Exhibitors Herald World (Jan-Mar 1929)

62 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD January 19, 1929 Gotham THE SATIN WOMAN: Mrs. Wallace Reid— 30%. November 4-5-6. Just another reason why so many harried exhibitors are clamoring for entrance into the nut house. Why we ever played this on Sunday is beyond me. We booked it as a special, paid a special price, told the public what a knockout it was, and went into hiding to escape mob violence! Mrs. Reid's name drew them in the first day, and then a lot of bum acting by a bum cast and a punk print and haywire photography scared them out. Don't be fooled, boys I Seven reels. — John E. Wallan, Orpheus theatre, Klamath Falls, Ore. — General patronage. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer DREAM OF LOVE: Joan Crawford-— Just a good program picture. Some of the large settings very good. — Edwards & Case, Opera House, Paw Paw, 111. — General patronage. OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS: Joan Crawford— I was a little afraid of this and the name beat me out of some money, as it did not draw. Nevertheless, I liked it, my wife liked it, my daughters and sons liked it, and everyone who saw it, also. Joan had fine support and I believe I will perhaps run it again later as roads were bad, lots of flu and several have told me they wanted to see it who did not. — H. B. Wilson, Palace theatre, Golden City, Mo. — Small town patronage. OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS: Special cast— 80%. December 30-31. They haven't made pictures that satisfy our audience better than this picture yet. I call it one of the best we ever played. The star and whole cast fine, every one satisfied. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. — General patronage. THE CAMERAMAN: Buster Keaton— December 28. Mighty good, and did good business with it, and they certainly did laugh at his antics the first night. Second night a larger crowd and hardly a laugh. Just a difference in people, as there was a difference in the kind of picture. Funny, sure, but the best of it all was there was very little love making in it and just one little kiss — and that was deserving and lasted only a fraction of a second. Public will like this, I am sure and exhibitors — all of them — surely will, for the reasons that I did. — H. B. Wilson, Palace theatre, Golden City, Mo. — Small town patronage. THE CAMERAMAN: Buster Keaton— 60%. December 28-29. Buster takes well here, but I did not know it was so strong — did not put out any extra advertising. If you are strong on Buster, bill it heavy, tie your lobby doors back and start the show. Had more laughs in general on this show than I have had for some time — comedy all the way through. Not silly but clever. Eight reels. — E. P. Hosack, Strand theatre, Pella, la. — General patronage. THE CAMERAMAN: Buster Keaton — January 4-5. This feature comedy gave satisfaction to 95 per cent of our trade, even the women proclaiming it a fine comedy. — John A. Schwalm, Rialto theatre, Hamilton. O. — General patronage. BABY MINE: DaneArthur— I played this picture here in August, 1928, and liked it so well I ordered it again and played it December 29th and cleaned up. It's the best picture of its kind I ever saw. Some exhibitors have knocked on this picture but in a country town it's a big hit. — A. W. Pruett, Robert Lee, Texas. — Small town patronage. EXCESS BAGGAGE: William Haines— This was a good program feature and well liked by all. — Support was also good. — H. B. Wilson, Palace theatre. Golden City, Mo. — Small town patronage. EXCESS BAGGAGE: William Haines— 55%. December 25. Not up to Haines' standard, although a good picture. Bill shows that he can really act. Josephine Dunn good as Haines' wife. Seven reels. — Weber and Haas, LaCrosse theatre, La Crosse, Kan. — General patronage. EXCESS BAGGAGE: William Haines— December 22. Good Haines picture, but there was an awful lot of it cut out, according to the cuesheet, which makes it hard to follow correctly with the Movietone. Eight reels. — Robert K. Yancey, Bonny theatre, Mansfield, Mo. — General patronage. THE WIND: Lillian Gish— No entertainment to this one. Many told me it was rotten and I agree with them. Lillian Gish too good an actress and too good-looking to be cast in a picture with a bunch of rough necks. Eight reels. — J. B. Weddle, Walnut theatre, Lawrenceburg, Ind. — General patronage. CIRCUS ROOKIES: Dane-Arthur— December 15. Good and funny. Pleased our folks, I guess. They all laughed, anyway. Good print and photography. Six reels. — Robert K. Yancey, Bonny theatre, Mansfield, Mo. — General patronage. THE WHITE SISTER: Lillian Gish— December 28-29. This is a very fine picture. It drew better than the usual special and pleased. Had lots of compliments. Good print and photography. Eleven reels.— Robert K. Yancey, Bonny theatre, Mansfield, Mo. — General patronage. Contest Leader CLARA BOW Paramount THE CARDBOARD LOVER: Marion Davies— 20%. December 22. Good comedy, good photography but a little too long in footage. Eight reels. — O. A. Fosse, Community theatre, Ridgeway, la. — Small town patronage. ANNIE LAURIE: Lillian Gish— 65%. December 25-26. Metro wouldn't cancel this one, so we played it and did a great business with it. Which goes to show it isn't always the hot ones that make the money. Pleased about 50-50. — E. C. Arehart, Auditorium theatre, Laurel, Neb. — General patronage. UNDER THE BLACK EAGLE: Flash— Seemed to please. Six reels. — Giacoma Brothers, Crystal theatre, Tombstone, Ariz. — General patronage. SPIES: Foreign cast — December 25. Nine reels of celluloid wasted. A bunch of junk. Many walked out. Christmas night is always my best night of the year, and I did not make expenses. About the poorest picture I ever ran. Keep your hands off this one. M G M pictures are too much drawn out. Too many reels. I don't think their 1928 pictures are nearly as good as their 1927, and I saw them all. Nine reels. — George J. Ebeswine, Auditorium theatre, Marblehead, O. — General patronage. THE BUSH RANGER: Tim McCoy— 30%. December 30. A good Western, better than many of McCoy's. Seemed to please all classes. Seven reels. — George J. Ebeswine, Auditorium theatre. Marblehead, O. — General patronage. NO WAY AT ALL! II. B. Grice of the Aikin Mills theatre in Bath, S. C, sent in the vote of his family for the "My Favorite Players" contest this week, but left out his own. And this is his reason: "In justice to several stars, I shall not vote for anyone as my favorite. I especially like Colleen Moore, Clara Bow, Irene Rich, Alice Joyce, each in her own field, and of course, many others. You shouldn't be so cruel to exhibitors and actors as to stage such a contest. I'm agin it! There's a host of male stars, too, but I'm hopelessly lost in just ONE choice." Now, say we, that's no way atoll Surely there MUST be SOMEONE Brother Grice likes better tlian the rest, just a little bit anyway. And if not, why not make believe there is? Anyway, we're glad Brother Grice's strict impartiality did not extend to the members of his family. THE BABY CYCLONE: Lew Cody— 25%. December 16. Fairly good. Nothing to brag about. Cody does not draw for me. Seven reels. — George J. Ebeswine, Auditorium theatre, Marblehead, O. — General patronage. SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT: Flash— 58%. December 29. Better than the usual dog pictures. Had several comments on cleverness and beauty of the dog, and just a few on the picture. Consequently, the dog must be the 6how. Seven reels. — Weber and Haas, LaCrosse theatre, LaCrosse, Kan. — General patronage. MORGAN'S LAST RAID: Tim McCoy— 25%. December 23. A fairly good Western and seemed to please. McCoy's pictures are all fairly good. Seven reels. — George J. Ebeswine, Auditorium theatre, Marblehead, O. — General patronage. TELLING THE WORLD: William Haines— Consider this the best Haines we have shown so far. Comedy and a good story with it. Haines really does something worth while. Clean picture and film good. Seven reels. — John Cosner, Sun theatre, Sargent, Neb. — Small town patronage. UNDER THE BLACK EAGLE: Flash— December 8. — Good dog picture, but we are getting terribly tired of the war stories. Good print and photography, but rotten film. It broke so much at the end, had to quit it without seeing the finish. Seven reels. — Robert K. Yancey, Bonny theatre, Mansfield, Mo. — General patronage. RIDERS OF THE DARK: Tim McCoy— 38%. December 21-22. A roughneck Western. Tim McCoy knocks out about 50 without even getting a scratch. Too much hokum and not enough entertainment. Print and photography fair. Six reels. — P. G. Held, Strand theatre, Griswold, la. — General patronage. SHOW PEOPLE: Special cast— 30%. December 30-31. We expected to lose money on this, the way business has been here, and after reading the Herald reports. The picture is all right, but the big noise made about it and the rental charged are all wrong. We can't put over just a good program picture as a special at advanced prices, which we had to charge. However, we only lost about half as much on this as on Universal's "Foreign Legion," and satisfied our patrons better, so that's the silver lining, I guess. Were rather surprised at getting a poor print after paying the golden price we did. Parts of it were quite rainy and scratched, and it showed much evidence of having been mishandled by someone. Some good photography, but also 6ome that was quite dark. The first reel, particularly the title, etc., was very bad, and made a poor introduction to the picture. Nine reels. — Wolfe & Williams, Screenland theatre, Nevada, O. Paramount AVALANCHE: Jack Holt— Another Zane Grey story. Good western but as little action as we ever saw with Holt. Six reels. — Edwards & Case, Opera House, Paw Paw, 111. — General patronage. AVALANCHE: Jack Holt— 50%. December 28-29. Little different than an ordinary Western. — H. V. Smoots, Vine theatre, Mt. Vernon, O. — General patronage. THREE WEEK ENDS: Clara Bow— December 2021. Patrons said good. Nary a walkout. Give us some more, Clara. — Carl Veseth, Palace theatre, Malta, Mont. — General patronage. THE MATING CALL: Thomas Meighan— December 23. Another small house due to the flu, but a good picture that received many favorable comments. — Paul B. Hoffman, Legion theatre, Holyrood, Kan. — Small town patronage. DOCKS OF NEW YORK: George Bancroft— December 29. Well, Bancroft is good, but I can't make the people in this town believe it. I showed it on Saturday to my regular Saturday crowd but it did not do extra business as I expected it to, but that's not the fault of the picture. This one is wild and woolly, has plenty of action and should go over any place. Eight reels. — C. M. Albrecht, Rialto theatre, Bushnell, 111. — General patronage. WARMING UP: Richard Dix— Dandy baseball story that will stand a small raise in price. — Roy Culley, Pastime theatre. Medicine Lodge, Kan. — Small town patronage. WARMING UP: Richard Dix— January 1. Good baseball story. Some walkouts. Not the kind of picture for Dix, too common. — Carl Veseth, Palace theatre, Malta, Mont. — General patronage. FORGOTTEN FACES: Clive Brook— December 30 31. If a person cannot enjoy the acting of Clive Brook in this one, he is hard to please. Nothing but good comments on this one from the patrons. Had a good house first night, but business off on the second due to a blizzard the first of the year. Eight reels. — W. H. Silver & Son, Grand theatre, Princeton, Mo. — Small town patronage. FORGOTTEN FACES: Clive Brook— Very good. Our patrons enjoyed it.— J. L. Seiter, Selma theatre, Selma, Cal. — General patronage.