Motion Picture Mail (October 28, 1916)

October 28 , 1916 . MOTION PICTURE MAIL. Page 15 . “20,000 Leagues Under Sea” Opens ■Completely fagged out by three weeks of day and night work on the Universal submarine spectacle, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” Joe Brandt, general mana- ger of the Universal, has returned to New York from Chicago, where he superintended the opening of the spectacle at the Studebalcer Theatre. President Carl Laemmle preceded Mr. Brandt to New York by two days. When the Universal picture was re- ceived in the rough from the Pacific coast the “editorial staff” at 1600 Broadway figuratively threw up its hands in despair. It took just seven days for Mr. Brandt and his able as- sociate, Jack Cohn, to view the 110,- 000 feet of film. Bach scene had been “shot” from three or four different angles and Brandt’s first task was to choose the best “shot” of each scene. When this tedious work had been completed the picture had been cut to 38,000 feet. The picture was then run off from the beginning for the second time, a pro- ceeding which required three days of night and day work. During this second showing Mr. Brandt and Jack Cohn viewed the picture with an eye to eliminating all “waste motion” and of ridding it of scenes not absolutely essential to the story. This process reduced the film to 17,000 feet. On the third run a de- termined effort was made to “tighten up” the whole play and to accelerate the action. This resulted in the cut- ting of the picture to 11,000 feet. The fourth run was for the purpose of continuing the elimination of all ex- cess scenes and the shortening to “flashes” of those which, while neces- sary, could be reduced in length to the benefit of the picture as a whole. On the fifth run suggestions and orders from Mr. Laemmle and R. H. Cochrane and Pat Powers as to the rearrangement of the scenes were put into effect. A different continuity, adding materially to the strength of the story, was introduced and many scenes which had been considered es- sential to the story were thus elimi- nated. At the end of the sixth run the play was considered ready for a general viewing by the entire Universal or- ganization. Discussion was invited at the end of each reel and all worth while suggestions were noted and acted upon before the seventh show- ing. It was at this point that Mr. Cohn made a suggestion which cut out a whole reel and gave the picture a finish “punch” which had been lacking. This suggestion involved the shifting of a scene showing a burial ceremony beneath the sea from a mere incident in the middle of the play to the end of the picture, where it served as a logical and striking cli- max to the tragic end of Capt. Nemo, the hero of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” ARTCRAFT PROMISES TO CHAMPION WORTHY INDEPENDENT FILMS Mary Pickford's release of "Less Than the Dust” through Artcraft Pictures Corporation has brought to a head speculation as to the real rea- son for the formation of this new dis- tributing organization in the motion picture field, and wonder as to its lu- ture policy. In an intervie Walter E. Green, president of Artcraft, cleat 1> and concisely defined its purpose when he said it was organized to handle the headliners of motion pic- tU “For some time,” Mr. Green ex- plained, “many of us have felt that there was no agency by which the great new class of feature theatres could obtain a continuous supply or highest grade entertainment, and that the present methods did not give full opportunity to the ambitious producer and star who desired to do bigger and better work. We organized Artcraft, selected Mary Pickford as our head- liner,’ and with a chain of sixteen ex- changes in the United States anc Canada are now equipped to handle the masterpieces of any producer whose pictures achieve the standard set by Mary Pickford and ’Less Than the Dust.’ In other words, Artcratt is the champion of the producer and star who chafe under the present re- MUTUAL STAR PRODUCTIONS Below are listed a few of the Mutual Star Productions Now being booked at the 68 Mutual Exchanges. Each is in five or six acts. Each is an extraordinary Feature. Write or visit your nearest Mutual Exchange for rates and dates. Mary Miles Minter FEATURES NOW PLAYING: “Youth’s Endearing Charm.*’ “Dulcie’s Adventure.’’ “Faith.” COMING: “Dream or Two Ago. “The Innocence of Lizette.” And Others. William Russell FEATURES NOW PLAYING: ,t Soulmates.” “The Highest Bid.” “The Strength of Donald Mc- Kenzie.” “The Man Who Would Not Die.” “The Torch Bearer.” “The Love Hermit.” Kolb & Dill FEATURES NOW PLAYING: “A Million for Mary.” “The Three Pals.” “Bluff.” COMING: “A Peck O’ Pickles.” “Buttin’ in Der Vest.” “Decent Deuces.” Richard Bennett FEATURES NOW PLAYING: “Philip Holden Waster.” COMING: “The Sable Blessing.” “The Law Makers.” Margarita Fischer FEATURES Thursday, Nov. 2d— “The Pearl of Paradise.” Thursday, Nov. 30th— “Miss Jackie of the Navy.” Thursday, Dec. 28th— “The Butterfly Girl.” Thursday, Jan 25th— “The Knieht of Torauizzi. ’ Thursday, Feb. 22d— “Birds of Passage.” Thursday, March 12th— “The Light of Heaven.” Florence Turner FEATURES NOW PLAYING: “Far From the Madding Crowe’. ’ “A Welsh Singe .” “Doorsteps.” “Grim Justice.” “ t> ~'teemed.” COMING: “I he First Settler’s Story." strictions which bind them in their ambition to advance with the develop- ment ol the industry and the demands of the public. “No longer need the ambitious pro- ducer pit his masterpieces against a system of territorial distribution or organization of expensive road com- panies that by their very nature are barred from the motion picture thea- tres, where the real film fan goes for his amusement. Thus will the new big feature houses be able to obtain the kind of pictures their policy re- quires, and the smaller theatres share in the profits by engagements of big productions that have been success- ful in the long-run houses. Together we can keep our masterpieces out of the opera houses and combination theatres. This is the aim of Artcraft: “ ‘Let us keep the best in motion pictures in the motion picture thea- tres.’ ” JOE BRANDT. HART IN THE DESERT William S. Hart, with a company of players and cow-punchers departed this week for the desolate wastes of the Mojave Desert, where he will spend several days, filming some scenes for the current Tri inele-Kay Bee play, in which he will be pre- sented as star by Thomas H. lnce. This vehicle, from the pen of Monte M. Katterjohn, is a tremendously powerful melodrama of the West of old, and the character being portrayed by Hart is that of “the baddest bad- man that ever shouted “Hands up!” Hart’s leading woman is Margery Wiison, wno supported him in “The Primal Lure” and “The Return of 'Draw' Egan,” the other important members of the cast are Joseph J. Dowling and Roy Laidlow. AUGHT FOR HAPPINESS The battle of a woman against a man who deliberately plots her ruin is the theme of the WIIIIAM FOX PHOTOPLAY WITH MmeBeiiha Halich queen of emotional actresses Supported by STUART HOLMES LOVE and HATE STbHY BY JAMES GABEY - SCENARIO BY MARY MURILLO DIRECTED BY JAMES VINCENT FOX HIM CORPORATION