Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1923)

March i o, 1923 1195 Accessories Ready for "Salome" Attractive Aids^Are Announced by Allied for Nazimova Production TIMES said about BEARDSLEY studios in "black and white ' — this is a phrase which aptly might be applied to the lithograph paper, lobby display, ready made ads and the exhibitor's campaign book issued by Allied Froducers and Distributors Corporation in connection with Nazimova's production of Oscar Wilde's poetic drama " Salome " now in an extended run at the Criterion theatre, New York. As has been widely announced all the settings and scenery in the picture were designed by Natacha Rambova after the style of Aubrey Beardsley, famous English artist who illustrated the original edition of the Oscar \\ ilde text. These designs were carried out in making the lithograph paper of which there is but one style of twentyfour sheet, one six sheet, one three sheet, one one sheet and one half sheet window card. These lithographs are in black and white on a gray background, the only bit of color being a narrow ribbon of red on the border and a touch of red on the lips of the figure of Salome. In the 11 x 14 lobby display cards a border drawing after the style of Beardsley surrounds each still from the production, and the cards are finished in solid blacks and whites. With the 22 x 28 lobby cards the same designs as those on the twenty-four and one sheet posters were used, again the colors being black and white. The same Beardsley effect is carried out in the one, two and three column ready made advertisements which are exceptionally striking and which are of such a nature that they will stand out strongly against any other advertisement on any amusement page. The exhibitor's campaign book of sixteen pages is in straight black and white all the way through, the front cover page being made up of one of the scenes from the Dance of the Seven Veils, the veil forming a white background for the gray figure of Salome, the whole setting against a dead black background which runs flush to the edges of the page. Paper, lobby display and campaign book have been widely commented on and praised by exhibitors who have booked Xazim ova's " Salome." N.Y.Will See "If Winter Comes" Fox Screen Version Of Famous Story For Broadway Before General Release THE extraordinary success of A. S. M. Hutchinson's book "If Winter Comes," which, notwithstanding the fact that it is now in its second year of publication, is still one of the best sellers, has given added impetus to the interest aroused by the announcement that the William Fox screen version of "If Winter Comes" will be given a Broadway showing before being released generally throughout the country. The book has already had an enormous amount of advertising both in this country and in England. The guarantee given the screen version by Fox Film Corporation's production is found in the nature of the adroitly selected cast, headed by Percy Marmont and Ann Forrest ; also in the reputation for splendid results of Harry Millarde, who directed the picture, and the care and expense put on its filming here and in England. Many months of the closest application to the work in hand were required, and the services of all grades of English society were employed as a suitable background to the military and mob scenes while the exteriors were being shot. Never before has the remarkable picturesque scenery of the land of George V. been so faithfully reproduced by an American film company it is claimed. Its famous castles, manor houses, cathedrals, village streets and country lanes have all been used just as they were introduced into the story by the celebrated author. The filming of the novel created every indication of keen interest among the inhabitants of the towns and villages. Roy W. Hinds, an American writer who was in England at the time, bears witness to the enthusiastic reception given the American director and the members of the company. Strong|Cast for Second Nigh Production The effort of Director Will Nigh and his distributors, L. Lawrence Weber and Bobby North to capture the finest screen stars available for their second release, has been crowned with success. Not only have Tom Moore and Ann Forrest been secured, but an aggregation of sterling screen characters as famous in their particular roles as the leads are in theirs, has been added to the cast. Harry T. Morey, foremost " society strongman," and star of " Beyond the Rainbow" has been cast for a fitting role in Nigh's second, now being made at the Metro Studios, New York. Edmund Breese, veteran paternal character of the stage and screen, plays his famous role in Nigh's second production. Florence Billings is remembered from her past performance in " Who Are My Parents " and " What Fools Men Are." Shannon Day is another favorite included in the cast. She appeared in "Manslaughter," "Affairs of Anatol " and " One ^lear C->U." Driven," the motion picture of Southern' mountaineer life which opened an engagement at the Criterion Theatre yesterday afternoon, is. one of the~most genuine films evfen shown on Briadway. Except for its ending, which Is, in. part, a concession to the popular taste for theatrical hokum, it is convincingly sin-, cere. And, most important of all, it is intensely dramatic. It. is dramatic Jjeeause it is rooted in reality, in a true situation, and grows logically, inevita0I3-, up from its solid ground. ^And it is unusually well made. Charles J! Brabin, who broke away from the movie millyard to do something he want-, ed to do in motion picture creation, went down into the Southern mountains to make this film. He sought a natural setting, he took competent players with him, and he grasped the fundamentals of 'life in the mountain's before he used the*camera.« Then he made the picture.; [lie brought technical jskill and an instinct for cinematographic expressiveness to his task, and the result is a story ,iri living pictures, pictures that you 'can't get away Urorn and are not likely to forget for a long time/' There are scenes in "Driven" that reach the summit of cinematographic power. It Is Impossible to imagine how the things the^r say could be more effectively tolct As thej mother In the' mountains'; Emily Fitzroy gives a thrilling performance. Her life is dead. She is broken. Her ■face is forever set in weariness— except when it blazes fn resolution. And when it. blazes, the spectator sits up in his seat. He feels the fire. The others in the cast are also good. Elinor Fair, as the girl, is appealing, and Charles Emmett Mack, though not altogether a happy selection for his r61e, still gives it the essential character, it demands. He weakens it chiefly in 'the close-ups, of which might be fewer. Burr Mcintosh, as the father and George Bancroft as I,em are true to their type and make themselves plain. Altogether, the acting is -excellent. A CHARLES BRABIN Production UNIVERSAL JEWEL £>-Carl Laemmle