The Film Daily (1928)

Exhibitors DAILY REVIEW/SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 19l8 Mai St. Clair Lands Rich Plum For 1929 --Will Direct Lloyd -Paramount Prod. Malcolm St. Clair, in New York for the Christmas holidays, left yesterday for Hollywood to assume "direction of the next Harold Lloyd picture, as yet untitled. It will go into production almost immediately on St. Clair's arrival and will he made first as a silent picture with dialogue inserted after screening the finished product provided there is a place and a need for it, otherwise it will be released as an "old fashioned movie" with a musical synchronization and sound effects. This will be the first picture St. Clair has done on other than a Paramount contract since he quit the two reelers a few years ago and went in for features. With the Paramount idea of stage directors for talking pictures and the resultant saving in salaries, they did not take up St. Clair's option a few -^veeks ago. As soon as this became fp.{nown most every big producing organization put in a bid for his services with the result that he has grabbed the prize plum of the year in the Lloyd picture. TERRA FILMS MAY AMALGAMATE WITH UFA By Or. R. OTTO iSnccta' to E^^ihitor^ DlhIv Rc-t'tcu') BERLIN — ■ The Ufa stockholders meeting was a very quiet affair and the director's report and balance sheets were approved without much discussion. It was noticed, however, that the representative of the great dye concern L. G. Farbenindustrie, Herr G. Lederer, who is also Vice-Fres., of the Terra Film Company, was elected a member of the Ufa board. The Terra Company under Herr Morowsky's able direction, one of the most thriving Berlin producers, has been working with the capital of the radical publishing concern Ullstein. It is now reported that the Ullstein's are withdrawing their capital from the Terra Company and that the latter, owning only one theatre in Berlin, may be desirous of getting access to the UFA Theatres and may amalgamate with UFA. Vitaphone--Past And Future Talkies Forcing New Prod. Marketing Methods (Continued from pag-e 4) Intelligent handling of the sound problem. In the coming year the different studios will all produce many great sound pictures — the best that the brains at their disposal can conceive and execute. We all have problems — yes. But I am sure that the spirit in which the whole industry is approaching them means that these problems will only spur us on to greater achievement, and a higher development of the great art to which all our efforts are dedicated. H M. Warner, president of Warner Bros, foresees 1929 as a no less important year for Vitaphone talkmg pictures than 1928 has been. The advance, he believes, will come from three directions— first, through further technical improvement; second, through fuller understanding of Vitaphone as a dramatic medium and third, through the addition of new personalities to the roster of picture stars. "It is almost inconceivable what strides Vitaphone has accomplished during the past year," says Mr. Warner. "Its improvements show more advancement than has been wrought in pictures during the two decades preceding it. I don't think it is unwarranted t say that 1929 will take credit for equally amazing attainments. TECH.MCALITIES OVERCOME. "Let us first glance back at the technical improvements realized during the past twelve months. Vitaphone is no longer subject to the limitations that confronted it during its experimental stages. For instance, exterior shots can now be filmed with clarity that was once only possible within the sound proof studio walls. Out-of-door Vitaphone sequences are part of Monte Blue's first all-talking picture, 'Conquest,' and have been worked out even more completely in his coming vehicle, 'From Heaquarters'. ROVING CAMERAS. "No longer does the camera have to remain stationary during the taking of Vitaphone scenes. Al Jolson's picture, 'The Singing Fool', for instance, illustrates how perfectly we have mastered the moving camera and the moving microphone, which have added immeasurably to dramatic realism. Other technical intricacies have been worked out satisfactorily until today any scene which formerly could be shot by a camera at all can be accomplished now with its. incidental sound recorded on the Vitaphone. STUDIO FORCES EDUCATED. "The second improvement to be noted in 1929 will be a reflection of the familiarity which our directors and studio force have acquired with the new medium. Vitaphone no longer seems a strange instrument for us to work with. Through our pioneering we have learned how to use it to the best advantage, we know how to get the maximum effect through it, we understand what WORLD WIDE GREETING LAUNCHES NEW YEAR International Group of Foreign Productions Ready Jan. 15 is proper dialogue and what is not. "Review for a moment what we have actually effected during 1928. Within that year we exhibited the first picture with dialogue — Dolores Costello in 'Tenderloin'; the first picture with dialogue in its dramatic climaxes — 'The Lion and the Mouse'; the first all-talking picture — 'Lights of New York'; the first picture to eliminate every subtitle — 'The Terror'. We have clarified to exhibitors the public's stand in regard to Vita^ phone by making the biggest boxofflce draw ever filmed^proved so by actual receipts — Al Jolson in 'The Singing Fool'. We have made the first Vitaphone spectacle — 'Noah's Ark' and the first Vitaphone operetta — 'The Desert Song'. Warner Bros, have a high mark to shoot for to accomplish as much next year but I do not doubt for a minute that it will be done. JVEW PERSONALITIES COMING. "Great personalities new to the screen are something else that may be expected from Vitaphone dijring 1929. In 1928 we presented to the motion picture public for the first time Fannie Brice. In 1927 it was Al Jolson. Sophie Tucker and Ted Lewis will be among those whose debuts will be sponsored in the future. We will also present film favorites in their first speaking roles — Thomas Meighan, for instance, and George Arliss. Then there will be new stars developed directly by Vitaphone as David Lep. the remarkable youngster in 'The Singing Fool' who has come into such pronounced popular favor that we have decided to star him. VITAPHONE WILL IMPROVE. "And let me reiterate again what I have said often before. Vitaphone nictures will continue to improve the quality of silent pictures. Producers are now exercising infinitely more care in the selection of stories than they did in the days when the screen was silent. More care too goes into their filming, their editing and their cutting. "Just as Warner Bros, have taken in bigger grosses with their Vitaphone productions than have been realized by any other company, so have their silent pictures been more profitable. Vitaphone has been, and will continue to be in 1929, a boon to all exhibitors whether their policy is a Vitaphone policy or a silent one." Valli-Glass Cast Virginia Valli and Gaston Glass have been signed for the leads in Columbia's latest production, "Behind Closed Doors," a mystery drama which pictures political intrigues in a fictitious country, and then moves swiftly to an American setting. McDermott III on Coast HOLLYWOOD — Marc McDermott. veteran screen actor was reported critically ill in a Glendale, Cal., hospital. He was said to be suffering from a stomach and liver disorder. lly .1. n. W'l.IilAMS K.Necv.tiveV. P. World Wide Pictures The anniversary of any member of the industry is an occasion for congratulations Anniversaries suggest that in a field of keen competition the celebrant has contributed a measure to the general welfare of the industry else there would be no anniversary. So World Wide Pictures, about to enter the field on January 15th and contribute its part to the success of American exhibitors by giving them a new line of imported product, felicitates the Daily Review, on rounding out a healthy period | through sheer merit and fair play to all. More power to you in 1929, and ' about this time next year you can come around and congratulate us — we will be open for it. BERN RETURNS TO W.C. , 'NOISY NEIGHBORS' NEXT Paul Bern, Pathe producer, who has spent the past two weeks in i\ew York surveying the local book and play markets, left Thursday on the Wolverine for the West Coast where he will immediately assume charge of the production of Pathe's second all-dialogue picture, "Listen Baby!" adapted from the story of the same name by Elsie Janis and Gene Markey. Bern's first picture for Pathe is a screen adaptation of Booth Tarkington's popular story "Geraldine." This picture, in both silent and in sound editions with dialogue seriuences, will be released on January 16th. His second. "Noisy Neigh'lors," will be released on January 27th, both in sound and silent versions. What A Cast M-G-M have certainly gone the limit in casting "Our Modern Maidens" the sequel to "Our Dancing Daughters". Have a look at those assigned so far. Joan Crawford, Anita Page, Rod LaRocque, Josephine Dunn, Edward Nugent, Albert Gran and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. It is a story by Josephine Lovett, who was responsible for "Dancing Daughters" and will be directed by Jack Conway. \