Motion Picture Classic (Jul-Dec 1928)

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ILL., for Oct. 1st, iy28. State of NEW YORK. County of NEW Y'ORK. Before me. a NOTARY PUBLIC in and for the State and County aforesaid, personally appeared DUNCAN A. DOBIE, JR., who, having been duly sworn accf>rdinK to law, deposes and says that he Is the VICE-PRE.S., GENERAL MANAGER of the MOTION PICTURE C LA.SSIC and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a dally paper, the circulation), etc. of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1(112, embodied In section 411. Postal Laws aiid Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to wit; 1. Tliat the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and busineas managers are: Publisher, George Kent Shuler, 1501 Broadway, New York City, N. Y.: Editor, Laurence Reid. 1501 Broadway, New York City, N. Y.: Managing Editor, Laurence Reid, 1501 Broadway, New York City, N. Y.: Business Manager, Duncan A. Doble, Jr., 1501 Broadway, New York City, N. Y. 2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also lmme<liately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding one per cent, or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation the names and addresses of the indhidual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company or other unincorporated concern. Its name .and address, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) MOTION PICTURE PUBLICATIONS, Inc., 1501 Broadway, New York Citv, N. Y.: George K. Shuler, 1501 Broadway. New York City, N. Y.: Duncan A. Dobie, Jr., 1501 Broadway, New York City, N. Y.: Silver Screen Publications, Inc.. 1501 Broadway, New York City, N. Y. 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent, or more of the total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) NONE. 4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders and security holders, if any. contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but also. In cases where the stockholder or security bolder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing afHanfs full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to l)elicve that any other perBon, association or corporation has any interest direct or Indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than as so stated by him. 5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the malls or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is — (This informal ion is rwiuircd from dally publications only.) DUNCAN A. DOBIE. Jr.. VICEPRi:S.. GENIORAL .MANAGER. Sworn to and subscril)ed before me this 24th day of March. 1!I28. Elizabeth Bentley. (My commission expires March 30th, I'J.iO.) leain to Dance This New Easy Way "^^nj (Jin learn all the mcMtern dnnct-s— i:ii;ir!(-Hlfin, lilnck Bottom. Valencia, CanIrr, frrnth Tanifo. St . Louis H<.p. Latest V. ;ilr -s. l-ox Trots, etc . at home easily :.' 1 |i 1 -kly. New chart method makes *,.ir.L .r t' :iS Hlmi-lo OS A B-C. No mUBIC Of irirtn.-r rcqnirefl. Learn Qnywherc. any(mu-. Win Dew popularity. lie in demiunj ut partnTH. .'^arne course of leesons would cuBt $20 if taktn privately. Send No Money .luBt Hend ynur name and nddresa. We'll fihip ttie rornplett courwt — Z2'-'. pagcH. 49 illuHtraiKinnwithout one cent in advance. V. 1.' ,1 innkane arriveR. band postmao only ■■ 1 '<>■ iihii delivery charifea, and this won■ rful r.-tjrno ia yourn. Try for 6 days. Mo.uy iMwrk if not delishted. Send your oame NOW. FRANKLIN PUB. CO. 800 N.CIarkSL DepLA-{;02 Chicaga The Celluloid Critic {Continued from page jj) giving it a first-rate atmosphere (dressing. Vou ought to like it. It marks the last of the seven pictures which the star made for Paramount under his million-dollar contract. D. W. GRIFFITH has made an up-todate version of one of his early triumphs, "The Battle of the Sexes," and manages to invest it with moments of his genius, though the picture is far from being the master of the ciose-up at his best. Some of you may remark — "Where have I seen this story before?" \\ "ell, you can answer yourselves in the same breath — "Why, it's like '\"ariety.' " The same gold-digging vamp is in this yarn which concerns a much-settled married man kicking over the traces and going berserk. His peregrinations on the primrose path cause no end of worry and anxiety to his wife and children — so much so, that the little woman even makes a move to end it all, while the daughter goes to the vamp with tearful entreaties backed up by a revolver. It seems old fashioned, does this plot, probably because the original served as a model for triangles gone whoopee. At that, it contains some good spots — and is sure to appeal with its good production values. Phyllis Haver has the vamp role — the same type of role which she portrayed in "The \Vay of All Flesh, " though the characterization isn't half so genuine. The lady of the late afternoon in the Jannings number was more real. The lady in this instance goes to extremes and loses the human touch. Belle Bennett makes a sorrowful figure of the wife and mother — and the children are in character as played by William Bakewell and Sally O'Neil. Jean Hersholt is the battler of the sexes and true to form, he comes through with another sterling performance, though he is inclined to exaggerate the role. This is undoubtedly the result of too much direction. The picture has its appeal. Who can resist the title or the Haver person or the BennettHersholt names in the cast? It is Richard Dix this time who has the time-worn situation well in hand in "Moran of the Marines," a picture of a marine and his light o' love. It's a familiar routine story smacking of G, A. Henty without the romance. And it takes its characters from America to China where the General's daughter is rescued from bandits by the husky marine. The title gives it away as one of those things with the customary trimmings — such as the mild conflict engendered when the old boy frowns on his daughter falling for a plain, ornery leatherneck. You can chalk it up as orthodox when you learn that Mr. Moran turns out to be one of America's richest millionaires. \\'hat saves it is a certain freshness of treatment, its moments of humor and the buoyant acting by Richard Dix — who breezes through the part as if he had parked in marine barracks all of his life. Ruth Elder was especially engaged for the picture due to its flying incident. The girl does her aviation specialty very well. Oh well, take it or leave it. But Dix is always good and he always succeeds in making himself real. The long-awaited Stroheim opus, "The W^edding Klarch, " which has been going on and on and on and on in typical Stroheimish style now greets us from the silversheet. And that is a two-dollar word which isn't needed for the time and expenditure placed upon this number. Eric is Eric again — which is to say that be enacts the principal role, playing it for all he's worth after the style he established in "Blind Husbands." It smacks of the Continental touch and considerable editing has been done to it, so that it loses considerable of its spark. But its foreign flavor gives it tone and quality, even if the story isn't what it's cracked up to be. There are some gorgeous shots. These are to be expected from a director like Stroheim who always "shoots the works." His scene of the processional to St. Stephens is magnificent. And Fay Wray climbs to really great emotional heights in the principal feminine role. She is surely over now — and the picture is truly worth seeing. Stroheim is more or less fascinating as the militaristic playboy and ZaSu Pitts is splendid in a humble role. Look for some extraordinary shots and Miss Wray's great performance. Glorifying the American Screen {Continued from page ig) Closed Doors." Metro-Goldwyn is to make another murder mystery in "The Trial of Mary Dugan," while Famous Players plans a perfect orgy of bloodshed in "Behind That Curtain," "The Benson Murder Case" and "The Greene Murder Case," the last two being from the homicidal pen of S, S. Van Dine, whose nom de plume has been guessed successively as covering H, L, Mencken, Henry Canby, Carl Van Doren and \\'illard Huntingdon Wright, It is right and fitting that the author of mystery stories should remain himself a mystery, so Van Dine sends from the East clues to himself instead of a biography. He is, he says, passionately fond of chocolate cake, plays the flute, wears a monocle and a Van Dyke beard, smokes Turkish cigarettes instead of the conventional Sherlock shag, and took up writing detective murder tales to rest his brain after a nervous breakdown. But he is more specific in regard to the rules for producing sure shivers, in books and motion pictures. " The author mustn't cheat the public," he says severely. " I am sorry to say that a good many writers of murder mysteries do cheat, especially women writers. There are different ways of cheating in mystery stories. Holding out clues and not telling them to the reader or the spectator is cheating. Concealing impyortant characters till the end of the story, making the detective the real culprit, or an unimportant character like a servant, having it turn out to be a dream or a practical joke — all these things are unfair to the public." Murder! That is the watchword of the motion picture studios for the moment. At the pre-views the producers count with a stop watch the number of women who are carried out fainting, the number of children who go into hysterics. Only in this way can they tell whether their picture is a success or not. As for the fans, if they go home from the theater pale and shaken, if they jump at every shadow and lie awake listening to the floors creak, they will know by these tokens that they have had a good time. This is indeed the age of progress. Our ancestors, poor souls, could not go to the talkies and hear an octopus.