Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1923)

676 Great Throng at Grauman Opening Crowds Storm New Metropolitan as Los Angeles House Shows Initial Program PROBABLY the largest crowd that ever attended a theatre opening in Los Angeles was on hand for the official opening of Grauman's new Metropolitan last Sunday night. It is estimated that twenty-five thousand people were clamoring for seats when the doors were thrown open. According to dispatches from the coast city a solid mass of people filled the streets and blocked the intersection all four ways in their endeavor to secure admission to this finest of Grauman houses. It was necessary to reinforce the extra police patrol with national guardsmen to keep some semblance of order. This was accomplished only after the theatre's plate glass doors and windows of the box office had been demolished. In connection with the opening Pathe News reel accomplished a considerable feat. Before the opening performance was concluded they showed on the screen the crowds clamoring for admission. The cameraman left with the negative for the laboratory at 8.50, reached the laboratory at 9 o'clock, reached the theatre with the developed and printed film at 11.20 and projected the reel for the audience showing at 11.30. Los Angeles newspapers commenting on the opening declared it one of the biggest events of the kind in the history of the city. The Los Angeles Times said : " The long waited occasion attracted more excitement than any similar event in the history of the city. It had been heralded for months and the culmination brought between twenty thousand and thirty thousand persons to the vicinity of the theatre. The opening was an ample demonstration of the fact that Sid Grauman has a theatre which is perhaps unrivalled in the country.'' Celebrities of the highest rank mingled with Oklahoma Bill Provides Drastic Measures THE following are excerpts from a drastic bill introduced in the Oklahoma State Senate January 23rd, which is sure to become a law, unless the Film Companies and Oklahoma Theatre Managers can head the bill off through the lobby route. Section 1. It shall be unlawful to exhibit within the State, any film of any person of criminal reputation, or of general reputed immoral character, or who has been convicted of crime unless such characters are presented in their true light as criminals suffering or' about to suffer punishment. It shall be unlawful to exhibit, expose to view, or to transport from one place to another within the State, any moving picture film showing or puporting to show the sex relations in such manner as to suggest immoral practices, or immoral conduct, or to incite to lust, or wherein any church, priest, minister of the gospel, is portrayed or exhibited in a ludicrous or degrading light. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of the above sections shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). Provided, each exhibition shall constitute a separate offense. the throngs. Many of them had the utmost difficulty in fighting their way through the crowds. Picture stars and city executives were out in large numbers and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ceremonies. Concrete construction is not new, but concrete art as found in Grauman's newest building is. William Lee Woollett, the architect who has designed the building's wonderful interior has drawn from the beautiful of all ages and has blended Grecian, Roman, Egyptian, and Chinese into an art entirely American. No effort had been made to conceal the concrete but all its beauties as a building material have been brought forth with consummate skill. The concrete had been permitted to flow naturally into great folds that resemble draperies in the decorations above the stage arc. It is in such things as this that Mr. Woollett has taken a building material used since man first learned to build and revealed qualities in it that have been unsuspected for ages. The massive pillars, eighty feet in height which rise at each side of the stage are impressive of strength. The infinite detail of the doiley ceiling with its attractive lighting facilities is a masterpiece of concrete construction of another kind. Gold, pink and green predominate in the color scheme of the building. Here and there black is used to accent the coloring. Designs that are almost futuristic adorn the walls. Practically all of the designs are symbolical. At the entrance of the theatre two symbolical figures are to be seen, one on either side. One is a weird figure of a snail with a goafs head. It is a representative of " Earthbound." On the other side is a figure of a lion with mouth open. The figure of a horse bearing the skull representative of tragedy adorns the top of one of the eight-foot pillars at the side of the stage. C. R. Wilson Business Manager of Missouri T. O. C. R. Wilson, a member of the board of directors of the M. P. T. O. Missouri, will act temporarily as business manager until that position has been filled, President Charles Sears announced this week. Mr. Wilson, whose home is in Liberty, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City, will be in charge of a service station, which will be established by the Missouri organization at Eighteenth street and Baltimore avenue, Kansas City. A call for a meeting of the executive board will be issued by President Charles Sears next week. The resignation of Lawrence E. Goldman, secretary and council, who was forced to resign because of the pressure of outside duties, probably will be accepted at the meeting, but it is doubtful if a business manager is named, as Mr. Wilson has planned a three months' trip over the state to promote the interests of the M. P. T. O. M. The meeting in all probability will be in Kansas City. Following the executive meeting, President Sears will go to Jefferson City, Mo., the state capital, to represent exhibitor interests during the legislative session in which reformers are working day and night to obtain the passage of a drastic censorship bill. Motion Picture News Series of Junior Programs Launched in Albany THE SERIES of "Junior Movies" for 1923 for Albany, N. Y., was formally launched last Saturday morning at the Mark Strand theater, with Mrs. Alfred E. Smith, wife of the governor, among those present. From now on similar entertainments will be given each week for the children of this city. Next week's program will be given at the Leland. The program each week will be arranged by Mrs. Frank W. Clark, acting in conjunction with the Mothers' club. Girl Scouts will act as ushers each week. Saturday's program included Wesley Barry's " Heroes of the Street." N. Y. Commission Files Annual Report Showing receipts of $155,000 and expenses of $83,000, the greater part of which went for salaries, the annual report of the New York State Motion Picture Commission, has just been presented to the Legislature. The report covers about 16 typewritten pages and is devoted in the main to argument justifying the continuance of censorship in this State. No comment was forthcoming from the Governor in connection with the report. It is a well known fact that Governor Smith is opposed to motion picture censorship and will welcome the opportunity of signing any bill which is passed during the present session, wiping the law from the statutes of the Empire State. The report shows among other things that the Commission examined 11,061 reels during the twelve months and that a total of 3,945 eliminations were made, these coming from 861 films, 2.516 films being approved without any eliminations whatever. There were 72 features condemned in their entirety. Licenses issued during the year numbered 3,377. Lobbyists Tighten Lines in Indiana Fight Neither of the state motion picture censorship bills pending in the House and Senate of the Indiana State Legislature have come to public hearing or been reported out of committee yet. Consequently lobbyists for and against were drawing their lines tight this week. So far there has been no organized opposition on the part of the photoplay industry but it was understood protective steps quietly were being taken. Two hundred ministers and laymen in Indianapolis adopted resolutions favoring censorship. The Indiana Indorsers of Phot plays continue to be the outstanding opp nents of censorship. Model Community Theatr Closed by Death The Fairfield, Ct., Community theatre, buil by the late Town Clerk Joseph I. Flint, con sidered a model business-playhouse structure for a town of that size has been indefinitely closed. Mr. Flint, a leader in the business and fraternal life of the town, died several months ago. Since his death, Mrs. Flint has been acting town clerk and has assumed management of his other interests. It is stated that the multitudinous duties are the cause of her decision to close the theatre, until some disposition of it is made by the estate.