Motion Picture Herald (July-Aug 1935)

July 2 0, 19 3 5 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 93 MOULIN ROUGE: Constance Bennett, Franchot Tone — Played this one old. Then I played it to a loss. Nothing to this picture except the musical numbers in the last reel. Running time, 70 minutes. Played May 12-13.— M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. SCARLET PIMPERNEL, THE: Leslie Howard, Marie Oberon — This picture played one of our poorest crowds in six months. These English pictures are still bad news in our situation. Sound awfully poor. Liked the picture, but did very poor business. — Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, Can. General patronage. TRANSATLANTIC MERRY-GO-ROUND: Gene Raymond, Nancy Carroll, Jack Benny, Mitzi GreenGood entertainment to fine audience response. However, the trailer leads you to expect even better entertainment than you receive. — J. W. Noah, New Liberty and Ideal Theatres, Ft. Worth, Texas. General patronage. WE LIVE AGAIN: Anna Sten, Fredric MarchRan this picture with another good picture and both did good business. First of the hot spell when we ran this, which knocked business some. This is a very well produced picture, rather deep for some of them, but the majority liked it. Running time, 84 minutes. Played June 22-25.— Earl D. Smith, Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City, Utah. Suburban patronage. Universal BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE: Boris Kar]off_We made a lot of money with this picture. In fact, I think it now holds the box office record for Friday and Saturday this year. It has some wonderful opportunities to make money and we took advantage of thera and made a cleanup. We offered a tendollar cash prize to any lady who would see this picture alone in our theatre at midnight and had over two hundred applicants. Everyone within a hundred miles were talking about the picture and whether any lady was brave enough to see the picture with all the doors locked and the house in absolute darkness. Each person agreed _ to relieve us of any responsibility from shock, fainting, etc. We started advertising about three weeks in advance of the show and when we opened on Friday night the house was filled in 15 minutes. Large crowds were standing in line for the second show which was the first sellout I have had in months. My advice is to advertise it right. Offer a prize of what you can afford to pay to any lady who will see the picture alone at midnight and then go through with it just as advertised. We had quite a number of people who stayed outside the theatre to see what the lady looked like after previewing the picture. The picture itself is good and enjoyed by the large crowd. It don't make much difference how good the picture is, it will make any exhibitor a lot of money if handled right, but it must be put over. It must be handled right. Played June 28-29.— S. H. Rich, Rich Theatre, Montpelier, Idaho. Town and rural patronage. CRIMSON TRAIL, THE: Buck Jones, Polly Ann Young — Less than ordinary business. Our attendance for Buck Jones' shows has been considerably lighter than normal. Our patrons state they like more comedy in the westerns. Played June 22.— C. W. Mills, Arcade Theatre, Sodus, N. Y. Family patronage. GOOD FAIRY, THE: Margaret Sullavan. Herbert Marshall, Frank Morgan — Some good spots in it, but it was too long. A better picture could have been made out of it, with two-thirds of the length. I rate it as only a medium production. Played June 29.— George Lodge, Green Lantern Theatre, Qaymont, Del. Small town patronage. IMITATION OF LIFE: Claudette Colbert, Warren William — I consider this one of the outstanding pictures of this season, and believe that when the best 10 of this year are selected it will be No. 1. It didn't do the business that I expected, but I played it during a downpour of rain all day Sunday afternoon and night. Running time. 111 minutes. Played April 7-8. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. IMITATION OF LIFE: Claudette Colbert. Warren William, Louise Beavers, Roclielle Hudson — Played it on a weekend; it drove the blues away from this exhibitor. Packed them in. Saw them cry and come out pleased. What could be better? Hats ofif to Universal. Everyone should play this and advertise it. — Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, Can. General patronage. IMITATION OF LIFE: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Rochelle Hudson, Louise Beavers — Ran this picture after it had had practically all the 15c runs in the city, but it still did exceptional business for me. Any exhibitor could afford to run this picture, no matter how late you get it. After the show there wasn't a dissatisfied person in the bunch. Played May 18-22.— Earl D. Smith. Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City, Utah. Suburban patronage. PRINCESS O'HARA: Jean Parker, Chester Morris— Good audience response to this picture forces me to classify it as a good program picture, although personally I found it very ordinary film fare. — J. W. Noah, New Liberty and Ideal Theatres. Ft. Worth, Texas. General patronage. STONE OF SILVER CREEK: Buck Jones, Noel Francis — Our town likes a western at least twice a month. This picture filled the bill nicely and gave NEW CONTRIBUTORS FROM MIDDLEWEST Kansas and Nebraska contribute new reporters to "What the Picture Did for Me" this week. They are C. R. Gregg, Liberty theatre, Caney, Kansas. John J. Metzger, Oriental theatre. Beaver City, Kan. Kead the reports of these showmen in this issue. a much better net than some specials we played. Buck is popular with the adults and kiddies. Play it if they like westerns. — Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, Can. General patronage. STONE OF SILVER CREEK: Buck Jones, Noel Francis — In my opinion the best Jones this year. We ran it on a double bill, but it's good enough for any house on a single bill. The last Jones, "Crimson Trail," is not so hot, but "Stone of Silver Creek" is good. — S. H. Rich, Rich Theatre, Montpelier, Idaho. Town and rural patronage. Warner ALIBI IKE: Joe E. Brown — One of Joe E. Brown's best. A scream from start to finish. Be sure and play it. — C. R. Gregg, Liberty Theatre, Caney, Kan. Small town patronage. DEVIL DOGS OF THE AIR: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay — We ran this on the same bill with another strong picture and did good business. You can say what you want about Cagney, but somehow his pictures usually click here, especially if he is teamed up with O'Brien. Ran this picture on some of the first hot days we had and it hit business slightly, but it is still a good investment. Played June 22-25.— Earl D'. Smith, Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City, Utah, Suburban patronage. DINKY: Jackie Cooper, Mary Astor— This is a great program picture. Splendid story and well acted by the greatest little actor of them all. Gave good satisfaction to everybody. Played July 4. — Bert Silver, Silver Theatre, Greenville, Mich. Town and country patronage. FLORENTINE DAGGER, THE: Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay — A good mystery story, well acted, and gave satisfaction. — Bert Silver, Silver Theatre, Greenville, Mich. Town and country patronage. STRANDED: Kay Francis, George Brent— Strictly a program picture which is entertaining, but not out of the ordinary. It is the type of picture which the patrons forget almost as soon as they leave the theatre. Kay Francis deserves better material. — J. W. Noah, New Liberty and Ideal Theatres, Ft. Worth, Texas. SWEET ADELINE: Irene Dunne, Donald Woods— This is a good liit at the box office; ran a plain filler with it and still cleaned up. Sorry we ran this on a Thursday-Friday. It still seems that people like to see this oldtime "stuff" which they themselves had experienced. Usually costume pictures do not click with my sort of patronage. This is a safe bet for anybody. Running time, 87 minutes. Played June 2728.— Earl D. Smith, Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City, Utah. Suburban patronage. Short Features Celebrity HEADLESS HORSEMAN, THE: ComiColor Cartoons— A very good and interesting cartoon taken from the story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." This is more interesting due to the fact that it has a story to follow. Running time, one reel. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. Columbia BIRDMAN: Krazy Kat Kartoons— Good cartoon. Music in this is fine. Running time, one reel. — Sammie Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Small town patronage. A CAT, A BELL AND MOUSE: Color Rhapsodies — Very good cartoon. Give us more like it, Columbia. Running time, one reel. Sammie Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Small town patronage. FLYING PIGSKINS: World of Sport SeriesPlayed it at the wrong time, but it is good. Better wait till September to use this. Running time, one reel. — Sammie Jackson. Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Small town patronage. Educational CLANCY AT THE BAT: Andy Clyde, Harry Gribbon — A two-reelcr with a carload of laughs. It's old, but Goodrow in New Orleans sent me a very good print. This is one of the best two-reclers I've played in a long time. Running time, two reels. — Sammie Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Small town patronage. TARS AND STRIPES: Star Personality Comedies — This is a fairly entertaining comedy from Keaton. But not up to his usual standard of comedy. At least not as I remember him from a few years ago. Running time, two reels. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. First Division MARCH OF TIME: All of this series of "March of Time" arc just a newsreel and are not worth any more than what you pay for a newsreel. Issue No. 2 and No. 3 were interesting, but No. 4 was terribly dull and uninteresting. Running time, two reels. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. MGM CHAIN LETTER DIMES: Oddities Series— Was fortunate enough to book this one while we are all lamenting our gone-but-not-forgotten dimes and it clicked. If you can book this one early it will go over. Running time, one reel. — Gladys E. McArdle, Owl Theatre, Lebanon, Kan. Small town patronage. CHINESE NIGHTINGALE: Happy Harmonies Series — One of the most beautiful of this series. Think these cartoons please the adults almost as much as the kiddies. Running time, one reel. — Gladys E. McArdle, Owl Theatre, Lebanon, Kan. Small town patronage. STAR NIGHT AT COCOANUT GROVE: All-star cast — The best short I have ever run. Beautiful coloring, all the favorite stars, comedy, music, dancing; more entertainment in it than in lots of features. You can't over-advertise this one. Leo ought to roar twice for this one. Running time, two reels. — Gladys E. McArdle, Owl Theatre, Lebanon, Kan. Small town patronage. ZEELAND, THE HIDDEN PARADISE: FitzPatrick Travel Talks. — Another very good Travel Talk. Beautiful color and interesting pictures. Running time, one reel. — Gladys E. McArdle, Owl Theatre, Lebanon, Kan. Small town patronage. RKO Radio HO\y TO BREAK 90 AT CROQUET: Four Star Comedies — How this piece of film got listed among the comedies is more than I can understand. It is just a piece of misery to sit through. Running time, 15 minutes. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. SOUTHERN STYLE: Musicomedies Series— Another pleasing musical two-reel comedy from Radio. Ruth Etting sings several old songs which are very good. Running time, two reels. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. THIS BAND AGE: Headliners Series— Very pleasing tworeel musical comedy. Received many favorable comments on it. Running time, 21 minutes. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Theatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. Universal MEET THE PROFESSOR: Mentone No. 10-A— Another one of the very good musicals from Mentone. All of them are good entertainment with very few exception's. Running time, 19 minutes. — M. S. Porter, Orpheum Tlieatre, Nelsonville, Ohio. General patronage. NIGHT IN A NIGHT CLUB, A: J. Harold Murray. Buck and Bubbles — Good two-reeler. Running time, 18 minutes.— Sammie Jackson. Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Small town patronage. Vitaphone RADIO SCOUT: El Brendel— A very good two-reel short that got a lot of laughs. Running time, two reels.— Gladys E. McArdle. Owl Theatre. Lebanon, Kan. Small town patronage. Miscellaneous CONVICT: Ko-Ko — A good one-reel cartoon. Seems as if they were made silent and reissued with sound. Maybe so, but it was good enough for us. Good print and sound. Running time, one reel. — Sammie Jackson. Jackson Theatre. Flomaton. Ala. Small town patronage. FARTHER-FASTER-SAFER: A two-reel subject put out by the Pennzoil Co.. Oil City, Pa. It's free, but has comparatively little direct advertising. Good shots of the streamline trains, air transports, auto racing, etc. Pleasing to the men.— Harold C. Allison, Baldwin Theatre. Baldwin. Mich. Small town patronage.