Motion Picture News (Apr - Jun 1927)

2282 Motion Picture N e w s iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiin^ iii Key City Reports iiwwiiiiiiimnji New York City THE Memorial Day week-end saw reecord business at Broadway houses, with the thousands who left town apparently replaced by an even larger number of out-of-towners, judging from the milling throngs along Broadway on Monday. The Roxy claims total receipts of $70,540 for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Last week, with almost continuous rainy weather, business business was fairly good but not remarkable. The Paramount, with "Rough House Rosie," was the only house to show a-substantial increase over the previous week, though the gross Avas still nothing to boast of. "The King of Kings" at the Gaiety also showed some increase. Two houses, the Capitol and the Strand, had pictures in their second week. The Capitol did well enough with "Mr. Wu" to warrant satisfaction, and the Strand found "Resurrection" worthy of a third week, which does not happen often at this house. "Chang" continues to draw strongly at the Rivoli, and "Beau Geste" on a grind basis at the Rialto brought in a nice gross. "The Missing Link" and Vitaphone stays around the $14,000 mark, with "The B"ig Parade," "Camille" and "The King of Kings," and "When a Man Loves" with Vitaphone at Warners goes along steadily at a figure a couple of thousand below this. "Seventh Heaven" is off to a good start at the Harris, following "Glory," and the next week or two will show to what extent this can be counted on for a run. Chances look good. Salt Lake City T^HE fore part of last week the weather * in Salt Lake was extremely cold, but picture business has averaged fairly good for this time of the year, both in first run downtown houses and the second run and neighborhood theatres. "Afraid to Love" proved to be quite a big hit at the Paramount Empress with a special stage attriiction. "Wedding Bills" did an average business at the Victory. "Madame Wants No Children" topped the double feature biU at the American; the other picture was Universal 's "Held by the Law, ' ' and a fairly large crowd was drawn. Belle Bennett in "Mother" was very favorably received at the Gem with capacity business having })een enjoyed. "A Little Journey" went over fairly well at the Kimena as a second run production. "Spangles" topped the vaudeville program at the Orpheum, where an unusually good week has been enjoyed. An added attraction at the Orpheum was the LeChrist Dance Revue. Marion Davis in "Tillie the Toiler" is reported to have gone over very well at the Pantages in connection with their regular vaudeville entertainment. Ottawa \A/ OW ! A week with two holidays ! ' ' that is what the exhibitors of Ottawa, Ontario, had during the week of May 23. One was Empire Day, May 24, and throther was Ascension Day, May 26. Civil servants, banks, schools and some stores observed the religious fete while the whole iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiii city was closed up for Empire Day — all except the theatres and they cashed in appreciably. The Regent, under Manager Ray Tubman, had one of its best weeks with Lon Chaney in "Mr. Wu," with the Navy League Band of Victoria, B. C, as an added attraction. Chancy attracted big crowds both afternoon and night and the women patrons admitted that they liked him. Manager J. M. Franklin of B. P. Keith's was busy counting the money all week and the reason was that "Cabaret" made a real hit among all classes. Odali Careno, grand opera singer, also helped to swell the throng. The Imperial Theatre, now under the Famous Players banner, also came up some more in its business standing, excellent crowds witnessing Kyne's "The Understanding Heart." At the Centre, Manager Don Stapleton also cashed in well with "Fashions for Women," matinee crowds being probably better than those of any other local house. Outside of city league baseball, there were practically no counter-attractions for theatres during the week — not even a carnival. Central Pennsylvania T ESS than average box office receipts •*— ' were recorded by the Harrisburg picture theatres during the week, attributed in part to variable weather, with sharp changes in the temperature, and the fact that exhibitors generally looked upon it as a "between the seasons" period. There also is considerable unemployment in the city and environs just now. Nevertheless Constance Talmadge brought satisfactory business to the Colonial in "Venus of Venice," which was accepted as clever light entertainment. At Loew's Regent "Lovers," starring Ramon Novarro and Alice Terry, drew average good crowds. The Victoria feature was the Richard Dix fight picture, "Knockout Reilly," — a distinctly man's picture — which, however, for some unaccountable reason failed to pull very hard. This was notwithstanding that those wlio saw it expressed themselves as well satisfied. Manager Charley Jones provided some extra exploitation. "Mike," with Sally O'Neill and William Haines, returned and showed with a fair degree of success at the Grand. The film attraction at the State the last half of the week was "Wandering Girls," with Mildred Hari'is. Tampa THE opening this week brought back reminders of "boom times." Most every house in the city had lines of waiters Sunday afternoon and night. A great star, perfect exploitation and a famous title, "Don Juan," pulled an opening Sunday at the Tampa that crept up pretty close to the record, with the following three days big. "Whirlwind of Youth" was the feature attraction playing the last half of the week to very good business, giving the Tampa an excellent week. "See You in Jail," opened the week for lllllllllllllillHIIIJIilllllllllllllHIIIIIIIilHittliMllffflHillllllllJIIII^^ the Strand to very good business. "Blind Alleys," with Thomas Meighan, a Tampa favorite, did excellent for three days, with "The Telephone Girl" closing the week to good business. "Hills of Peril," "The Heart Thief" and "Lightning Lariats" gave the Franklin three thrillers of the kind that find favor with their patrons, and all pulled good business. Every theatre in Tampa reported an increase in their business this last week. Detroit \ NOTHER drop in business and indus-^* trial activities offered some reason for mediocre ticket selling in the downtown theatre district. Poor weather conditions during the early part of the week also lowered estimates at the box offices. The Michigan theatre celebrated with an anniversary stage show and Lois Moran in "Whirlwind of Youth." Money came in fast after the first three days. In the meantime, fair attendance was the rule. Both attractions received excellent comment in the dailies. Dolores Costello graced the Capitol screen in "A Million Bid," and Herbert Rawlinson appeared in person as master of ceremonies on the stage. Nice receipts were the result, and statistics indicate that Rawlinson, who has been receiving heavy publicity, will remain a few more weeks. "Lost at the Front," featuring Charlie Murray and George Sidney, went along gayly to the tune of clicking coins and will be presented until the demand ceases. It was backed by Vitaphone programs. In view of the first week business, Karl Dane's comedy feature, "Rookies," flopped badly at the Adams. Matinees, however, made up the losses to some extent. The State bill included Laura La Plant in "Beware of Widows" and an elaborate presentation. These productions drew fairly well, but patrons were not entirely pleased with the screen play's scenario. Seattle H^ARLY spring weather — a combination of sun and showers — had little effect upon theatre business in this territory last week. As is the case a great part of the time, the houses that had the pictures did the business — others dragged along. By far the outstanding success of the week was "Rookies" at the Coliseum Theatre. This picture met with the approval of every theatregoer; Manager Al Raleigh put over a sterling campaign; Jan Sofer provided an elaborate musical setting ; and the result was very big business — the best that the house has had in many weeks. So popular was the picture that the week's engagement was indefinitely extended. Second in appeal at the box office was "Sorrows of Satan" at the United Artists Theatre. This picture played ten days to very good business, although the last three days of the run were noticeably off. At the Columbia Theatre, a reissue of "The Count of Monte Cristo" played to very good houses for the week. The stars were extensively exploited, and resulted in J