Exhibitors Herald (Mar-Apr 1924)

April 19, 1924 EXHIBITORS HERALD 55 Sinionidcs, played on the stage by many of the most prominent players of the age. The other five members of the cast thus far engaged are George Walsh as Ben Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, Gertrude Olmstead as Esther, Kathleen Key as Tirzah and Carmel Myers as Iras. + + + FINAL CUTTING of John Lynch's story, "The Rejected Woman," has been approved by Henry M. Hobart, vice president of Distinctive Pictures Corporation, who has given the order for rushing through of prints, in order that this feature may be released at the earliest time possible. + + + DIRECTOR KING Vidor is ready to begin photography on his picturization of Rachel Crother's play, "Mary the Third," which will be released under another title. Additional players have been added to the cast. Among them are Virginia Lee Corbin, ZaSu Pitts, Eulalie Jensen, Gertrude Claire and E. J. Ratcliffe. + + + Metro METRO WILL release three pictures this month with Rex Ingram's new production, "The Arab," in the offing as a possible fourth. The uncertainty of "The Arab" rests in the fact that Ingram is still busy assembling the negative and Metro officials declared that it was impossible to say at this date whether "The Arab" would be available for April. The three productions now ready, to be released in the order named, are "A Boy of Flanders," Jackie's second picture for Metro, "Mademoiselle Midnight," Mae Murray's new picture and "Sherlock, Jr.," Buster Keaton's third Metro feature length comedy. + + + METRO HAS purchased Nina Wilcox Putman's Saturday Evening Post story, "The Beauty Prize" as a starring vehicle for Viola Dana. Miss Dana is now engaged in the production of "Along Came Ruth," a screen version of Henry Savage's Broadway hit with Irene Fenwick in the title role. It is being produced under the direction of Eddie Cline with the following supporting cast: Walter Hiers, Tully Marshall, Raymond McKee, Victor Potel, Gale Henry, Nelson McDowell, DeWitt Jennings, Adele Farrington and Brenda Lane. Winifred Dunn made the adaptation. + + + A COMPLETE list of the members of the cast of Reginald Barker's latest production under Metro-Louis B. Mayer auspices, "Broken Barriers" shows several changes in the cast that was originally projected. Those who will play the big roles in "Broken Barriers" now are James Kirkwood, Adolphe Menjou, Norma Shearer, Mae Busch, Robert Frazer, George Fawcett, Margaret McWade, Robert Agnew, Ruth Stonehouse, Winifred Bryson, Walter Hiers, Edith Chapman and Vera Reynolds. Chadwick WORK has been completed on the final scene of Lionel Barrymore's latest screen vehicle "Meddling Women." a Chadwick Pictures Production. "Meddling Women" was both written and directed by Ivan Abramson, early pioneer director of the movies. In the supporting cast are Dagmar Godowsky, Sigrid Holmquist, Hugh Thompson, Ida Darling and others. Truart ABRAHAM CARLOS, president of Carlos productions, which made "The Unknown Purple" and is at present Lew Cody and Claire Windsor in a scene from "Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model." (Goldwyn.) producing the Richard Talmadge series of melodramas for Truart. arrived in New York this week, in advance of his studio organization, as the initial step in the removal of the Carlos activities from the Coast to New York. Warners BABBITT," the Sinclair Lewis novel, is rapidly being rounded out at the Warner Brothers west coast studio. Willard Louis, who played a prominent part in "Beau Brummel," has been assigned the leading role as George Babbitt, the busy business man in this screen version of the Sinclair Lewis novel. Other additions to the case are, Mary Alden, plays Mrs. Babbitt, Carmel Myers portrays' Tanis Judique, and Raymond McKee plays the part of Theodore Roosevelt Babbitt. + + + WARNER BROTHERS have purchased the screen rights to Edna Ferbcr's "So Big," one of the season's outstanding novels, and "Vanishing Point" by Conning sby Dawson. "Vanishing Point" is an international society drama, with the locale laid in Central Europe. A popular edition of the book is to be placed on the market in May by Grossett & Dunlap. Universal "GULLIVER'S TRAVELS," Dean Swift's famous old story of the land of Lilliput, with its diminutive people, and Brobdignag, where men were giants, may soon live again in pictures. Plans are being discussed at Universal City for producing the famous old story, known to every child in the world, with a company of tiny actors and actresses, a giant or two, and an all star cast. + + + COINCIDENT with the arrival in New York early this week of Jack Hoxie's latest Universal feature, "Ridgeway of Montana," comes word from Universal City that the western star has been signed by Universal for a period of five years. + + + UNIVERSAL announces a new series of two-reel western dramas. They are already in the making and will be released one a week beginning May 10th. This series will form an important adjunct to Universal Short Subjects program, which also includes both one and two reel comedies, several special comedy drama series, as well as serials and news reels. United Artists FOLLOWING THE showing of Jack Pickford's latest photoplay production, "The Hill Billy," an Allied Producers and Distributors Corporation release, at all the Keith, Procter and Moss houses in Greater New York, Marcus Locw has booked this film for engagements beginning at an early date in the theatres of the Loew New York circuit. + + + LITA GREY, Chaplin's new leading lady. will appear with him in the next sequence of his comedy to be filmed, and this will be this young woman's first appearance before the camera, since the role she played in "The Kid." It is expected now that the picture will be finished and ready for public view sometime in September next, and will be distributed by United Artists Corporation as an autumn release. Paramount JOE KING has been added to the cast of "Unguarded Women," which Alan Crosland is now producing at the Paramount Long Island studio with Bebe Daniels and Richard Dix in the featured roles. King will have the role of Jimmy Craig, an American man-about-town in Pekin, China, where most of the scenes of the picture are laid. + + + EFFIE SHANNON, Laurence D'Orsay and Arthur Cozine are the latest additions to the cast of Herbert Brenon's production for Paramount, "The Mountebank," which features Ernest Torrence and Anna Q. Nilsson. Miss Shannon will play Lady Verity-Stewart, D'Orsay will have the role of Sir Julius VerityStewart and Cozine will play Lt. Arbuthnot. + + + CLARE BERANGER, author of "The Bedroom Window," which William de Mille is filming for Paramount at the Lasky studio, has returned to New York to complete her scenario for Mr. de Mille's next production. Vitagraph ALBERT E. SMITH, president of Vitagraph, returned to Hollywood last week from Santa Barbara where he spent several days visiting the annual horse show. + + + WHITMAN BENNETT now has three productions under the Vitagraph banner. His latest release "Virtuous Liars" was shown at the Rialto Theatre last week. "The Leavenworth Case" and "Loyal Lives" are the other two pictures. David Powell and Edith Allen have the leading roles in "Virtuous Liars." C. B. C. "PAL o' MINE," the latest C. B. C. feature picture, which was completed a short time ago, is being brought east by Joe Brandt. Advertising and exploitation plans Itave all been made and before the negative arrives within the next ten days the campaign shall have been launched. + + + WORD HAS been received from Harry Cohn, vice-president of the C. B. C. Film Sales Corporation, that William Fairbanks has been signed to star in a series of twelve feature productions. These pictures are not to be zvestern stories, but will be society dra mas.