Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1923)

1547 Inspiration Pictures present Richard Barthelmess with Dorothy Gish in " The Bright Shawl," a First National attraction. Book for the Women, Says Saxe Contends That Feminine Patronage Makes or Breaks Picture Theatres March 31, 1923 Elaine Hammerstein Signs Long Term Contract IMMEDIATELY after the arrival of M. H. Hoffman in Los Angeles, advice was received at the New York headquarters of the Truart Film Corporation, that Elaine Hammerstein had been signed to a long term contract. The arrangements call for four big pictures a year, which are to be directed and supervised by Edward Dillon, who is now completing " Broadway Gold," in which Miss Hammerstein appears, together with Elliot Dexter and Kathlyn Williams. The Hammerstein-Dillon productions will be distributed under Mr. Hoffman's direction by the Truart Film Corporation, as independent state-rights offerings. The Renown Exchanges will release the Elaine Hammerstein pictures in the New York, Buffalo, Northern New Jersey and Chicago territories, while the arrangements are now pending with the leading independent exchanges throughout the country whereby a full one hundred per cent distribution will be assured the new Hammerstein-Dillon series. Famous Sends "Nanook" Producer to South Seas To do for the natives of the South Seas what he did for the Eskimo in his film, " Nanook of the North," Robert J. Flaherty, F.R.G.S., "will sail next month at the head of an expedition to Savaii, westernmost of the Samoan group of islands in the Southern Pacific, according to an announcement by Jesse L. Lasky, first vice-president of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, under ■whose auspices the expedition is being undertaken. Mr. Flaherty, whose picture, " Nanook of the North," was hailed last year as one of the most unusual films ever made, will leave New York April 12 and will sail from San Francisco on the steamship Sonoma April 24. He will remain in the South Seas for at least a year. " This is the most ambitious project of its kind ever attempted in motion pictures," said Mr. Lasky, in making the announcement. " Mr. Flaherty will take with him a complete technical equipment for the making of motion pictures, so that when he returns from Savaii next year his picture will be practically finished. " The Paramount-Flaherty expedition to the South Seas is the first in a series of expeditions which we plan to have him make for us. Although these pictures cannot help being educational, our primary purpose is entertainment, and we expect that the Flaherty South Sea picture will combine education with entertainment, just as was done in ' Nanook of the North.' " F.B.O. Signs Tom Wilson for Long Term Tom Wilson has been signed by Film Booking Offices of America under a long-term contract. Wilson has won notice on both stage and screen as a character actor. He will appear in "The Remittance Woman " with Ethel Clayton, awaiting release by F. B. 0., and he also has an important part in the forthcoming F. B. 0. attraction, " Now You See It." THE hand that rocks the cradle tilts the box office, according to Thomas Saxe of Milwaukee, Secretary-Treasurer of the Saxe Amusement Enterprises and First National franchise holder for Wisconsin. The Milwaukee theatre owner, who is spending two weeks in New York as a member of First National's Rotating Committee, is emphatic in his statement that as far as the week in and week out attendance is concerned, feminine patronage either makes or breaks a motion picture house today, and that the really successful picture owner is going to book his attractions from the point of view of the women among his fans. Mere man never before received such a resounding slap as he does from Mr. Saxe, who says: " It is the women and young girls who are supporting the theatres today. Get them in and your success is assured. The men follow as a matter of course. Consequently, the thing for the vigilant theatre owner to do, as we are finding it in our experience, is to look at the booking of pictures from a woman's point of view. " We have been noting quite a few points of interest in our theatres this last year. Business is considerably better than a year ago. So are the pictures. Patrons are commencing to weary of the costume pictures that had a vogue for a while. They want love stories, with heart interest. Above everything else they Avant a strong society drama with formal clothes and elaborate functions. " The big productions are the ones that are getting the business. By that I do not necessarily mean the long ones. Six reels is long enough for any picture. Drawn beyond that length, it is too long for the fans to follow, and it doesn't give the small town theatre the chance for a proper turnover. Six reels meet all requirements, including the possibility of making a really big production ; and a picture limited to that length gives a manager a chance to round out his program with a news reel, scenic and comedy and to make a really satisfactory and varied evening's entertainment. " An attractive prologue and ingenious presentation may help ; but there has been a tendency to exaggerate their value. After all, it is the feature that counts. That is what the majority of patrons have come to see, and it will determine in their minds whether or not the afternoon or evening has been satisfactory entertainment." Mr. Saxe, who is rounding out his eighteenth year in the business, is optimistic over future conditions. To demonstrate this belief he mentioned casually that despite the fact that there are five first run houses in Milwaukee now, the Saxe Amusement Enterprises would open the finest and largest one of all on January 1. This will be the Wisconsin, a 3,300 house, in a six-story building at the corner of Grand and Sixth streets, Milwaukee. Schertzinger Will Direct "The Man Next Door" Albert E. Smith, president of Vitagraph, ui)on his return to New York City last week from Hollywood announced that he had engaged Victor L. Schertzinger to direct the forthcoming special, " The Man Next Door," by Emerson Hough, the author of " The Covered Wagon."