Exhibitors Herald World (Jul-Sep 1930)

TP? August 9, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD -WORLD 57 town. Alice Joyce is much improved in the talkies. The Arizona Kid — here's a swell Western. Much better in my opinion than "In Old Arizona." Baxter played this part to perfection. Some grand scenery, hard riding and quick gun-play round out a swell evening for any small town crowd. And here are some shorts. Radio Kisses, the first comedy with a color sequence. Can't say that it helps it any. Fair Sennett comedy. Stamina, an excellent "Sportlight." Social Sinners, my patrons laughed more at this than at any comedy we have run in talkies. Reason? It has some action. Tarsan the Tiger, a highly touted serial that was not very exciting for a starter. In the Sliarkey-Schmeling Fight the producers extracted any punch it might have had by making the actual fight silent. The foul blow is quite evident. — S. B. Kennedy, Central theatre, Selkirk, Man., Canada. Make 'Em Clean, Says Silver JUST PLAYED LILIES OF THE FIELD and this talking picture did not satisfy here. If the story is good, our patrons did not appreciate it. The star was fine and some of the cast were, too. But too much booze and rough stuff. We have played better pictures of this star. As entertainment, it looks to me as though a lot of good talent had been wasted. Light of the Western Stars, however, was a mighty good, entertaining picture. Good story and well acted. Gave good satisfaction. Hells Harbor, is a strong picture — 16 buckets of blood, etc. The star and cast fine. Story interesting but they don't all. like these terror pictures. Satisfaction about 50 per cent after the first show. A bad box office flop. The biggest pictures don't always give the best satisfaction in the talkies, we find. Good, clean program pictures are what satisfies. Here are two good comedies, also. Let Me Explain, a good talking comedy with an allstar cast. Purely Circumstantial, a very good com.edy. Talking very good. — Bert Silver, Silver Family theatre, Greenville, Mich. Lots of Action, He Says HERE ARE SOME REPORTS ON Pictures. The Golden Calf, light but entertainderful all-talking picture with lots of action in it. Best Rin-Tin-Tin picture we have ever shown. "Under a Texas Moon" is the theme song. Boost the picture, it will please. Sunny Skies, a nice picture for small towns. Lots of comedy in this by Benny Rubin and this fellow sure can dance. Seven Keys to Baldpate, why spoil Richard Dix in this type of a picture. Nothing to it, no action, no comedy, no story except that seven men that had seven keys to Baldpate. Hope Dix's next picture is better. I advise you to pay for it and leave it on the shelf. I recently played a short that deserves mention. Sky High, which was like any M G M comedy, good. This comedy is one of Langdon's best. Buy M G M comedies. — P. H. Billet, Coliseum theatre, Annawan, 111. Doesnt Care for Spanish I'D LIKE TO MAKE SOME COMMENT on pictures I have played recently. The Midnight Mystery, fair mystery drama. The Sea Bat, fairly interesting South Sea story. Scenes showing the Sea Bat were thrilling and interesting. Lady of Scandal, slow, draggy story lacking in interest and human appeal. I had Romance of the Rio Grande booked for two days but canned it after the first day's run. No action and too much Spanish dialect. Fox was nice enough to furnish us with a substitute. The Cohens and Kellys in Scotland, poor entertainment, no story, terrible. Ladies Love Brutes proved one of the finest pictures we have run in many months. Will please all classes. The Floradora Girl is an unusually different picture that will please. Excellent direction. Had lots of compliments. The Texan, a fine Western melodrama. The Fall Guy, a fairly good program offering. The Devil's Holiday was excellent from the standpoint of story, acting, photography and direction. Brought lots of compliments. I found With Byrd at the South Pole a remarkable production. Never got tiresome. It was advertised big in surrounding towns and I had sweet business. The second day improved over the first. Everyone should see this. Young Eagles was only fair offering. The direction is not good. The airplane scenes were good but no one knew what it was all about. — -Armistead Brothers, Lyric theatre, Easley, S. C. No Ham and Egg Quartet HERE ARE THREE PICTURES THAT I have just played that I would like to make some comment on. First of all, I found Hell's Heroes the biggest piece of corruption that has ever been run through a projector. Had this booked for three nights but after the first showing (during which half the patrons walked out and stopped in the lobby and told me how rotten it was) we placed the feature back in its can and shipped it back to the exchange. How do they do it? I don't know but they sure did it with this. And Trigger 'Tricks? Well, Hoot used to be our best bet but now he's slipping. In the making of this picture he must have got awfully tired, because he failed to put in any action, and after all, in Westerns that's what we crave. Hoof beats were put in by the drummer and served as comedy but there's nary a thrill in the whole darn film can. On the other hand. Near the Rainbozv's End is truly the best Western we have plaved since the advent of talking pictures. The song, "Ro-Ro-Rolin' Along," was great. No ham and egg male quartet by a long shot. Patrons were mighty pleased with this picture and did not fail to tell us so. Action a-plenty. — Carl Veseth, Palace theatre, Malta, Mont. Good But Didnt Draw EXHIBITORS MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW about these pictures that I've played recently. The Viking, lovely but failed to gross expenses. Dynamite, excellent drama but it did not draw and I did not gross film rentals. Lucky in Love, very nice little Irish picture. Well liked by the few who came to see it but for some reason it did not draw and did not gross expenses. Words and Music— Played this with a Maynard silent Western in a double program and drew the best crowd in months. Nice picture. Gold Diggers of Broadway was dazzling. Unfavorable weather on two of the three nights prevented this from breaking house records and also had to buck Chautauqua but had the satisfaction of putting this grafting concern out of business as far as this town is concerned. Also here are a few shorts : Voice of Hollywood No. I, nice short. Everything, with Van and Schenck — nothing to this team. Irish Fantasy was a good featurette. — B. R. Johnson, Orpheum theatre, Kerrobert, Sask., Canada. And That's That I JUST READ MR. GEORGE "NERVO" Tompkins' reply to Bill Brenner's article. I don't know what the "Nervo" in his name means, but I do know Bill Brenner and what puzzles me is why Bill ever booked the act in the first place. — R. S. Wenger, Miami theatre, Union City, Ind. [This closes the case.— Ed.J Storm Doesnt Help B. O. HERE ARE SEVERAL REPORTS pN pictures I have played which other exhibitors may like to know about. Happy Days-This pair always draws for us and we did good business with this one. Under a Texas Moon, all technicolor and we believe it saves the picture, as our patrons failed to find much of a story to this one. The technicolor is wonderful. Lilies of the Field did only a fair business. Patrons did not like the ending. This one will do for one night's showing. Born Reckless did a good business on Saturday night. It is okay to play when you are sure of a crowd but not otherwise. High Society Blues — Did this one draw? We'll say it did ! Money, money, money. Play it and you will not lose. This is the best one by this pair yet. The Golden Calf should draw for anyone by proper advertising. The story is good and there is not too much singing and dancing. Officer O'Brien, good story, good acting, good print, good sound. What more could we ask for? Oh, good box office receipts. Well, we did a fair business and would have done better but we had a bad wind and electrical storm. Lost our power and also a lot of patrons. Try it. Here are a few shorts we have just shown. High Toned — Patrons are losing their interest in this pair. Buck and Bubbles. Ace of Scotland Yard — We are glad this one is ended. This serial failed us. Only part-talking and people want all-talking or not any. This one did not help our business any. Love Birds — • This stuff is getting to be the same old story. Using the same gags and dances does not boost a series of comedies. Knights Out — Our patrons liked this one and there were a great many laughs. This pair should draw for any of you. A Perfect Match — We didn't see anything perfect about this one. A poor comedy to run, even for a free show. Aesop's Fables, good little one reelers to run and we get a lot of comments on these little fellows. Mickey's Strategy — These would be good but we fail to get results with recording on disc. — E. R. TiNKHAM, Chic theatre, Milo, Me. Gibbons Liked "Sally" FM WRITING IN TO SAY A FEW words of praise about Sally, the most successful play we have presented this year. Though not nearly so successful from the box office point of view as the original "Sally," played by Colleen Moore a few years ago, that is not the fault of Marylin Miller but the fault of the times. Marylin Miller is an actress of such accomplishments as will repay you for all that you may spend in exploiting this feature, while the feature itself is a dazzling presentation in theme and color, perhaps unsurpassed by anything on the screen. — A. J. Gibbons, Illinois theatre, Metropolis, 111. Too Much Slapstick for Him HERE ARE SOME REPORTS OF Pictures I have run lately. In Gay Madrid, acting was good but there was no action and picture was dull, except in two places. A poor picture for Novarro to make. The Mounted Stranger, a fair Gibson production. Some comedy but not quite as much action as usual in Gibson's pictures. Devil's Pit, an unusual picture. Quite interesting. Not a picture that has much appeal for the average patrons of pictures. Free and Easy, first portion was very funny and Buster Keaton was up to his usual standard. Toward the end, there was too much slap stick. — George Lodge, Green Lantern theatre, Claymont, Del. Favorable Reaction ALTHOUGH A LITTLE LATE IN SENDing you our thanks for the bronze plaque you so kindly gave us, nevertheless we are very proud our theatre was fortunate enough to obtain the coveted prize. We have had the praise of our entire community and have felt a reaction from our patrons most favorable because this seems a way of proving to the skeptical public that the "sound sounds right." Allow us to thank you most sincerely for the plaque, and assure you we will strive to live up to all the plaque stands for. Thanking you again. — Roy McAmis, Manager, Princess theatre, Sayre, Oklahoma.