The Film Daily (1923)

THE ■3&H DAILY Thursday, August 23, 1923 Boston Hearing Brief (Continued from P«fe 1) sion counsel for the local hearing was headed by William H. Fuller, assisted by Gaylord R. Hawkins and Joseph L. Klein. Although Black tiled no answer to the amended bill of complaint lie was represented by his counsel. Herman Mintz. Robert T. Swaine, of the firm of Cravath, Henderson and Degersdorff, handled the case for Famous Players here, while assistant counsel was Bruce Bromley and C. Frank Reavis, Jr. \s was the case in Dallas, at the ■ us of the trial held there, practically all of the testimony given during the short session in Boston was from exhibitors, although exchange managers were also called to the stand.. The first witness called was William P. Gray, who has offices in Boston and who testified that in addition to managing his own chain of 31 houses, spread through 20 New England towns, he was also manager for the Famous Players circuit of 25 houses. He said that he took charge of the latter's Maine and New Hampshire houses in August, 1922, and took over the rest in February of this year; that he booked pictures by theaters and not for the circuit, in his own houses and those run by Famous Players as well, and that beside their own product these houses used many First National, Metro, United Artists, Warner Brothers and pictures from the studios of other prominent producers. The bulk of his testimony was taken up with a description of the produce-owned houses. Attorney Fuller, examining J. W. Sawyer, New England manager for Vitagraph, tried to get him to describe some of the Famous Players theater holdings which had been sold, but with no great success. M. A. Hill, Metro's New England manager testified that in 1920, after Famous Players had bought into the Black New England circuit, the prices paid him for Metro pictures was slightly lower than usual, but that in the fiscal year of 1922-23, when Famous secured full control of the Black interests, the prices received had been entirely satisfactory, and that their relations were of the friendliest. He also brought out the fact that in Boston two week's protection is given all first-run houses by ex-j changes in the local territory. His testimony also brought out the fact that there are now seven theater circuits in New England, and that from the standpoint of returns from other centers, that it is important to give all pictures their New England first-runs in Boston, a practice, how• that is not as general as it might be. The circuits he referred to were Goldstein Brothers, with 30 theaters, the 30 Gordon houses, S. Z. Poli with 16, Graphic with 15, Boas with 8, Jake Lourie with 5 and Elm Amusement with 9. J. H. Brennan, manager of Loew's State, testified that in 1922-23 he showed 40 Paramount pictures at his housi . 23 Metros. 12 First Nationals and several others from prominent producers. V. J. Morris, manager of the Orpheum, Loew's other big Boston house, declared that out of 70 features shown by him in the same period, 30 were Paramount features and 1 1 were Metros. J. W. Conn, owner of two small houses here, the Sterling and the Star, testified that after Black sold out to Famous Players he had a hard time in getting films, but on cross-examination admitted that he only needed the product of one well-organized brand to run successfully, and that he had been offered 52 features by Universal. He claimed that he had finally been forced to sell out to Famous Players for $105,000. J. B. Ames, of Littleton, N. H., who formerly operated the Park at Barre, Vt., admitted under examination that he had sold out to Black in 1918, that he had stayed on as manager and had also been employed by Black in securing other theaters but had later been discharged. He offered the testimony that Black on their trips showed theater owners plans of nouses he threatened to build if they did not sell, and in this way acquired houses in Northfield and Morisville, Vt. at low figures. This happened in 1918 and 1919. Mrs. Minnie C. Humphrey of Manchester, N. H., who operated a theater in Derry, from 1915 to 1922, David J. Adams, Concord, N. H. theater owner and George A. Cross of Northfield, Vt, all suffered under the Black methods of purchasing, they testified. Black threatened to build opposition heaters if they failed to sell, they said. State Senator Walter G. Hartford, of Longmeadow, R. I., manager of the Imperial, Pawtucket, testified to keen rivalry in that city between Famous Players and Keith. The new Strand there, in which Black is or was interested, was using the Famous players product exclusively, he said, in its fight against the Keith interests. He said that his relations with Paramount and Famous Players always were satisfactory. At Broadway Theaters Capitol A soloist with the orchestra is part of the opening number when David Sapirstein plays "Concerto," first movement, on the piano. A request number, "My Country," a short reel with a symphonic score, is next, followed by "Zigeunerweiscn," by the orchestra and the Capitol Magazine, "A Celestial Fantasy" with the entire Capitol ballet corps and soloists precedes the feature, a Universal picture titled "Drifting." Organ selections conclude. Rialto "II Guarany" is the overture. Riesenfeld's Classical Jazz, the Rialto News and Jewel Song from "Faust" follow in order. "The Midnight Alarm" is the feature. Lillian Powell, danseuse in "The Street Urchin" and a Pathe comedy, "The Man About Town" arc the last two numbers on the program. Rivoli The Rivoli program comprises the overture, a selection from "La Tosca ;" "In The Gloaming," a symphonized home tune sung by Miriam Lax, soprano, and Adrian de Silvia, tenor ; the Pictorial Weekly ; "Dance Fantasy" ; "The Silent Partner," the feature and Pietro Bucci, baritone rendering "Barber of Seville." "Number Please," a Harold Lloyd re-issue closes the performance. Strand A prelude by the orchestra and the Topical Review are the only extra numbers on the program because of the length of "The White Rose." At Other Houses "Ashes of Vengeance," "Little Old New York," "The Covered Wagon" and "The Green Goddess" remain as the attractions at thd Apollo, Cosmopolitan, Criterion and Harris theaters respectively. "Merry Go Round" is at the Cameo indefintely while "Don't Marry for Money" is at the Central for a week. Ready September 8th "Modern Matrimony" will be released by Selznick September 8. The picture was formerly titled "A Dollar Down." Victor Heerman directed. 6,240,216 Votes Cast in Contest (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Lond o n— There were 6,240,216 votes cast in the Sunday Pictorial film contest which "Way Down East" won with a rating of 91 per cent. The rules called for the naming of 12 pictures in order of merit. "Orphans of j the Storm," has a rating of 86 per cent; the others in order were " Kid," "The Four Horsemen." "Tlv Queen of Sheba." "Smilin' Through.' "Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep" and "A Bill of Divorcement," the la=' two British films appear before Boy" and "The Old Nest." Jacksonville Exchange Opens Soon (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Jacksonville, Fla. — The new Famous exchange will open Sept. 15. Brabin Here harles J. Brabin is here from the ast where he directed "Six Days" for Goldwyn. Theda Bara, Mrs, Brabin in private life, is also here. Preview for Microscopic Series Sol Lesser has engaged the Town Hall for August 30 where he will give a preview of the first three of the Tolhurst microscopic series, "The Bee." "The Spider" and "The Ant." Ask Increase in Salary (Special to THE l^ILM DAILY) Washington — The projection operators and musicians have asked for an increase in salary. The operators seek an increase of from $56.70 to $70.04 or 20% while the musicians also demand 20% more and want to cut down their rehearsal time from three to two and a half hours. The employers have not made known what step they will take. Read "Coming Into Its Own" By Carl Laemmle in the SHORT SUBJECT NUMBER of Out September 2nd