Moving Picture World (May - Jun 1918)

842 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 11, 1918 some good pictures for Savoia, Ambrosio, Latina and other Italian manufacturing concerns. * * * "Salvation Joan" (Vitagraph), "The Web of Life" (World), "The Mischief Maker" (Fox) and "Friday the 13th" (World) have been recently released on the Spanish and Portuguese markets by Julian Ajuria, of Barcelona. * * * "Where Are My Children?" (Universal) made a decided hit with the Argentinian public. The box-office value of this picture was enhanced by the fact that the municipal authorities attempted to bar its exhibition on the ground of immorality. The Trans-Atlantic Film Co., of London, distributer of Universal pictures in Spain and Portugal, has just released Anna Pavlowa production "The Dumb Girl of Portici." * * * Alvarez Arrondo & Co. are distributing in Mexico the 16episode International serial "Patria." Among the Exporters. Arthur J. Lang, export manager of the Nicholas Power Company, writes from Havana that competition in the motion picture business in Cuba has reached an alarming state. "The cut-throat competition here," he states, "is nothing short of scandalous, and I cannot understand how any of the exchanges will make anything out of their business unless there is a change, and a radical one, in their methods." However, Mr. Lang makes the following encouraging remarks in the course of his letter: "Cuba is very prosperous and the attendance at the cinema shows is big and increasing all the time. As a matter of fact, all business here is booming and nothing seems too good for any one in spite of the high cost of living." * * * Jacobo Glucksmann, New York representative for Max Glucksmann, of Buenos Aires, is in possession of a cablegram advising that the head office of the firm has already subscribed $10,000 to the Third Liberty Loan. This is in addition to what will be taken by the New York branch and follows subscriptions to the First and Second Liberty Loans by the Buenos Aires office. Sidney Garrett, president of J. Frank Brockliss, Inc., announces the sale of "The Garden of Allah" for Java and of the Metro specials "Lest We Forget" and "Blue Jeans" for Argentina. These last two pictures were secured by the North American Motion Pictures, Inc., of New York and Buenos Aires. * * * The Robertson-Cole Company, Times Building, New York, has started an aggressive advertising campaign in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets. Its initial offering to the trade in those territories is comprised of about 23 special features, 4 multiple-reel "Four-Square" pictures, 2 "Crest" productions and the "Jester" comedies. * * * "The Struggle Everlasting" and "An Accidental Honeymoon," the two Harry Rapf's productions with Florence Reed and Robert Warwick respectively, were launched on the foreign market in the May issue of Cine-Mundial. The Arrow Film Corporation, of New York, will handle the negotiations with territorial buyers in all foreign countries. * * * Announcement is made by Jacobo Glucksmann that he is preparing the largest shipment of film ever made to Buenos Aires by the New York office of Max Glucksmann, 500,000 feet of positive now being ready for delivery to the steamship company. Of this lot, about 200,000 feet are Triangle productions. * * * Hiller & Wilk, Inc., recently appointed foreign agents for "My Four Years in Germany," have disposed of the rights on this picture for the following territories: Great Britain, South Africa, Australia and Brazil. * * * "Berlin via America," the patriotic photoplay produced by the Fordart Films, Inc., is being offered in the Latin American markets through the advertising columns of Cine-Mundial. * * * J. II. Hallberg has just published a very complete illustrated catalogue in Spanish describing the different machines and appliances manufactured by his firm. The Piedmont Pictures Corporation has sold the rights on "The Grey Seal" (serial) for China and the British West Indies. Inquiries from Abroad. The addresses of these firms may be obtained from CineMundial, 516 Fifth avenue, New York. We do not assume responsibility as to the standing of the inquirers, and the usual precautions should be taken in all cases. All inquiries are received direct by the Moving Picture World and CineMundial, the Spanish monthly edition of the Moving Picture World. Please mention number when writing: 33. A man in Portuguese West Africa wishes to rent or purchase films for exhibition in S. Thome and Angola. 34. A man in San Salvador, C. A., wishes to act as agent for film manufacturers in Central and South America. 35. A man in Venezuela is interested in securing a program of about ten pictures to be renewed every three months. Pictures should be at least four reels long. 36. A firm doing business in Panama wishes to obtain a weekly supply of film on a renting basis. 37. A man in Santiago, Cuba, is in the market for film boxes made of fibre. 38. A Central American exchange controlling some theaters is in the market for films. Their desire is to connect with a reliable American firm and are willing to give guarantees for any representation they may secure. 39. A firm in Cuba is in the market for second-hand film. Rob Wagner Between Covers Saturday Evening Post Stories of Filmland Now Issued in Book Form by the Century Company. UNDER the title of "Film Folk," the Century Company has issued in book form eight of the earliest of the Rob Wagner stories of motion pictures and their making, with thirty-one full-page illustrations from photographs. It is a singular thing that we should have had to wait so long for a faithful narrator of the doings in picture-land, but it was six years after the motion picture became a craze that there was given to the reading public descriptive matter that was at once authentic and interesting. It was through no lack of endeavor, for the early years of the pictures were marked by a mass of material that was written either by those who could write interestingly, but who had but a superficial knowledge of their subjects or by those who knew their subject but who failed to interest. Mr. Wagner is about the only writer who combines the two essentials, and it is welcome news that the best of his work has been assembled in a more permanent and available form than its original in the pages of the Saturday Evening Post. Mr. Wagner knows film making and film makers from top to bottom, from the center to the circumference, and he has the most happy faculty of telling what he knows in a manner that is more than interesting. It is human, fascinating and, above all, absolutely correct. He is retailing no secondhand information, no knowledge picked up in a hurried trip through a single studio. He speaks of every phase of the business through intimate personal knowledge, and he gives a series of pictures of the studios and studio life that is worthy of classification as literature. In his foreword he speaks of a college professor who regreted that the birth of the Elizabethan drama was not as carefully chronicled for the benefit of future generations, and while he affects to think lightly of the compliment, his learned correspondent has expressed a great thought. The birth of the motion picture has been adequately recorded. The chapters selected for this first volume (for it is to be hoped that others will follow), include the stories of the leading man, the leading woman, the cameraman, the director, the extra man, the studio "mother," the publicity man and the script editor. This broadly covers the ground, but there is room for at least another volume. The book contains 356 pages and is priced at $2. MADGE KENNEDY SPEAKS AT STRAND. The audience which packed the New York Strand theater to the doors on Sunday. April 21, was treated to an agreeable surprise in the appearance on the stage of Madge Kennedy, star of Goldwyn Pictures, who spoke briefly but stirringly in behalf of the Third Liberty Loan. Miss Kennedy's appearance at the Strand followed her successful trip to Detroit, where she appeared at the Kunsky theaters, and to Philadelphia, where she spoke at the Stanley.