The Film Daily (1931)

THE lunday, February 15, 1931 Timely Topics A Digest of Current Opinion — €>— ntemational Appeal f Charlie Chaplin AS Charlie Chaplin's picture opened the other night, the tremendous thought occurred that Charlie is the only picture actor left in the world with all nations for an audience and all countries for his market. Which is a staggering thought for any one man. By means of his pantomime and absence of spoken dialogue, he still exerts an international appeal. He still is understandable to all the univer.se, just as he was when he first , began to coax smiles from weary souls. On the other hand, every player who embraced the talkies has restricted his appeal, to a great extent, to the country whose language he employs. Few people know, too, that Charlie remains in character in all other walks of life. He has passed up a sizable fortune offered him for radio contracts. He has refused them all. When the Yale and Harvard playshops and the Oxford University and Cambridge groups asked him to appear before their classes to explain the psychology of pantomime, he refused, although this is probably the highest honor ever paid a Hollywood actor. The secret is that Charl'e knows that illusion is the basis of his appeal. He knows that his appeal comes from the heart, and that there is only one means by which it can be projected — bv pantomime. So, with the exception that there is more satire and a greater depth of subtlety in his work, he has changed very little from the Chaplin of 18 years ago. ■ — George Gerhard, Evening World EN YEARS AGO T0-DA\ IN Federated to distribute 26 pictures om Walgreene. * * * Marcus Loew says National Asociation had no light to use his ame in exhibitor di've. * * * John W. Hicks made managing rector of Feature Films, Ltd. • • • THAT LONG, luscious screen kiss that useter make the flappers swoon in the orchestra chairs in the old days, gives unmistakable signs of being revived again but the new technique is different in the old days the long screen kiss was photographed so you could see the heavy suction work going full blast nowadays all you see is the hero holding the heroine in a strangle hold with the back of his head obscuring the lip-work he heaves, and she heaves and the flapper in the audience has to imagine the rest tracing back the original long screen kiss, our special corps of researchers have dug up what they claim is the first specimen it shows a couple at Coney Island caught unaware in a secluded spot.... ..this old reel, going back about 34 years, starts with the kiss, and ends the same way the gink finally spotted the cameraman, and desisted but it was long enough to send all the flappers of that day into ecstacies so there followed a flood of similar pix, and thus the long screen kiss became the vogue then there was the first pix showing horsemen riding at breakneck speed the daddy from which developed the chase scenes in the westerns 30 Pawnee and Sioux Indians headed by the famous scout, Pawnee Bill, were hired to ride over a hill and straight toward the camera as they approached, the camera man grew extremely nervous as they came whooping and yelling toward him so he was very uneven in cranking his camera the result is novel, for suddenly the wild Injuns stopped dead, with the horses hoofs in the air then they go into a canter then back to dizzy riding speed but for months this reel created a sensation • • • ROXY'S SIXTH "Dollar Symphony Concert" this Sunday will feature four conductors, no less Henry Had ley, Ernest Schelling, Erno Rapee and Father Finn the latter conducts the Paulist Choristers and the Mediaevalists Mike Simmons and Arthur Hoerl have completed the adaptation of "First Aid," a glorification of the American ambulance interne which Sono Art will release Beatrice Lil lie and Lita Grey Chaplin were guest stars of the "RKO Theater of the Air" last night over the N. B. C. coast-to-coast network * * » * • • • THE THEATRICAL pressageys' peppy paper, 'The Quill," notes the following interesting items biz must be rotten when William A. Brady's old play, "The Man Who Came Back," in film form, only took in $130,000 during the entire week at the Roxy Jeanette Carroll, publicity and advertising expert, says the White House had its first bathtub installed in 1850 Al Woods' production of "Parlor, Bedroom and Bath" later introduced the old tub all over the world Quinn Martin, N. Y. "World" movie crit who has joined tn .■ Fox Hollywood studio, says it will likely take two months for him to get a friendly nod from film stars When Rudy Vallee played in Boston the other week, 700 fans came by special train from Maine to see their fellow townsman that ought to hold Mark Hellinger for awhile Mark A. Luesche--, who ha9 that publicity arm-chair at RKO and sits in at T. P. R. governing board luncheons when he isn't at a directors' meeting, was the first manager for the new Amsterdam theater J. D. Williams was once the mimeograph wizard for Charles Frohman * * * * • • • PATHE'S FAST basketball quintette has scored again, downing the Arkayo aggregation to the tune of 40-.?8 Anne Leaf, formerly organist for WABC, is at present subbing for Jesse Crawford at the Paramount console «c « « » » » EXPLOITETTES A Clearing House for Tabloid Exploitation Ideas e Newspaper Slogans Push the "Code" 'J'HE manager at the Fox-Poli in New Haven ushered in the premiere of Columbia's "Criminal Code" at that house with a powerful newspaper campaign hinged upon the slogan: "Twice as Big as' 'The Big House'" which was used in al their newspaper ads. Another slogan which caught the eye of the crowds and which was prominently displayed in the lobby of the theater was: "The picture that made gangland check their guns at the box office.'' — Fox-Poli, New Harcn Art Automatics Boom Gun Pix C^IIANT art automatics blazed all over the front of the R-K-O Globe in New York for the run of "The Man From Chicago" and shot the Broadway crowds through the box office turnstiles for a smash run of the Elstree product. on released by Columbia. Huge smoke clouds from the muzzles of the an omatics were used as background for such ticket selling catchlines as: "A Guy from Boom Boom Town in All His Glory!" "Hot Blood, Cold Lead, ard FIami*g Hearts!" and "Thrills Like the Shriek of a Siren'" — Globe, New York MANY tiAPpy RETURNS Best wishes and congratulations ai. extended by THE FILM DAILN to the following members of the in dustry, who are celebrating the' birthdays : February 14 15 Fred Scott Stewart Erwin Bernard McEveety Marcia Harris John Barrymore Howard Higgins William Janney A. H. Halprin Leo Trainor