Motion Picture News (Jul-Oct 1914)

38 THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS Police Dog Steals Necklace in Films 'Our Mutual Girl" Used a Canine Crook That Forgets Its Thief-Catching Training and Reverts to Wolfish Tendencies THE thief catcher who trains dogs to aid him in his detection and capture of criminals is in danger of being hoisted by his own petard. The fact that a dog is intelligent enough to catch a thief proved to an expert in criminology that a dog would be successful also as a thief. This is not an academic discussion of possibilities, but a cold statement of facts, for in Chapter 30 of "Our This is the way she first was employed in the film: Mrs. Knickerbocker, Our Mutual Girl's wealthy aunt, purchases a $50,000 necklace at Tiffany's as her niece's birthday present. The aunt is seen to buy the antique cameos by the clever thief who owns Anni. He follows Mrs. Knickerbocker to her home, marks the various ways of ingress and egress and then gets his dog. ANNI STEALS "OUR MUTUAL GIRL'S" NECKLACE admission. The man with the large seating capacity can aflford to stay at five cents and give a prett}^ good exhibition. The extent of the performance to be given depends, in a large measure, on the admission fee. At the same time there is considerable latitude for any manager in booking films, even if he decides to take one of the services ofifered by the larger film companies. There is always a choice to be made of films in any service, and a manager should make up his mind early what sort of films best please his patrons. In some locations educational films may be used to advantage on every program. In others, the Westerns are always suitable. In practically every house comedies are in demand, but some can use more than others. W^hen it comes to taking special features, and extra reel pictures, a manager finds himself up against a hard problem, especially if he has made up his mind to stick to the lower rate of admission. It is practically impossible to show these features at low prices, and yet people have been educated by the larger houses to expect them. Whether to show anything but pictures is another question that always comes up, and here again only the wishes of his patrons should be consulted. Once the wishes of his patrons have been discovered, it is plain sailing for any manager. Then it is simply a question of keeping cool in summer, warm in winter, and clean under all conditions. Yours truly, A Live Wire. MILWAUKEE BUSINESS IS GOOD Special to The Motion Picture News Milwaukee, Wis.. Sept. 2. WITH the arrival of the cool, damp evenings of early fall, Milwaukee exhibitors are experiencing the usual pre-autumn boom in their business. Though the days are as yet a bit too warm to suit the exhibitor, the evenings are ideal, being just cool and damp enough to drive people ofif the streets into the theatres. The downtown houses in particular are feeling the good effects of the cool nights and the evening's business is gradually creeping up to the winter mark. The war has had little or no effect on business as far as the exhibitor is concerned, unless it has stimulated it a bit. Up to date none of the houses have shown any war pictures, though the Majestic had a Burton Holmes war talk, which, though it got business, failed to please. Exhibitors have, on the whole, been a little shy of v/ar pictures, either slides or films. Mutual Girl," written by Irvin S. Cobb, a former German police dog is employed to steal a valuable cameo necklace. He does it with such skill and so defies detection after the act that what started out merely as fiction has turned into a very solemn condition. The dog's name is Anni von der Heinrichsburg. She is a German schaferhund (sheep dog), born at Hellingen, Weimar, Germany, on Dec. 10, 1909. So she is not five years old. Anni comes from a splendid line of German police dogs, and as the Germans were first to utilize dogs for poI'ce, war and life-saving purposes, this lineage bespeaks years of inherited training. Anni's mother is Resel von Jena Paradies, the champion female dog of Germany. Her father was Siegfried von Jena Paradies, another champion. Irvin S. Cobb, who is writing "Our Mutual G'rl" scenarios, and Arthur James, editor of "Our Mutual Girl," heard of Anni, her antecedents and her combative tendencies. When they collaborated, the one as writer and the other as editor, they decided to work Anni into the film. In the meanwhile Mrs, Knickerbocker has given Margaret, Our Mutual Girl, her present. And Our Mutual Girl, delighted with the splendid gift, rapturously shows it to all her friends. Then, girl-like, she leaves it in her dresser while she dines. Anni hides under the bed until Margaret retires, and then gains possession of the necklace. The whole affair, shown in minute detail on the screen, proves beyond even the lawyer's reasonable doubt the possibilities of a skilled police dog as thief. In a subsequent chapter of "Our Mutual Girl" Anni's owner is caught because he becomes arrogant and throws caution to the winds. REGENT OPENING PUT OFF Special to The Motion Picture News Buffalo, N. Y., Sept. 3. Because of delay in decorating, the Regent Theatre, at the corner of Main and Utica streets, will not open for two or three weeks. The Regent is to be one of the most attractive houses in Buffalo. Work on the other Mark house in the downtown section is progressing rapidly, and it is expected that the opening date will be some time in November.