Exhibitors Herald (1927)

April 23, 1927 EXHIBITORS HERALD 31 Exhibitor Leaders Attend Minneapolis Meeting May 3 to 5 ( special to the Herald) MINNEAPOLIS, April 19.— Exhibitor leaders from \arious parts of the United States will take part in the annual convention of the M. P. T. O. of the Northw^est. The final decision of the officers is to have the meeting in St. Paul, and the place will be the Saint Paul Hotel Roof Garden. The dates are May 3, 4, and 5. W. A. Steffes, president, is looking forward to a particularly interesting meeting, with constructive achievements preliminary to the national meeting at Columbus in June. Rival Sues Winner of Theatre Queen Contest (Special to the Herata) ALBANY, April 19. — An interesting lawsuit has started as the result of a recent popularity and beauty contest held in the American theatre in Troy, N. Y., one of the Stanley chain. Edith Umberwurst, 18, is the defendant in a $735 action brought by Irma MacNaughton, a 16 year old Troy high school girl, as the direct result of a recent decision declaring Miss Llmberwurst the Queen of Troy. The theatre is managed by Louis Saperstein. Merchandise to the value of $735, as well as the title, had been offered by the merchants to the winner. Claim is made that Miss Umberwurst is not a resident of Troy, and that Miss MacNaughton was discriminated against in a number of ways, among which was one that she was not permitted to state on slides of her picture that she was a high school girl. Miss MacNaughton’s father is the editor of one of Troy’s daily papers. Audience Walks Out in Order During Fire (Special to the Herald) OKLAHOMA CITY, April 19.— Members of the audience of the Empress theatre at El Reno walked out with no disorder when the house was slightly damaged by fire. H. G. McNeese has taken over the theatres at San Diego and Rung, Texas; Joe Hagan will build a house at New Lima, Okla. ; remodeling is being done at the Macco in Magnolia, Ark., Empress at Hollis, Okla., and Lyric and Gem at Brownwood, Texas. The Vernon theatre has opened at Vernon, Texas. Canadian Provinces Win Ticket Tax Reductions (Special to the Herald) OTTAWA, April 19. — Several provinces are benefiting from reductions of the ticket tax. In British Columbia the assessment has been cut to 5 per cent, with no tax on tickets up to 15 cents. Abolishment of the tax on tickets up to 25 cents in Toronto goes into effect July 1. The same has been accomplished in Manitoba. Quebec has expanded its 10 per cent assessment to include church entertainments and free tickets. Von Tilzer Manager ( special to the Herald ) PHILADELPHIA, April 19.— J. Von Tilzer, managing the United Artists exchange at Buffalo, has been appointed manager here, succeeding John Hennessey, resigned. “King of Kings” W orld Opening Wins Distinguished Audience Cecil B. DeMille’s Story of Life of Jesus Reproduces Great Historical Locales — Chorus of 40 Sings in Riesenfeld’s Musical Setting (Special to the Herald) NEW YORK, April 19. — Before one of the most distinguished audiences that ever attended the first performance of a motion picture, Cecil B. DeMille’s personally directed production of “The King of Kings” had its world premiere at the Gaiety theatre. New York City, tonight. Chorus of Forty Voices Sings This is the story of the life of Jesus, written by Jeanie Macpherson, on which Mr. DeMille has been engaged for a year. There is a special musical score arranged by Dr. Hugo Riesenfeld, who had complete charge of the presentation. The musical setting also included the services of a chorus of forty voices. The staging is the work of John Wenger, who devised a symbolic motive introductory to the film. The picture is offered as a dramatic entertainment, keeping steadily in view the fact that the story of the Life and Passion has enlisted the efforts of dramaturgy in many generations and evoked the sympathy and love of the spectators from the era of early medieval Passion Plays down to the present. The greatest of dramatic themes, it has been put in pictures by Mr. DeMille in the thought of reverence. Historical Locales Reproduced That thought transcends both the vast material milieu and the individualities of the players. Here are reproduced the great historical locales of Galilee, the Temple, the Halls of Caiaphas and Pilate, the Hill of Calvary, and the Easter garden so familiar to readers of the narrative or those who have traveled in the Holy Land. Eighteen principals of stellar excellence were required; there were no less than 530 named roles and 4,228 supernumeraries. Among the noteworthy principals may be mentioned H. B. Warner, Dorothy Gumming, Ernest Torrence, Joseph Schildkraut, Jacqueline What Price Grziss? $3,000: Vera Gordon ( special to the Herald) LOS ANGELES, April 19.— So great is Vera Gordon’s attachment for her lawn that when Edward Klein, San Francisco businessman, drove his auto across it she sued him for $3,000. Let’s see: how much would that be per blade? Logan, Rudolph Schildkraut, Sam De Grasse, Theodore Kosloff, Victor Varconi, Majel Coleman, Montagu Love, George Siegmann, William Boyd, Robert Edeson and Julia Faye. Unusual interest was attached to this premiere not only because of the magnitude of the photoplay but because this showing marked the first time in recent years when a special motion picture production was shown in New York before its Hollywood premiere. (Pictures on Page 57) Sex Plays Prohibited By Evanston Ordinance Socalled sex plays are barred at Evanston, Chicago suburb, under a new ordinance passed to strengthen censorship. The measure also prohibits drinking or gambling scenes in either screen or stage plays and bars the featuring of a criminal or drug addict as the hero. United Artists Files to Exhibit ** Night of Love** United Artists representatives have filed a mandamus petition to make the Chicago censors permit the exhibition of “A Night of Love,” which the board had ordered barred. The representatives offered to show the film before a jury. Gaston Leroux Dies (Special to the Herald) NICE, FRANCE, April 19. — Gaston Leroux, writer of detective stories, is dead. Theatre Broadcasting Barred from 7 to 11 P.M. By Michigan M. P. T. O. (Special to the Herald) DETROIT, April 19. — Broadcasting of motion picture theatre programs between 7 and 11 p. m. is prohibited among members of the M. P. T. O. of Michigan. At the last regular meeting of the board of directors /tl was decided the use of the radio during those hours was simply a means of keeping people away from the theatres. Members who had made use of, broadcasting previously to the adoption of this new resolution employed it as a means of advertising their advance programs. “There may be some merit to this type of advertising,’’ said H. M. Richey, business manager, “but the theatre owner who broadcasts his program during show hours is certainly pursuing a policy that will eventually hurt him. At first he may be the only one doing it and may get some advertising benefits, but if other theatres see or feel that he is, many more are going to start it with the result that it will harm rather than help attendance.’’