The Film Mercury (1926-27)

VERITAS „ THE FILM Cents News, Reviews* Opinions P INC IT ERCVRY Published Every Friday Cents Vol. 3. No. 22. Sixteen Pages. Hollywood, Californio FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1926 Mercury Publishing Co Hollywood, Calif. FILM MEN IN BIG OIL DEAL milllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllj. w-v w iv • jpr | *-n • | Tamar i Exhibitors Protest r ake r reviews I *•— I PATHE TO ENTER FEATURE FIELD APPLESAUCE It was with considerable amusement that I recently read an announcement from B. P. Schulberg to the effect that he was instructing Lasky directors to keep their eyes open in the future for screen “finds.” If directors were able to discover promising young players among the extra ranks, they wouldn’t need Mr. Schulberg or anyone else to instruct them. Any man who has the ability to discern talent and genius in the rough takes a genuine delight in using that ability. He doesn’t have to be driven to it. DIRECTORS CAN’T PICK THEM There are perhaps a half dozen directors in the industry who have revealed the gift of being able to perceive latent drarrtatic qualities in obscure players with any degree of consistency. The rest are totally unable to tell a real find from a mere flash in the pan. As proof of this, take the records of practically any director in the business, whether he has had one or ten years experience, and ask him to show you how many successful screen players he has unearthed and developed on his own initiative. SOME DIRECTORS LUCKY Some directors have been fortunate enough to handle the megaphone on the productions in which various young players have scored their first hit. (Continued on Page 2) Report Pathe Is Also After Theatre Chain Pathe are to make the Associated Studios (formerly Selig) their permanent coast headquarters. Arrangements are now being made by Pathe with P. A. Powers who controls the studio. It is also claimed Pathe are going in strong for feature subjects, more so than for comedies, the reported Pathe agreement with the Big Four having expired. This agreement is said to have limited Pathe to short films, the Big Four staying out of the comedy field. Now that the big organizations are all about to distribute or produce short subjects, Pathe in retaliation will handle big pictures, something they have not done in years with the exception of a few specials. Pathe are also angling now for first run theatres and may build in some cities where they cannot get first runs. A big meeting is scheduled for the coast shortly when production plans will be mapped out. • • • LOIS MORAN SIGNED ON LONG-TERM CONTRACT Lois Moran has signed a long-term contract with Famous Players-Lasky to appear in Paramount productions. Lois is at present appearing opposite Lon Chaney in the M-GM production, “The Road to Mandalay.” Showmen Protest Unfair Methods A new form of bunking the public has been devised by certain Los Angeles exhibitors in the way of offering fake previews to draw extra business. Other theatres whose business has been affected by this unfair method are entering protests and it is believed that the matter will soon be brought to a head by some sort of an official action to prevent the continuance of this sort of misrepresentation. Legitimate previews cost the theatre nothing and have proven to be big business getters. In many instances, houses double their regular business when it is announced that a studio preview is to be presented. Certain exhibitors, perceiving this and being able to secure only a limited number of previews, have conceived the idea of booking various independent films into their theatres for one night and then broadcasting them as “previews.” In most cases, the “preview” is a third rate or inferior film, but the patrons do not find it out until they have entered the theatre. The first theatre to make definite charges concerning fake previews is the Sherman Theatre, managed by Rose Burdick, who asserts that the Marquis Theatre, a rival Sherman (Continued on Page 15) Film Men Buy in on 200,000 Acre Tract It was learned this week that a group of the most prominent motion picture producers and directors have acquired in the neighborhood of 200,000 acres of oil land in the state of New Mexico. The land represents a vast investment and extends from the famous fields of the San Juan basin in the northwest corner of the state to the fields in Eddy County in the extreme southeast corner of the state. The company is said to be headed by such men as Joseph M. Schenck, Cecil B. DeMille, A1 Christie, Reginald Barker, Lou Anger, Sam Rork, together with several of the most prominent business men in Los Angeles and Hollywood, among them being Rex B. Goodcell, candidate for governor in the next state election. It is also learned that the efforts of their company, the Navajo Oil Company, are about to be rewarded as they have several wells which are on the verge of coming in. * * * GROUND BROKEN FOR NEW HOLLY THEATRE Ground will be broken Saturday for the construction of the new Band Box Theatre at El Centro and Hollywood Boulevard. Knockers And Honest Men