Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1925-Mar 1926)

88 EXHIBITORS HERALD February 27, 1926 Western. Five reels. — Julius Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. THE FIGHTING HEART: George O’Brien— Drew well and pleased. — J. S. Walker, Texas theatre, Grand Prairie, Tex. — Small town patronage. HEARTS AND SPURS: Buck Jones — A good Western picture. — Julius Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. THE DEADWOOD COACH: Tom Mix— Very good picture of the Western type. Seven reels. — Mrs. W. C. Bevard, Star theatre, Fowler, Colo. — Small town patronage. HEARTS OF OAK: Special cast — Here is a real picture that has a punch at the finish. I heard one lady remark going out, “The next time I go to a picture show I’ll bring a handkerchief.” I’ll tell the world. Seven reels. — Julius Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer MIKE: Sally O’Neil — This picture pleased one hundred per cent. A great bet anywhere. Seven reels. — R. D. Goldberg, Sun theatre, Omaha, Neb. ■ — Medium patronage. THE CIRCLE : Elinor Boardman — A fair program picture. No drawing card. The two old gents in this picture are sure good and supply the comedy. Without them the picture would be no good. Six reels.— R. Pfeiffer, Princess theatre, Chilton, Wis. — Small town patronage. HIS SECRETARY: Norma Shearer— This one rings the bell for entertainment. Excellent comedy drama that everyone will enjoy. You boys who have this bought can step on it and not be afraid of the picture not delivering the goods. — H. G. Stettmund, Jr., Odeon theatre. Chandler, Okla. — Small town patronage. SALLY, IRENE AND MARY: Special cast— An excellent picture. It is taken from the musical stage success and should be a good box office attraction. Sally O’Neil does some excellent work and if given the right kind of stories will become a great star. She has made a great hit with our patrons. Six reels. — James D. Kennedy, Apollo theatre, Indianapolis, Ind. — General patronage. THE MIDSHIPMAN : Ramon Novarro — A splendid entertainment. Good cast and story. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. THE MIDSHIPMAN: Ramon Novarro — An excellent attraction but failed at the box office as business was below average. Seven reels. — R. Pfeiffer, Princess theatre, Chilton, Wis. — Small town patronage. THE GREAT LOVE: Special cast — Absolutely the silliest picture I ever had. Took it off after matinee and put on “The Live Wire” with Johnny Hines for the night show. “The Live Wire” was a slight improvement. Don’t think I ever had a picture that was so very poor as was “The Great Love,” and with me it was a very high priced production. — T. L. Little, Majestic theatre, Camden, S. D. — General patronage. BRIGHT LIGHTS: Charles Ray— Good program picture. More like Ray’s old pictures before he tackled the big stuff that killed the drawing power of his pictures. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. THE MERRY WIDOW: John Gilbert — Oh Boy, a wow of a picture. The men raved about Miss Murray and the women about John Gilbert. It had a pull at the box office, too. Ten reels. — Fred Brown, A-Mus-U theatre, Frederick, Okla. — General patronage. OLD CLOTHES: Jackie Coogan — Very nice picture. Better than “The Ragman" by far. Six reels. — Fred A. Brown, A-Mus-U theatre, Frederick, Okla. — General patronage. GO WEST: Buster Keaton — Get this one. My patrons were all pleased with this one. Did not make much but was not the fault of the picture. Advertise it, though. Six reels. — John Stoll, Linwood Square theatre, Norwalk, O. — General patronage. ZANDER THE GREAT: Marion Davies — A good picture but didn’t do well at the box office for us due, we think, to her former appearance in so many costume productions. The photography was very poor. Eight reels. — A. G. Witwer, Grand theatre. Rainier, Ore. — General patronage. THE MASKED BRIDE: Mae Murray — Mae Murray fans liked this and said so : others were easy on it. — T. L. Little, Majestic theatre, Camden, S. C. — General patronage. LITTLE ROBINSON CRUSOE: Jackie Coogan— Here is a good Coogan picture that will please everyone and pull in the kids like flies. Ordinarily we have less than 15 youngsters at our shows as most of the pictures are of little benefit to them. At this show we had 92 of them, which we consider a record here. We used those sample Cracker Jacks on nights when we have a good subject for kids which certainly brings them out. Added to this we cut the price to 15c. Our regular children’s price is 20c. If you haven't tried the Cracker Jack stunt, do so. It goes big with the kids. Six reels. — Elmer F. Holmberg, Chamberg theatre, Amasa, Mich. — -Small town patronage. ROMOLA: Gish Sisters — A fine picture if you like the heavy stuff. I gave this away to the high school crowd, and even then it did not please half, as it is too big for a small town crowd. It belongs to an educated crowd, either a college town or big city clientele. Eleven reels. — -Leslie Habbes, Reel Joy theatre. King City, Cal. — Small town patronage. SINNERS IN SILK: Special cast— Better see this one first, boys, as your lady patrons may run you out of town. To our patrons it was vulgar, and it is one of those impossible kind that hurts business. Seven reels. — O. O. Troyer, Rialto theatre, Dickinson, N. D. — Better class patronage. LITTLE OLD NEW YORK: Marion DaviesPlayed this picture with the expectation of being criticized for playing such an old one, but hot sock 1 It drew twice the crowd for one night that “That Royle Girl” drew in two nights, and everybody liked it, and told their friends, and we had a fine house the second night. What more can an exhibitor ask? Eleven reels. — C. W. Veseth, Palace theatre, Malta, Mont. — General patronage. NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET: Special cast — -A good picture that my patrons all liked. Acting fine ; direction good and scenery O. K. Just a good picture. Everyone should play. — Frank Brock, Grand theatre, Okolona, Miss. — Small town patronage. SEVEN CHANCES: Special cast— This is very good. Better than “The Navigator.” Everyone seemed well pleased. Six reels. — Julius Schmidt, Grand theatre, Breese, 111. — General patronage. THE BEAUTY PRIZE: Viola Dana — Fair picture. Viola good drawing power. Six reels. — M. E. Ames, Pastime theatre, Jefferson, O. — Small town patronage. CHU CHIN CHOW: Betty Blythe— Didn’t do much business on this, as I killed Miss Blythe with one of the rottenest pictures I have ever seen, “The Breath of Scandal,” a short time before I ran “Chu Chin Chow.” Picture fair but nothing extra. — Frank Brock, Grand theatre, Okolona, Miss. — Small town patronage. THE DIXIE HANDICAP: Claire Windsor— A very good program picture. Held the interest and pulled a better than average crowd. Seven reels. — Horn & Morgan, Star theatre. Hay Springs, Neb. — Small town patronage. Paramount THE AMERICAN VENUS: Special cast— Very beautiful. Lots of Technicolor and a style show that sets the ladies crazy. High class audience will rave over this. Eight reels. — Clark & Edwards, Palace theatre, Ashland, O. — General patronage. THE AMERICAN VENUS: Special cast— Great. One of the best pictures I have played this year. Comedy and action galore. This is not an Annette Kellerman picture, as you would think it would be. It’s a real knockout comedy. Pleased 100 per cent. They will all rave over this, and you’ll also see a real fashion show. — A. J. Paul, Royal theatre, Galion, O. — General patronage. THE AMERICAN VENUS: Special cast— Another good one from Paramount. This sure pleased the small crowd that came out to see it. Paramount poster department out of San Francisco did not let me use any paper on this, so I don’t know how well it would have drawn. Seven reels. — Leslie Hables, Reel Joy theatre. King City, Cal. —Small town patronage. THE WANDERER: Special cast — Personally we think it bigger and better than “The Ten Commandments.” But we did not do half the business that we did on “The Ten Commandments.” Same amount of advertising ; same admissions. No comments. Nine reels. — Guerrin Bios., Grand theatre, Paulding, O. — General patronage. THE WANDERER: Special cast — Wonderful of its kind. Not a small town Saturday picture, but everyone should see it. Complete in every detail. Destruction of the city is great. Nine reels. — Clark & Edwards, Palace theatre, Ashland, O. — General patronage. THE WANDERER: Special cast— This picture should never have been sold to the exhibitor. It should have been given to him free to run for his church people. I got stung plenty on this and advise anyone that hasn’t it bought to give it a wide berth. Nine reels. — Leslie Hables, Reel Joy theatre. King City, Cal. — Small town patronage. THAT ROYLE GIRL: Carol Dempster— Too much jazz for the small town and too little comedy. If this is a fair sample of Fields as a comedian I don’t want any of his pictures. The cyclone scene is good and Carol Dempster is all that saves this from being a “flop” in my estimation. Ten reels. — George Benson, Community theatre, Minneota, Minn. — Small town patronage. THAT ROYLE GIRL: Carol Dempster— A big picture. Star and cast fine. Story good, but for a small town too artistic. More suggestive scenes than I ever saw in a picture. If this is good direction, I don’t want any more of them. This picture is great for big towns and old people. The older the better. If they do this for art’s sake, they certainly went the limit. Pleased 50 per cent. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. THAT ROYLE GIRL: Carol Dempster— Run this picture on percentage. Paramount thought they were not getting enough rental out of this town, so they wanted to run percentage. D. W. is the only director who could take a story of this kind and put it over. The picture is there but it didn’t have “rep” enough to get the money. Ten reels. — Strand theatre, Irvine, Ky. — General patronage. THAT ROYLE GIRL: Carol Dempster — We paid a big rental for this, used a lot of advertising, and put it over big the first night, but did only house expense the second night, and had a good many objections to the bedroom scenes. Ten reels. — Tom Murphy, Shuler Auditorium, Raton, N. M. — General patronage. MANNEQUIN : Dolores Costello — A very good picture. Will draw in any theatre. Everybody pleased. They will come out and tell you how good it is. — A. J. Paul, Royal theatre, Galion, O. — General patronage. MANNEQUIN: Dolores Costello — Very good picture and many favorable comments. Ran on Sunday. If followed on Monday, will make your Monday good. — Tom Murphy, Shuler Auditorium, Raton, N. M. — General patronage. MOANA OF THE SOUTH SEAS: Special cast • — Native cast interesting for children and grownups from an educational standpoint. No plot, just the customs and manners of living of the South Sea Islands. Is beautifully photographed. Six reels.— Clark & Edwards, Palace theatre, Ashland, O. — General patronage. THE VANISHING AMERICAN: Richard Dix — The type of a picture you are proud to show. It creates talk of the kind that helps the business. Richard Dix in this portrays one of the most noble characters that has graced the screen for a long time. It proved that the beauty of soul was what counted regardless of race or creed. The picture is historical and holds the interest all the way, though it runs through centuries of time. The support was good all the way, particularly Lois Wilson and Noah Beery. Three days to excellent business and in the face of a blizzard. — Ben L. Morris, Temple theatre, Bellaire, O. — General patronage. THE GRAND DUCHESS AND THE WAITER: Florence Vidor — Florence Vidor wonderful. The story rather slow getting under way and the last fifteen minutes was the greater part of the picture. My audience rather enjoyed this, but nothing unusual as a drawing card. My paper order on this was double my regular order and did not do more than ordinary business. — T. L. Little, Majestic theatre, Camden, S. C. — General patronage. STAGESTRUCK: Gloria Swanson — Good pic ture for small towns. A few of the Swanson fans did not like it. Drew good business. Seven reels. — M. E. Ames, Pastime theatre, Jefferson, O. — Small town patronage. STAGESTRUCK: Gloria Swanson — It looks like Gloria has slipped in this one, yet it’s better than several of her other releases at that. It gets laughs from the gallery and had lots of my shoot-up crowd that said it was good, but the ones who turned out to see Gloria expecting a high class production were disappointed. Paid a big price for this slapstick comedy.— A. Mitchell, Dixie theatre, Russellville, Ky. — General patronage. THE ANCIENT HIGHWAY: Jack Holt— A good timberland story that pleased well. It’s too bad Jack must stoop to act for a livelihood, judging from his bored and upstage expression throughout his recent pictures. Seven reels. — Pace & Bouma, Rialto theatre, Pocahontas, la. — Mixed class patronage. SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPATE: Douglas MacLean — One of the nicest bits of entertainment we have had the pleasure of showing to our Sunday