Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925)

February 7, 1925 EXHIBITORS HERALD 61 Educational TWO MERMAID comedies, one Hamilton, one Juvenile and one Christie Comedy will head the Educational Film Exchanges, Inc., releasing schedule for the month of February with a selection of single reel comedy and novelty reels forming the support. . . . The month will also mark the inauguration of a new series on Educational’s program in Judge’s Crossword Puzzles, one of which will be released each week. . . . “Step Lightly,” with Lige Conley and Ruth Hiatt, will be presented the first week of the month. “Hooked” is the name of Hamilton’s vehicle. XXX A STREET CAR with many novel accessories to complicate the plot is the feature part of the set used by A1 St. John in his second comedy for Mermaid, “Rapid Transit.” . . . Lige Conley and Estelle Bradley are working in “Night Hawks,” a shipyards picture for which a huge set duplicating the cranes and scaffolding of a modern shipbuilding plant has been erected. . . . Lloyd Hamilton is finishing “King Cotton,” to get exterior scenes for which the company went to Brawley, Cal., where the extensive growing of sea island cotton furnished the atmosphere for the “down in Dixie” comedy. Chadwick ESPECIALLY WRITTEN for Lila Lee, “The Midnight Girl,” went into production last week, the sixth production of the Chadwick Nine. Lila Lee will fill the role of the Italian immigrant. Garreth Hughes returns to the screen to play a leading part in the picture. . . . Of the other nine productions promised on the Chadwick schedule, the Lionel Barrymore special will be done in the east, while two of them will be made at the West Coast studios. “The Romance of an Actress” and “Sunshine of Paradise Alley,” two to be made in the west, have not been cast yet, but an announcement concerning the leading roles will be made soon. Metro-Goldwyn A NEW BEST SELLER, “The Ordeal,” by Dale Collins, was bought by MetroGoldwyn this week to be produced at a time yet unset. The tale is one of the yachting variety, where the passengers are helpless after they are stranded on an island, but the treatment from that point in the story is said to be genuinely original. . . . Another story purchased by Metro recently is the serial, “A Little Bit of Broadway,” which appeared in the Liberty Magazine under the name of Richard Connell. XXX ' five important features that are looked upon as good ventures are scheduled for February release. “Cheaper to Marry,” then “The Rag Man,” “Never the Twain Shall Meet,” “Lady of the Night,” and “The Prairie Wife” are the order in which they will come. Dorothy Devore, Herbert Rawlinson and Gibson Gowland have the leading parts in the last named. . . . Rupert Hughes’ new production, “Excuse Me,” was released January 19. It had its premiere at the Capitol theatre. New York, the following week. XXX TWO WIDELY DIVERGENT groups of people are portrayed in the Adela Rogers St. John’s story, “The Lady of the Night,” upon which Monta Bell is now at work. Norma Shearer and Malcolm McGregor are named in the leading roles. . . . Mathew Betz has been added to the cast of “The Unholy Three,” un Remarkable insight may be gained into the roles given Norma Talmadge in ‘‘The Lady," adapted from the stage success, and presented by First National. derworld story, directed by Tod Browning. . . . 2,000 extras were used this week in the making of “Confessions of a Queen” and “The Merry Widow.” . . . Aubrey Scotto has returned from Rome where he assisted the editorial staff in the making of “Ben Hur,” and will be film editor of “Man and Maid.” . . . . “Chin-Chin-Chow,” released this month, is on a run at the Palace theatre, Sydney, Australia. First National FOUR NEW FILMS will be in progress at the new Eastern studios of First National within two weeks. The first to get under way will be “Chickie,” said to be the worthiest successor to “Flaming Youth.” In the following week will be started “The Necessary Evil,” “The Making of O’Malley,” and “The Halfway Girl.” . . . The first two Hudson pictures made in New York, “I Want My Man,” and “One Way Street,” are now in the cutting room being prepared for an early release. XXX THE NAME ROLE in “Chickie,” will be filled by Dorothy Mackaill. . . Ben Lyon and Viola Dana will be cofeatured in “The Necessary Evil.” . . . “The Making of O’Malley” is Milton Sills’ next featured film. . . . Doris Ken yon will soon start her work in the leading role of “The Halfway Girl.” . . . After seven years and two months in production “The Lost World,” the Doyle story of curious savages living among mammoth prehistoric animals, will be released for the world premiere in Boston next week. Sanford THE EIGHTH Thrillspeedrama, “Slow Dynamite,” produced by Sanford, featuring Matty Mattison, is now released. It was shot at Kernville, Calif., in order to obtain the wonderful western atmosphere of that locality. . . . “Ranger Bill” is the title of the fourth western produced by the William (Bill) Mix Productions, Inc., and distributed by Sanford. Unusual western scenery is the boast of the producers. LETTERS From Readers A forum at which the exhibitor is invited to express his opinion on matters of. current interest. Brevity adds forcefulness to any statement. Unsigned letters will not be printed. What’s Wrong With the Newspapers? ELDORA, lA. — To the Editor and the Boys; After these many months of inactivity on my part as contributor to the columns of the Herald, I again break forth into loud black print. You will notice, from the enclosed reports on pictures, however, that I have not been exactly idle and have had a thought for the trade paper which has served me and all the rest of us so well, even if it were a physical impossibility to send these reports in when they would” have done the most good. A.side from attempting to conduct this business of mine in such a manner as would pay the current running expenses, doctor’s bills and sundry items of like nature, the Mrs. and 1 have found ourselves the parents of a young person who no doul'it will set the motion pictures and golf world on fire when older. We have had many heated discussions as to what particular branch of this industry would be revolutionized in due time, thereby, without seeming to reach any definite conclusion or even basis of arbitration. The golf championship matter I won at the first encounter, but I must admit that it cost me a new dress. However, the first child comes but once, and it was worth it. I do not propose, at this time, to take up the matter of the “average picture,” although I have spent considerable time and energy thinking along that line without reaching any definite conclusion. I will state that I enjoyed the exchange of pleasantries between my neighbor at Marshalltown, la., and T. O. Service, along those lines. However, there comes to my mind a clipping w'hich was sent to me from the state of Kansas, and which came originally from the editorial page of one of the papers of the capital of that state. It deals with the showing of the film “Three Weeks” at one of the foremost theatres of that _ city. It is entitled “For Better Movies” and for lack of space I will quote only parts of it. “Will Hays . . . promised to create a better atmosphere not only in the movie colony, but also in the films which were sent out for public consumption. If Mr. Hays can detect a breath of proper atrnosphere in ‘Three Weeks’ . . . There isn t a thing in ‘Three Weeks* that gives it a graceful excuse for its exhibition. It is a sensation producing film shown for the purpose of creating box office receipts. There is not even a moral of sufficient interest in it to swab over the indecency it presents. The State Journal does not often review motion pictures. The pictures have drawn their thousands of fans and the appearance of certain artists often guarantees the worth whileness of the film. Take Harold Lloyd in ‘Girl Shy’ here last week. His pictures are full of clean cut fun. There are times when a review is needed that motion picture producers may realize they are not blinding the public with their sensationalism” . . . and so on. Now the points of this, to me, is the fact that the State Journal “does not often review films” and “there are times when a review is needed.” All right I will grant the point. There are times when a review is needed. But it has been my experience in dealing with this group of people known as the public, that if you want them to do a thing tell them that it i.s wrong and that they should not do it and see how quick they will do just that thing. It seems