Motion Picture News (May-Jun 1923)

June 2 , 1923 2681 Exchange and Exhibitor Items from St. Louis THE St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Friday, May 18, by unanimous vote decided to file Alderman Wimer's Daylight Saving Bill. Previously the committe on legislation had recommended that such action be taken. St. Louis is overwhelmingly against the freak of the clock, an outgrowth of the late war. The only ones in favor of the measure were the few who would profit by an extension of daylight. The Quality Motion Picture Company of America, University City, Mo., will shortly issue the first number of a weekly motion picture newspaper to be known as Things You Ought to Know. B. T. Cornell, formerly with the National Film Publicity Company, is editor of the news weekly. It will be under personal supervision of Romaine Fielding, president and director general of the General Film Manufacturing Company, which controls the Quality company. Wilbern Murphy has re-opened the theatre at Omaha, 111., and was in St. Louis during the week arranging for his programs. Charley Werner, manager for Metro, departs for New York on June 2 to attend the annual Metro convention. He will spend several days in the East. Joseph Desberger, formerly manager for the American Releasing Corporation here, has joined Charley Werner's. Metro sales organization. His territory has not been assigned as yet. Desberger is very well known throughout the St. Louis film district and should prove a valuable addition to the Metro staff. Enterprise has secured the Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois rights to " The Challenge of Chance " in which Jess Willard is featured. It will be released immediately. Jack Underwood, Enterprise manager, has also secured some new one-reel novelty films. William Goldman, owner of the Kings and Queens theatres has gone to Atlantic City to attend the Goldwyn convention as the guest of Jack Weil, manager of the St. Louis Goldwyn exchange. Goldman has. plans prepared and ground purchased for a $1,000,000 movie palace at Grand boulevard and Morgan street to be known as Goldman's St. Louis theatre. It will be ready for exhibition next fall if present plans mature. R. J. McManus, Paramount boss, back from the Ciiicago convention is filled with enthusiasm for the coming season. Sees nothing but big things, ahead. Reports that optimism was paramount at Chicago. His entire gang are pepped up and raring to bust new records. Nothing like a convention to get the boys hitting on all six. Visitors of the past week included Sam Hallowell, of Assumption, 111. ; Billy Mueller, of Jefferson City. Mo. : J. Schuckert, of Chester, 111. ; Tom Reed, of Duquoin, 111., and Jim Reilly, of Alton. Sam Werner, of United Film Service ; Barney Rosenthal, of Universal, and Floyd Lewis, of Select Pictures, have gone to Chicago to adjust with the Chicago Film Board of Trade the Illinois territory to be served by the film board of the two cities. This move is part of Will Hays' plan of bringing about closer cooperation between the distributors and exhibitors. While in Chicago Werner will take advantage of the opportunity to present to the exhibitors national convention his, views on the question of" support of independent productions. Werner is the dean of the St. Louis exchange owners and managers and his experiences in film distribution are very interesting and have given an insight into the business that few men in the exchange field today possess. His remarks to the exhibitors are bound to be not only interesting but very valuable. John Davis, manager for Associated Exhibitors, is back from Mattoon, 111., where he put over an interesting campaign to exploit the showing of " Grandma's Boy " at the Strand theatre. Reports that the standing room only sign was in demand. The American Federation of Musicians in national convention at Hotel Chase, St. Louis, Mo., May 17, defeated a resolution condemning traveling orchestras that enter towns and present unusual feats of music in competition with local players. It was decided that the public is entitled to hear the travelers if they want to. Much of the first two days of the convention was given over to a discussion of ways and means of increasing wages. Music as such was not touched upon. One resolution asked that the pay of traveling show musicians be increased from $65 to $75 on week stands ; from $70 to $80 when playing broken weeks. Another resolution fixed the pay of carnival players at $40 a week and leaders at $65, and a third resolution stated that players in minstrel bands should get the same pay as carnival players.. The Legislative Committee of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen on May 16 by a vote of six to one decided to file Alderman Wimer's Daylight Saving ordinance. This means that the measure is dead. It provided that the clock should be advanced one hour on the first Sunday in June to the first Sunday in September this year and from the fourth Sunday in April to the last Sunday in September in succeeding years. A recent poll indicated that St. Louisiana were more than two to one against the proposed ordinance, and it was certain that a referendum election would have knocked it out if passed by the Aldermen. Miss Bertha Evelyn Gumpenberg, 3035 Rutger street, St. Louis, May 17, filed suit in the St. Louis Circuit Court against the GrandRialto Theatre Company for $3,000 damages claiming she was. hit in the right eye by a bullet fired by a performer at the Grand Opera House on November 18 last. Around Seattle s Photoplay Trade Circles WE. BAMFORD, for the last several sea• sons manager of the Goldwyn exchange in this city, has left here and will be succeeded by Seth Perkins, who has already taken up his duties as branch manager. Mr. Bamford went direct to Atlantic City from Seattle to attend the Goldwyn convention being held there, and from Atlantic City he expects to go to New York and spend some time there. After that it is thought probable that he will be sent out into the intermountain country by the Goldwyn company, although it is not known in just what capacity he will serve. Mr. Perkins has been a member of the Goldwyn force in Los Angeles for the last five years and is already well known among some of the film and theatre men in this territory. Ralph Pielow, formerly a member of the sales staff working out of the Seattle office of Goldwyn, has just become manager of the company's branch in Portland, Oregon. Before joining the Goldwyn staff here Mr. Pielow was manager of the Seattle Hodkinson exchange. Mike Rosenberg, secretary of the Principal Pictures Corporation, arrived in the city this week and expected to stay here for four or five days before returning to Los Angeles. Mr. Rosenberg made the trip especially to visit the De Luxe Feature Film exchange, under the management of his brother, Al Rosenberg, in order to, make plans for the handling and distribution of the Principal Pictures fall releases. " Environment." which is being shown all over the Pacific Coast under the original title of " Chicago Sal," was playing a week's engagement at John Hamrick's Blue Mouse theatre here during Mr. Rosenberg's stay, and got away to a good start the first three days of the run. Indications were that it would round out a successful week at this house. J. A. Gage, manager of the Educational exchange, left Seattle this week for New York, where he expected to remain for from three weeks to one month before returning to this city. During his absence the exchange is under the management of Wallace Rucker, salesman for the local office, who has just returned from a road trip into Oregon and Montana. The branch here has just been repainted and new signs have been put up, making it one of the most attractive offices on the Row. " Where the Pavement Ends," " Soul of the Beast" and "Success" have just been sold to John Hamrick for exhibition at his Blue Mouse theatre here by Carl Stern, manager of the local Metro exchange. " Where the Pavement Ends " was scheduled to begin a week's engagement on May 20. " Soul of the Beast " was announced as a June 24 release and " Success " was booked to run at the theatre about the third week of July. A. F. Gollofon, for the last two years head booker at Manager J. R. Beal's Hodkinson exchange, will leave that office the end of May to become booker at the First National exchange here. Mr. Gollofon's successor has not yet been announced by Mr. Beal. " Youthful Cheaters " is the latest Hodkinson release to be received her and is already being shown to local exhibitors. T. Guinan, traveling auditor for the Vitagraph company, has just arrived in this city at Manager H. A. Black's exchange on a tour of the twenty-eight Yitagraph branch offices. Mr. Black has just returned to the city after a tenday trip in Eastern Washington, and reports business conditions in that part of the territory as looking much better. Prospects for an ex cellent crop this season indicate greater prosperity in the state, and Spokane, where Mr. Black spent several days, already begins toshow signs of the coming improvement in affairs. A. M. McCrary has just joined the local First National sales staff and will cover the Eastern Washington territory for that company. " Slander the Woman," " Scars of Jealousy " and " The Bright Shawl ' have been received by Manager Charles H. Feldman and have been booked into the Liberty and Coliseum theatres in this city for early showings. L. K. Brin, manager of the L. K. Brin exchanges, has returned to the city from a two weeks' trip to Los Angeles, where he conferred with Harry Warner in regard to the handling of the Warner Brothers coming releases. Two Seattle theatre men left this city for New York in May, one on a short business trip and one to remain in the East permanently. John G. Von Herberg, president of the JensenVon Herberg circuit of theatres in the Pacific Northwest, has gone on to the Eastern coast on a business mission and will probably be away from this territory for several weeks. L. O. Lukan, formerly Western Division manager of the First National company and more recently general manager of the John Hamrick circuit of Blue Mouse theatres, will return to the employ of First National following receipt of a telegram asking him to report at the New York office at his earliest convenience. It is not known at present in just what capacity he will serve the organization. " Strongheart." accompanied by Julie, his " leading lady." and a company of supporting artists and technical staff members were recent visitors iii this city.