The Film Daily (1918)

Wednesday, September 4, 1918 Published Every Day in the Tear at 71-73 West 44th St., New York, N. T. By WID'S FILMS & FILM FOLK, Inc. F. C. ("WID") GUNNING President and Treasurer LYNDE DENIG, Editor Entered at New York Post Office as Secondclass Matter Terms (Postage free) United States, Outside of Greater New York, $10.00 one year; 6 months, $5.00; 3 months, $3.00. Foreign, $20.00. Subscribers should remit with order. Address all communications to WID'S DAILY, 71-73 West 44th St., New York, N. Y. Telephone: Vanderbilt 4551—2 Guts and Flashes Josie Sedgwick has resigned from the Triangle studios, leaving that organization last week. Dick Watts, of the Morning Telegraph, has left the staff of that paper to become a member of the National Army. Mollie McConnell has been re-engaged by Universal, this time to work under the direction of Tod Browning. She has just finished two pictures directed by Jack Ford. Helen Horle, formerly head of the Paralta scenario department, is now with the Universal Industrial Department, handling scenarios for them. She has completed a story entitled "Keep the Man at His Bench," which the Universal wlil make and rent to industrial plants as a strike preventative. J. Stuart Blackton left Monday for Chicago, where, with the co-operation of the British-Canadian Recruiting Mission under whose auspices he is producing "The Common Cause," he will film several important official scenes to be interpolated in this production which is scheduled for early Fall release by Vitagraph. Jack Meador, the cheerful dispenser of Metro news, is at Camp Whitman, where he will remain all week. Meador is sergeant in the Machine Gun Company of the new Seventh Regiment, of which Merritt Crawford is captain and Arthur James lieutenant. Mr. Meador is at camp helping with the publicity there and the editing of the camp paper. Lieutenant James leaves for camp next week for a fortnight's training. Exchanges in Districts I Walsh in Draft New System to Strengthen General Film's Distribution General Film Company has made several appointments of importance in its sales organization, and at the same time instituted a districting or grouping of its exchanges throughout the country. Four supervising exchange executives or district managers have been appointed, in accordance with this movement. Working under Sales Manager W. F. Rodgers; these district managers are to co-ordinate and facilitate the film merchandizing activities of the company. The district managers most recently appointed are H. L. Orear for the central district with headquarters at Cincinnati, and H. E. Elder for the Atlantic division with headquarters at Philadelphia. Mr. Orear's jurisdiction includes the exchanges at Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Indianapolis. Mr. Elder will supervise the Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh exchanges. Appointments made shortly before these were of T. F. McTyer for the southern district, headquarters Atlanta, involving the Atlanta, New Orleans and Dallas exchanges, and of W. S. Rand for the western district, headquarters Los Angeles, with the Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland exchanges included. An expansion and strengthening of its organization had been planned by General Film Company for some time. In fact, the announcements now made have logically followed a gradual realignment of the system in all the local branches. The movement has been going on for some months. Equally well known to friends of General Film is Mr. Elder. He was manager at St. Louis for a long time and recently took charge of the Washington office. He is succeeded there by J. A. Flax, who has been assistant manager for some time, and who is one of the oldest employes with General Film. In the various changes, the General Film policy of making promotions in the organization wherever conditions encourage them has been followed. Another recent move is the transfer of George J. Ekre from the management of the Portland exchange to a larger field as manager of the Los Angeles office. Fox Star Going to Camp Latter Part of This Month George Walsh is the latest screen star called in the draft. It was learned yesterday that the Fox star must report the latter part of September. As a result, work is being rushed on the production of "On the Jump," now being made for release on the Fox program. According to the present outlook, it is the last picture the popular young _ Fox star will make for the "duration of the war." Victory Theatre Opens The Victory theatre, formerly known as Miner's Bronx, 156th street and Third avenue, was opened Saturday night by Manager David V. Picker with 'Ashes of Love" as the attraction. The receipts of the first day were divided between the American Red Cross, the Knights of Columbus and the Jewish War Relief fund. Hart Leaves for Chicago Charles S. Hart, chairman of the Division of Films, Committee on Public Information, left for Chicago yesterday to attend the A. E. A. convention and to arrange for bringing some of the war exhibits now on view at the Government show in Grant Park, Chicago, to the Exposition here in October, for display at the booth of the Committee on Public Information. Theodore Wharton returned from Washington Saturday, where he had gone to find out just what the government wanted in the way of films for propaganda use. Enter Film Offices The round-up of draft slackers by the Department of Justice, which occurred yesterday, hit several of the film offices with a smash. All of the buildings in the district were gone through from top to bottom with the result that a number of those who were without their registration cards were carted off until they could satisfy the authorities that they were not violating the law. In the building at 729 Seventh Avenue the investigators managed to take two men on the 17th and two on the 15th floors. Later others in the building on the lower floors were rounded up. Chamberlain Brown, well-known theatrical man, who left his card home, was among those held up. A guard stationed in front of the building would not permit anyone to leave the premises unless he had a card while the search was in progress. Paul Gulick is back at work after a two-weeks' vacation.