Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1923)

3058 Motion Picture News si PICTURE PARAGRAPHS & DISCUSSING especially the subject of inspired pictures, a topic which has had practically no attention in motion picture conferences and councils, J. D. Williams said on his recent return from Europe : " Inspiration comes to the creative artist as a result of contacr with the extraordinary, the unusual and the essentially dramatic. We can in these countries, centuries older than our own, draw from the vast treasure houses of the world securing situations, ideas, plots, incidents, things of beauty, of humor, of romance, of dramatic intensity, of charm, of love, mystery, motive and desire, and utilize the best in the great and the small things of human history and achievement. Inspiration is almost certain with a creative mind. " If thus inspired, it will be possible for the creator of pictures to contrive mosaics for the screen that will be composed of varied elements, some great and compelling, others small and exquisite, fitted and joined into a sum total of human accomplishment and providing for the motion picture the final and the tremendous entertainment." THOS. H. INCE'S survey of present conditions in the motion picture industry is the basis of an optimistic forecast of what the New Year will bring forth. A message from his Culver City studios follows: " The coming year will, in my opinion, see a forward stride toward the stabilization of the industry. "The fair returns that any producer offering a passably entertaining picture once could collect, are no longer to be had for the asking. "Audiences are not satisfied today with average pictures. The past year has witnessed the birth of a score of pictures which deserve to be called great and they have whetted the appetite of the public for more." JUST by way of contradiction, Joe Brandt of C.B.C. expresses himself as follows: " With the coming of the closing of the year it would be well for all of us to look back over events past, weigh them in ratio to their good or bad effect upon the industry as a whole, and see just wherein we have been wrong and can do better. " A mental resume of the year just closing results in one unmistakable outstanding feature. The outstanding feature of 1923, in my opinion, has been the craze on the part of the producers to make big pictures. HetJSotJWan I! " The year 1923 has seen more pictures at $2.00 top on Broadway than ever before in the history of the industry, and it has given the producers and the public a false appetite." <<T F we can only make it bene1 ficial to all to co-operate with each other to one mutual end, I am sure we shall have better motion pictures for less money,'' is a part of a statement recently issued by W. F. Wood, vice president and general manager of the United Producers and Distributors. " Perhaps our greatest task will be to convince everybody concerned that the cost of a picture has not anything to do with the merits of it," Mr. Wood continues. " Until we can demonstrate to the exhibitor and the public alike that the producer can be guided into such pathways of economy as to make it possible for him to make a one hundred per cent picture for as little as $75,000, it will not be easy to obtain the kind of co-operation indispensable to achieving complete success." MAUICE TOURNEUR sees the future as follows: " The picture business will see striking improvements the next season. The improvements will be evident in every phase of picture making, from the time a stoo' is purchased for production, through the production process on to the final stage of publicity and exploitation. " It is my opinion, therefore, that next season will bring about — "First: Shorter, more dramatic features. " Second : The two-a-day policy will gain greater vogue in the larger cities. " Third : Waste in production will be eliminated, and more efficiency will be utilized in the present method of making pictures." "ALL ROADS LEAD TO -il RENO " proclaims the cover of Goldwyn Cosmopolitan's Exhibitors Service Book on Rupert Hughes' " Reno." " Divorced ! " says the 6-column newspaper ad reproduced on the back cover of the booklet. These two quotations show the special angles upon which the advertising, exploitation and publicity material for this picture have been prepared. The window card shows a man and woman, with baggage packed, sitting on trunks on opposite sides of a wall, waiting for trains to carry them away from each other. This same idea, but with different treatment, forms the basis of the striking 24sheet poster. The 6-shcet poster is also novel and indicative of the nature of the picture, which consists of the figure of a man and a woman at each end of the title " Reno." pulling away from each other, so that the N in Reno has cracked. "rYDUGLAS FAIRBANKS IN U ROBIN HOOD," the United Artists release, was the best motion picture shown in China Maurice Tourneur during 1923, according to the poll conducted by the China Mail, results in which have just reached this country. Not only did " Robin Hood " win first place, but two other Douglas Fairbanks productions, " The Three Musketeers " and " The Mark of Zorro," captured second and fourth place respectively, in the same contest. In an effort to determine the most popular picture of the year, the China Mail offered a prize of $50 gold to the person who would name the ten which received the highest vote. The paper comments that " after the first batch of votes had been registered there was no doubt that ' Robin Hood ' would win." tt *TpHE THREE MUSKEA TEERS ' is a magnificent picture," wrote the Rev. J. O'Boyle, of the faculty of St. Louis University, a Catholic theological school, at St. Louis, Mo., after this Douglas Fairbanks' picture had been screened for his benefit. The letter was written to William A. Shalit, manager of the St. Louis, United Artists Corporation branch office, and went on to say: "Through your kindness this picture was shown to a number of University professors, and the unanimous . verdict was that it stands out very prominently among the best films' made. The fear that it might have objectionable features is altogether groundless." THE W. W. Hodkinson Corporation has obtained the services of William de Leftwich Dodge, to design the twenty-four sheet for "Grit," the F. Scott Fitzgerald story of the underworld. Mr. Dodge is one of the foremost artists of the country and a member of both the Society of American Artists and The National Academy. POSTAL WORKERS of Los Angeles and nearby communities in southern California, after assisting in several big exploitation campaigns for the Emory Johnson production of "The Mailman" have sent Mr. Johnson a blanket letter of appreciation for what he has done for them in filming the picture and having -it presented to the public through the Film Booking Offices of America. The letter, signed by more than 300 postal workers, reads : "You have done much to help all mail workers. You have placed us before the great American public in exactly the light in which wc desire to be revealed. "Not only is your production worthy of the appreciation of all American lovers of entertainment, but, moreover, it merits the deepest gratitude of every man and .woman in the service of the nostal department of the United States." TACK COOGAN, SR., is very »J enhusiastic over the photography of Jackie's latest picture, "Long Live the King." Coogan ascribes the excellence of the Metro distributed prints to two causes. First, the work of his head cameraman, Frank Good. Second, the fact that the release prints were made by the Standard Film Laboratories in cooperation with Coogan's staff. IN order to help exhibitors put across "Radio-Mania," Hodkinson has arranged for the ordering of small radio receiving sets through their various exchanges. GOLDWYN PICTURES CORPORATION is justly proud oyer the quality of the casts selected for features. Among those most prominently identified with Goldwyn productions are the following : Lionel Barrymore, Alma Rubens, Robert B. Mantell, Colleen Moore, Anita Stewart, Seena Owen, Helene Chadwick, George Walsh, Lew Cody, Carmel Myers, Lucien Littlefield, Mae Busch, Conrad Nagel, Creighton Hale, De Witt Jennings, Hobart Bosworth, Harrison Ford, Mahlon Harrison, W alter Miller, Rose Coghlan, Mary McLaren, Frank Mayo, Virginia Yalli, Ford Sterling, Nigel de Brullier, Lucille Ricksen, Sidney Chaplin, Elmo Lincoln, Kate Lester, Walter Catlett, Faire Binney, John Sainpolis, Stuart Holmes, Mitchell Lewis, Claire Windsor, Edmund Loew, T. Roy Barnes, Dore Davidson, Forrest Stanley, Aileen Pringle, Eleanor Boardman, Huntley Gordon, Edith Roberts. THE press book on "Woman to Woman" has just been received from the Dancey-Davis Press, according to L. F. Guimond, director of Advertising and Publicity for the Selznick Distributing Corporation. "Our editorial department," said Mr. Guimond, "planned this book with the object of making it of real practical value to the exhibitor as well as something beautiful to delight his eyes. The cover is entirely different from anything which has appeared in the shape of press books. The front cover opens in the center and discloses a beautifully colored artist's portrait of Betty Compson.