Exhibitors Herald World (Jul-Sep 1929)

126 EXHIBITORS H ERALD -WORLD July 6, 1929 PAINTED POST: Tom Mix— June 8. The usual Western that drew a fair house and pleased. Six reels. — Paul B. Hoffman, Legion theatre, Holyrood, Kan. — Small town patronage. SHAME: John Gilbert (Reissue) — A reissue that is worth showing. Seven reels. — Sammie Jackson, Flomaton theatre, Flomaton, Ala. — General patronage. SKY HIGH : Tom Mix (Reissue)— June 13. Good picture. Our second Tom Mix. Drew very well. Five reels. — Mrs. Hulda J. Green, Gem theatre, Greenriver, Utah. — General patronage. FOUR SONS: Special cast— June 9-10. Played this rather old to my sorrow. Took in film rental only. My patrons are fed up on anything which is even flavored with war. Some 6aid it was too sad. — Mrs. H. H. Chase, Diamond theatre. Lake Odessa, Mich. — Small town patronage. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer THE BROADWAY MELODY (AT) : Page-KingLove. Week of May 27. This one broke all house records up to the time it was played, but "Show Boat" showed here two weeks later and that makes this one take second place. "The Broadway Melody" is a well made picture, with a fast moving story that goes to make box office history. Ifs wonderful and seems to be clicking everywhere. Ten reels. — Helen Ulman, Opera House, Salisbury, Md. — General patronage. BROTHERLY LOVE: Dane-Arthur— June 10. A good comedy but not as good a6 some of the DaneArthur pictures. Yet this is the kind of picture they like. — Guy B. Amis, Princess theatre, Lexington, Tenn. — Small town patronage. BROTHERLY LOVE: Dane-Arthur— June 11-12. Oh. Boys! Listen to this: If you haven't shown this picture, get it and then step on the gas. Tell everybody about it and then some. Guaranteed to be a rib tickler and money back if they didn't laugh until their sides ached, and believe me you will not have to give any money back. If the producers had made pictures like this for the past five years, the business would not be in the shape it is in, but they have been making such trash without any entertaining qualities and trying to stuff it down the public's throat until they have driven the patrons away. All hail Dane and Arthur for making us this picture. Come on, boys, with some more as good as this and we will claim you as brothers, indeed. And also we will remember you in our prayers. Six reels. — W. J. Shoup, DeLuxe theatre, Spearville, Kan. — Small town patronage. DESERT NIGHTS: John Gilbert— Started off well and ended up well, but the desert scenes were so long drawn out they got on lots of folks' nerves. Drew just fair. Eight reels. — A. N. Miles, Eminence theatre. Eminence. Ky. — Small town patronage. CHINA BOUND: Dane-Arthur— 52%. June 15 Good enough picture, but since receipts were $7 less than expenses, we aren't going to do any cheering. It isn't competition that beats us on Saturday nights. It's just apathy toward the old cinema. These hayshakers would rather loll around on the street and spit tobacco juice. Saturday night used to be good for $40 to $50 a few years ago, but now we feel lucky if we top $20.' Bah! Seven reels. — O. B. Wolfe, Screenland theatre, Nevada, O. — Small town patronage. ALL AT SEA: Dane-Arthur— June 14-15. A comedy of navy life that is amusing, though there are some titles in it that could have been left out. Six reel3. — S. B. Kennedy, Central theatre, Selkirk, Man., Canada. — General patronage. UNDER THE BLACK EAGLE: Flash— June 7-8. A very good dog picture, showing the training and service of the famous war dogs. The war scenes, are very amateurish. Seven reels. — S. B. Kennedy, Central theatre. Selkirk, Man., Canada. — General patronage. THE DUKE STEPS OUT: William Haines— June 14-15. Now you are coming down our street. We would run continuous 24 hours a day and six days (won't let us run on Sundays) per week if we could get pictures like this to run. It's all they tell you it is and then some. Say anything good about it you wish and you will not regret it. The only regrets I have is that Haines does not make about one per month, instead of about four per year. Metro sent us a sound print, but that was all right too. Eight reels. — G. H. Wright, Jr., Star theatre. Wendell, N. C— Small town patronage. OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS: Joan CrawfordJune 16-17. Pretty good program picture of modern youth. From the reports I thought this one was going to be 6o hot that I would have to put in an asbestos screen. According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal on the very day I ran this, it appeared that Metro was going to release this in that dear Paree as "The Soiled Virgin" or something like that, and the censors there were up in arms. Heh ! Heh! Press agent bulloney. When those dear Boulevardiers see this they will fall dead asleep until such time as Gaston awakens them for their cognacs. Nine reels. — William E. Tragsdorf, Trags theatre, Neillsville, Wis. — General patronage. CIRCUS ROOKIES: Dane-Arthur— June 20-21. Good hokum. Everybody has a good laugh. Of course, although the same Dane and Arthur are in this one who were in "Rookies," this one has nothing in common with their other attempt. Just advertise a circus with a lot of laffs and you will please the cash customers. Don't ever be so foolish as to pay any attention to the Metro press books or Metro's blah on the Herald-World cover, for if you do your regular patrons will think you are odd after they have seen your funny attempts at advertising. Seven reels. — William E. Tragsdorf, Trags theatre. Neillsville, Wis. — General patronage. THE CAMERAMAN: Buster Keaton— June 17. Nothing to brag about, but it's good at that. — Bill Leonard, Mystic theatre. Cedar Vale, Kan. — Mixed patronage. EXCESS BAGGAGE: William Haines— June 10. Good picture. Haines is well liked here. — Bill Leonard, Mystic theatre. Cedar Vale, Kan. — Mixed patronage. WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS: Monte Blue — June 16-17. Film awfully dark. Some walkouts. No one commented on it as they walked out, but just out of curiosity to see if they thought as I did, I asked several of the regular patrons their opinion, and they said they did not care much about it. There are few silents nowadays they do care about. — Mrs. H. H. Chase, Diamond theatre, Lake Odessa, Mich. — Small town patronage. LOVE: Garbo-Gilbert— June 21-22. It may be a special, but if so, we failed to recognize it. The photography in many places was very poor. The story was not so good. The film had been spliced many times, and the person who did it certainly needed practice, for it kept the projectionist busy framing. M G M's pictures are losing out here. Eight reels. — E. B. Hedge & Son, Whiting theatre. Whiting, Kan. — Small town patronage. THE WHITE SISTER: Lillian Gish— Good picture but rather long. Drew the largest crowd in several weeks. — W. W. Graves, Graves theatre, St. Paul, Kan. — Small town partonage. MORGAN'S LAST RAID: Tim McCoy— June 14-15. Good program picture made from a story of the Civil war. Did not draw especially well. Poor title. Six reels.— P. G. Estee, S. T. theatre, Parker, S. D.— Small town patronage. SHOW PEOPLE: William Haines— June 9. Not as good as some of Haines' but a fairly entertaining, clean comedy-drama. Marion Davies opposite Haines pleased also. Six reels. — P. G. Estee, S. T. theatre. Parker, S. D. — Small town patronage. MASKS OF THE DEVIL: John Gilbert— This is really a wonderful entertainment, and as we had just installed our talking equipment we, of course, had a very good attendance. We used a short subject on our Walt's talking picture unit, wihch is manufactured at Kenesaw, Neb., for $65 for each projector, and it certainly did the work fine. — Clark & Son, Moon theatre. Holstein, Neb. — General patronage. Paramount STAIRS OF SAND: Wallace Beery— June 23. Average Western with glamour of Zane Grey's name thrown in for pulling power. Six reels. — P. G. Estee, S. T. theatre, Parker, S. D. — Small town patronage. INNOCENTS OF PARIS:: Maurice ChevalierJune 16. A picture that pleased, even though it did not seem to us that it had been made in the first place with any idea of having a silent version. Had we screened this first, we would have put on a male 6inger for the theme song, "Louise." Seven reels.— P. G. Estee. S. T. theatre. Parker, S. D. — Small town patronage. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET: George Bancroft — 5%. June 19-20. This kind of a picture might go with some towns but not here. It's a story of the stock exchange on Wall street. Bancroft means less than nothing at our box office. Eight reels. — W. J. Shoup, DeLuxe theatre, Spearville, Kan. — Small town patronage. PARTNERS IN CRIME: Beery-Hatton— This is a dandy. Your first night may not be much, but put in some extra seats for the next night. — Bill Leonard, Mystic theatre. Cedar Vale, Kan. — Mixed patronage. ABIE'S IRISH ROSE: Buddy Rogers— June 18. Mighty fine picture, even if we did have to pay Paramount for the privilege of screening it. Be sure and run this one if you can buy it so you can make at least a little profit. — Newman & Gordy, Ne-Go theatre, Toronto. Kan. — General patronage. ABIE'S IRISH ROSE: Special cast— One of the best we ever played, but Paramount fixes it so you can't make any money. Pleased everybody. — O. F. Craig, Royal theatre, Newark, Ark. — Small town patronage. THE WILD PARTY: Clara Bow— 90%. June 16. Confidently expected to top the record set by "Three Week Ends," if we got any decent break at all. Well, we got the breaks all right, both in weather and competition, but finished several dollars shy of the record. So guess we must resign ourselves to less and less business until the fade-out. The picture seemed to take pretty well, although it was really not up to expectations. But the print we got was a crime, nothing less. Film was good and we had no trouble at all with it. but the print was from a sound negative and so did not fit our screen. This would have been bad enough with good photography, but since the first two and a half reels were so dark, the action could hardly be followed. It was just about catastrophic for us. Even the cast and titles could hardly be read from back in the house. Took lots of kicks. Just another shove down the grade. Seven reels. — O. B. Wolfe, Screenland theatre, Nevada, O. — Small town patronage. JUST MARRIED: June 15. A good comedy. Enjoyed by all. — E. H. Ha skin, Bank theatre, Lenexa, Kan. — Small town patronage. THE MATING CALL: Thomas Meighan— 53%. Good picture which did average good business on bargain night. Most any picture with Evelyn Brent suits me, and the audience seemed to like this one as well. Fairly good print, except some pretty dark photography. Seven reels. — O. B. Wolfe, Screenland theatre, Nevada, O. — Small town patronage. KIT CARSON: Fred Thomson— June 12-13. An exceptional Western that is sure to please. It la regrettable that we shall see Fred no more. His pictures were always clean and entertaining. — S. B. Kennedy, Central theatre, Selkirk, Man., Canada. — General patronage. BEHIND THE GERMAN LINES: Special castJune 15. This is about the worst frost I've run. Customers got up and left all through the show. Can't see why they wish these foreign plays on U3. Twelve reels. — G. W. Rothrock, Campbell theatre, Macksville, Kan. — General patronage. THE NIGHT CLUB (AT): Special cast— May 13-14-15. Paramount intended this for a feature but cut it down to be shown jointly with "Pusher In the Face." We think they would have done well never to have sold it at all. Full of vulgar stuff that the average small town exhibitor doesn't want on the screen. We have Pacent equipment and had trouble with the discs on this one — the first and only serious trouble we have had. Five reels. — Helen Ulman. Opera House, Salisbury, Md. — General patronage. SAWDUST PARADISE: Esther Ralston— June 1. One of the best and cleanest pictures we have shown. Everyone liked it. — E. H. Haskin, Bank theatre, Lenexa, Kan. — Small town patronage. THE WATER HOLE: Jack Holt— May 25. Good picture with Jack Holt at his best. — E. H. Haskin, Bank theatre, Lenexa, Kan. — Small town patronage. MORAN OF THE MARINES: Richard Dix— Terrible. It's a crime to put a star like Dix in a lousy picture like this one. — Bill Leonard, Mystic theatre. Cedar Vale, Kan. — Mixed patronage. BEGGARS OF LIFE: Special cast— June 10-11. Good. Wallace Beery is popular here, and this was a little different from the usual Beery kind. Print in excellent condition. Eight reels. — G. H. Wright, Jr., Star theatre, Wendell, N. C. — Small town patronage. LEGION OF THE CONDEMNED: Cooper-Wray— June 13-14. Ran this two days for Legion benefit. It was a good picture and pleased all classes. This is not a new picture but a good one. — Page & Goetz, Gem theatre, Canton, Mo. — Small town patronage. THE BIG KILLING: Beery-Hatton— Jane 19. This is a very good comedy picture. It was played as a family night picture and it went over big. In spite of the adverse weather, the house was filled to capacity. You can make no mistake in booking this. Six reels. — E. B. Hedge & Son. Whiting theatre. Whiting, Kan. — Small town patronage. THE WOLF SONG: Gary Cooper— June 19-20. Thought it rather rough in spots, but it drew and -seemed to please both sexes. Seven reels. — P. G. Estee, S. T. theatre, Parker, S. D. — Small town patronage. LOOP THE LOOP: Special cast— 80%. Rotten! Anyone who has this picture booked had better change the booking or they will get bawled out the same as we did. This is a picture by Ufa, but wasn't worth a K. M. A. The only thing that 6aved our lives was that we used a Pathe short talking subject, which was certainly grand. — Walter C. Schultz. Walt's theatre, Kenesaw, Neb. — General patronage. RUNNING WILD: W. C. Fields— May 29. Silly, but a pretty good entertainment at that. Lots of laughs for the people. Seven reels. — Henry Amusement Company, Henry, Neb. — Small town patronage.