris novel is enjoying a tremendous vogue among the fiction reading public, and hundreds of thousands of copies have been sold by the publishers. Its appeal is nation-wide, in that it serves to present in an absorbing manner the conditions which make or destroy marriage. * * * "Heroes of the Street," starring Wesley Barry, is a Harry Rapf production directed by William Beaudine. The book and stage play by Lem Parker has enjoyed years of undiminished popularity. The setting of the story is the colorful and romantic slum section of New York, and it graphically and realistically portrays the trials and tribulations of the ironic and humorous side of the seething pot of humanity. In the cast supporting Barry are Marie Prevost, Jack Mulhali Wilfred Lucas, Philo McCullough, Wedgewood Nowell, Aggie Herron, Will Walling, Phil Ford, "Peaches" Jackson and Joe Butterworth. The story was adapted for the screen by Edmund Goulding, Mildred Considine and Isabel Johnston. "A Dangerous Adventure," featuring Grace Darmond, is hailed as a monumental, spell-binding story of a strange adventure in the African jungles. Thousands of wild animals, and Sidney Franklin Wallace Wors ley Julien Josephson ground of the jungles are said to furnish a veritable feast of electric action. The production was made by S. L. and Jack Warner, and the story was written by Frances Guihan. Prominent members of the cast supporting Miss Darmond include Jack Richardson. Philo McCullough, Robert Agnew and Derelys Perdue. "Main Street" is declared to be the greatest novel ever written of rural America. It was written by Sinclair Lewis, and was produced by S. L. and Jack Warner. The story was an unusual success on the speaking stage, and the novel with its quaint characters is known to millions of readers. The picture serves to reveal the bitter clash of new, free ideas against the entrenched complacence of small town tradition. There's a Main Street in every town, and this is said to be but one of the many exploitation hints on the box office possibilities of the picture. Harriet Ford and Harvey O'Higgins dramatized the story, and Julian Josephson adapted it for the screen. "Little Church Around the Corner," in its many years before the public as a stage plav and as a book, has become known all over the world. The story was written by Marion Russell, produced by S. L. and Jack Warner, and adapted for the screen by Olga Printzlau. It is declared to be one of the sweetest stories ever told on the silver screen. It is a homely human document with an appeal as broad as humanity itself, and for real story value, lavishness of investiture, it is said the production will rank as one of the big box office attractions of the season. In "Rags and Riches," which is the initial publication of the season, Warner Brothers are said to have scored another triumph. It is described as a splendid production with a wonderful moral. Nor does the picture lack thrills. One scene that shows Wesley and his pal on a railroad trestle in a machine with a train approaching them rapidly furnishes some hair-raising feats. Wesley and his pal jump from the machine in the river below and the picturization is vivid. There is some excellent camera work here. Speaking of the picture, Clem Pope of the Symphony theatre, Venice, Cal., said : "It is one of the best pictures this year." The production was accorded its preview at the Symphony where it received praise from both reviewers and public. Monte M. Katterjohn