The Motion Picture Director (Sep 1925 - Feb 1926)

1925 ©i rector 51 Wampas Doin' s By A. Wampa AFTER a summer of relative inactivity, with many members away on ‘long distance jaunts, including both President Harry Brand and Vice-president Tom Engler, the Wampas have swung back into the harness and, in the words of Harry Wilson, are “up and at it again.” Many things are on the schedule for the fall and winter that promise interesting developments. Of which more anon. The inactivity of the summer months was broken with a smash September 28th when Ham Beall took charge of the first of the fall meetings — a meeting which marked the return of Tom Engler as the van guard of the wandering Wampas who were wending their way westward. Tom’s return was an event in itself, particularly inasmuch as at that time he was the only presiding officer that the Wampas had, Harry Brand having resigned because of New York affiliations. But the entertainment program staged by Ham Beall broke all records for snap, pep and vim. With the Dixieland Blue Boars from Freddy Solomon’s Palais de Dance tearing off the jazziest jazz heard by the Wampas in a long while and the Texas Tommy team from the prologue at Grauman’s Egyptian whirling through their dizzy dance number, things moved fast. With the genius of the true showman Ham balanced the program with the Bartender Baritone, also from the Egyptian rendering a reportoire of old-time songs and ballads of the vintage of The Gold Rush. Saturday morning October 3rd the S.S. Manchuria docked at 8 o’clock with Harry Brand and Garrett Graham on board, Garrett likewise returning from New York as the eastern terminus of his recent tour. On the dock to meet Harry was a committee of the silk-hatted Wampas composed of Joe Jackson, Harry Wilson, Norman Manning and Larry Weingarten, heading a Wampas delegation of sleepy-eyed press agents. In view of Harry’s popularity and his leadership during the early part of the year, when he actively filled the office of president it was to be expected that there would be a Wampas delegation on hand to greet him, but when that delegation was augmented by a group of newspaper men including several city editors, the home coming assumed new proportions and developed into a glowing tribute both to Harry Brand and the Wampas as a whole. On the Tuesday following the docking of the Manchuria, a special meeting and dinner was held at the Writers’ Club in honor of the returning Wampa at which the Fourth Estate of Los Angeles turned out en masse. It is doubtful if there has ever been a greater gathering of Los Angeles newspaper men and representatives of the motion picture industry to do honor to a publicist than that which assembled in the spacious dining room of the Writers’ Club as a welcome to Harry Brand. In addition to the newspaper men were several writers of national repute, including Donald Ogden Stewart and Montague Glass ; while the motion picture industry was ably represented by Sid Grauman, Sol Lesser, M. C. Levee, J. Stuart Blackton, Frank Keenan, Lew Cody and a host of others. Coming in relays from Warner Brothers, entertainers from the KFWB radio program contributed the entertainment features of the evening through the courtesy of Norman Manning. Manning, by the way, having been elected to associate membership following the 1925 Frolic was elected to full membership in the W a m p a s at the September 28 meeting. The surprise of the evening was sprung by Tom Tom Engler Engler, who pre sented his resignation as president, urging that Harry Brand be reinstated. Tom’s resignation was acted upon and Harry reinstated by popular acclaim. With Harry Brand as the pivotal point the dinner developed into a home-coming for several other Wampas whose absence had been felt during the preceding months. There was Mark Larkin who had just gotten back after a summer exploiting Don O., Garrett Graham, who started for San Francisco and wound up in New York, Enoch Van Pelt, who has just finished a tour of the exchanges of the country; Tom Engler who has been visiting the old home folks in Maryland, and Arch Reeve who Harry Brand has been jaunting back and forth between Hollywood and San Francisco. After rusticating in the wilds of Kansas City, Eddie Hitchcock has returned to the fold and is handling publicity at the Criterion. Pete Smith, publicity director for M-GM has also returned from a snappy trip to New York where he says he was so busily engaged in — well the things one does in New York — that he didn’t even have time to convey the greetings of the W.A.M.P.A. to the A.M.P.A. Jeff Lazarus, formerly handling publicity at the Metropolitan theatre in Los Angeles is now handling exploitation and publicity for Boston’s new theatre of the same name. Among those who have returned to Hollywood during the past few weeks have been Tom Reed and Carroll Graham, who have returned to the centre of press agentry from Universal City and have hung out their shingle at 6683 Sunset Boulevard. As a matter of fact Tom Reed has busted into the ranks of the free lance publicists with a flock of twenty-four sheet stands scattered where they will do the most good announcing that fact. As an exploitation man Tom is a good doctor — he takes his own medicine. But “seriously fellows” as Bert Dorris would say, ol’ Bert himself merits a word of commendation for his handling of a difficult problem during the summer months when he was called on to pinch hit for Harry Brand and Tom Engler.