Exhibitor's Trade Review (Mar-May 1922)

1546 EXHIBITORS TRADE REVIEW Volume 11. Number 22 Chelsea Corporation to Start Production Group of Well Known Players Signed to Appear in Pictures Made by New Corporation In a statement issued this week, Bernard Levey, President of the Chelsea Pictures Corporation, announced that his concern will start production immediately on a series of twenty pictures to be released next season. Mr. Levey also announced that he had engaged George Irving, E. H. Griffith, Alan Crosland, George Terwilliger and Charles Davenport to direct these pictures. Three of the company's six producing units will sail in the near future for Europe. George Irving, as director of a company headed by Anna Q. Nilsson and Norman Kerry; E. H. Griffith, directing a company headed by Ann Forest and Matt Moore, and Alan Crosland, director of a Lon Chaney unit, will produce on the other side. A unit headed by George Terwilliger, with Doris Kenyon and Edmund Lowe, will produce in New York. The final unit, headed by Charles Davenport as director, will star Irene Boyle and Richard C. Travers in a series of Holman Day outdoor stories. The stories to be produced by the abovementioned units include the names of some of the best known' authors in the Albert E. Smith, President of Vitagraph, arrived in New York from California early this week after two of the busiest months of his life at the Vitagraph studios in Hollywood. Although the year 1922 is still young, this is already Mr. Smith's second transcontinental trip, and before the year is out the number of his ocean-to-ocean journeys will probably be about five times that large. President Smith's duties are pretty evenly di voided between the production end of the business in California and the administrative end in Brooklyn. President Smith's two months on the West Coast are among the most important in the history of Vitagraph. They saw the completion of Vitagraph's latest special production. My Wild Irish Rose, adapted from the famous stage success. The Shmighraun, by Dion Boucicault. The new Stanley— a model theatre The New $2,000,000 Stanley Theatre in Philadelphia is one of a hundred picture theatres that we have planned In every feature. It is not only beautiful, but also practical. We specialize in the planning ot modern picture theatres. All Structural details are worked out by our Structural EJngineerlng Department. Our experience Is your Insurance. Hoffman-Henon Co., Inc. Architects and Engineers Finance Building Philadelphia, Pa. 7 literary world. The Indiscretion of Letty Shaiv, by E. Phillips Oppenheim; The Countess Weschi's Jewels, by Charles Belmont Davis, and All's Well, by Maud Ballington Booth, will be produced by George Irving. The Marriage Contract, by Melville D. Post; The Little Lady From Servia, by E. Phillips Oppenheim, and Truxton King, by George Barr McCutcheon, will be directed by E. H. Griffith. Victor Hugo's immortal masterpiece, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, will be directed by Alan Crosland. Lon Chaney will play the part of the hunchback. No finer actor than Mr. Chaney could have been picked for this important role. Mr. Chaney will also star in Frank L. Packard's Where's Haggerty; The Thug, by Frank R. Beechdolt, and The Scar, by M. F. Goron. The Girl with the Lantern, by Elliott Flower; The Surrender, by Oscar Graeve; The Third Generation, by Charles Belmont Davis, and His Girl, by Greorge Hibbard, will be entrusted to George Terwilliger for production. Doris Kenyon and Edmund Lowe will co-star in Terwilliger's pictures. The produ tion was put on by Director David Smith, who has Black Beauty, Floiver of the North and The Little Miroister to his credit. Pat O'Malley, Helen Howard, Maude Emery and Pauline Starke head the cast. President Smith was at the Hollywood studios during most of the actual filming of My Wild Irish Rose. He gave his personal attention to the picture. President Smith also supervised the preliminary cutting and titling, which was done at the West Coast studios. My Wild Irish Rose is scheduled as a May release. The Vitagraph studios were working full blast during Mr. Smith's sojourn in California. Earle Williams finished his latest picture. Restless Souls, a delightful comedy-drama adapted from Richard Harding Davis' well-known story. Playing Dead. Mr. Williams is now at work on another production, the title of which is soon to be announced. Alice Calhoun completed one picture and immediately began another, the working title of which is Blue Blood. William Duncan finished The Silent Voiv, a story of the Northwest Mounted Police, in which the star assumed a dual role. Larry Semon has been hard at work on his latest funmaker known under the working title of The Substitute. President Smith expressed himself as entirely satisfied with the progress all the companies were making at the Vitagraph studios. Things are going ahead at full speed on all sides. Mr. Smith will spend the next few weeks in the East supervising Vitagraph affairs in New York. California Critic Calls New Lloyd Comedy His Best "Grandma's Boy is in my opinion the greatest comedy Harold Lloyd has ever produced, and it is safe to say that when it is released this picture will be hailed by public and critics alike as one of the greatest comedies ever made." This, the latest word from the coast, is the substance of the first criticism written on Harold Lloyd's next Associated Exhibitors' feature. It is the verdict of Verne C. Wickham, of the Long Beach, Cal., Press. It was expressed after an evening at Hoyt's Theatre, Long Beach, where Grandma's Boy was accorded probably the greatest reception ever given a picture there. In the April 1 issue of the Long Beach Press, Wickham wrote: "Harold Lloyd's latest comedy, Grandma's Boy, was pre-viewed last night at Hoyt's Theatre before a crowded house. This was its first showing before an audience. Lloyd was 'trying it on the dog' last night and it was approved. "For fully ten minutes at the conclusion of the showing the house was in an uproar, and the first vaudeville act had to make several attempts before it could start its performance. "Grandvui's Boy is a five-reel comedy. The plot itself has some fine dramatic possibilities. We remember Charles Ray's first great success, Tlie Coward, in which he played a role somewhat like Lloyd's in his new success — 'cept, oh how different. "Ch'andTna's Boy is in my opinion the greatest comedy Harold Lloyd has ever produced." Betty Blythe Makes Personal Appearance in Baltimore Betty Blythe returned last Monday from Baltimore, where she made personal appearances in conjunction with the presentation of The Queen of Sheba, at the Wizard Theatre. Reports indicate that the week's stay was most successful. In addition to the hearty reception given Miss Blythe at the theatre, she was tendered many luncheons and dinners, one in particular by the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce. The Rotary Club and the Woman's Political League also had Miss Blythe as their guest. Radio ;:^~;;-:-M/vr P . o • 1^ UJ a r -your House Organneeds a daily EXTRA NewYorf -use RADIOS ^■~'<^ RadiOMai SO ttADIO MAT SLIDES $2. Accept no Subs ti tuts. S— " • For Sale by all Leading Dealers Vitagraph Head Back from the Coast Reports Company^ s Studios Working Full Blast — Will Divide Time Between California and New York LET US REDUCE YOUR INSURANCE COSTS 25 TO 40% ! Theatre owners may now be protected in our Million Dollar Compzmies. FIRE— AUTOMOBILE— LIABILITY— PLATE GLASS INSURANCE JAMES S. KEMPER & COMPANY 114 North Broad St, Philadelphia. Pa. Branch Offices in Principal Cities. 4624 Sheridan Road, Chicaco, lU.