Motion Picture News (Jul-Aug 1916)

246 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 14, No. 2 '■■■'■|---TTT^ I AMONG THE EXCHANGES Tlippnijn Willi iiiiiliiiilli masm Lavele Is Appointed Manager of " U " Exchange in Clarksburg^ W. Va.; Miners Strong for Pictures, Says Carrick JOSEPH LAVELE, formerly of Exhibitor's Film Exchange of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has been appointed manager at Clarksburg, West Virginia of the new Universale Film Exchange branch of the Interstate Film Company. This exchange will supply all the territory around the Blue Ridge east of Huntingdon and west of Cumberland. This is all soft coal region and C. V. Carrick, district manager of Interstate, whose recent trip through the country resulted in the formation of this new exchange, has much of interest to relate. Mr. Carrick says motion pictures are the principal relaxation of the miners. Every town, however small, has its picture house, no matter how crude. Even a village of 400 to 500 inhabitants will have one or two shows a week and these exhibitors make money at that. Their films need not be new, hence their service price is small. A tin pan piano makes music that sounds luxurious to these horny handed sons of toil. As the price charged is invariably ten cents and as every soul in the town who can walk, hobble or crawl goes, it can be seen readily that to him a princely profit accrues every open night to the thrifty proprietor. Although " Dollars and the Woman," the Lubin V-L-S-E release, was triumphantly passed by the Court of Common Pleas over the censors edict of disapproval recently, it has not yet been shown in Pennsylvania. It was advertised for the Victoria theatre beginning June 19, but another picture was substituted at the last minute. It is reported that the censors, not relishing their defeat, are trying to get the Lubin Company to modify the picture according to censorial ideas, which the producers are not willing to do. The censors having the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, can prohibit the showing of a film with such an appeal pending. Unless a compromise is effected shortly the case will doubtless be appealed. " Where Are My Children ? " is still in the hands of the Pennsylvania Board of Censors. In New Jersey it is beating all records. About one hundred New Jersey theatres have already booked it. Philadelphians can take it in at Atlantic City, where it is having the second week's run at the Nixon theatre. Pavlowa, in her " Dumb Girl of Portici," is booked in fifty theatres up to date. The Supreme Feature Film Service, Inc., which handles these features, finds itself so pushed for room already, although only a few weeks at 1,325 Vine street, that Manager Harry Grelle is looking around for additional space. " Business," said he, " is so much better than we anticipated we must have more room at once." Some of the towns in which Leon Netter has booked " Spoilers " are Altoona, New Caetle, Wilkes-Barre, Bethlehem, South Bethlehem, Scranton, Pittston, in Pennsylvania; Hoboken, West Hoboken, Union Hill, Montclair, Dover. Others are bobbing up daily. pany, is also traveling for the Mutual Film Corporation. The wife of " Nate " Block, president of the Center Amusement Company of St. Joseph, Missouri, died last week. Hall, Kansas City, Will Attend the Chicago Convention; Young Formerly in Cincinnati, on Road for Mutual P H. WACHTER, manager of the Fox Film Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., recently went to Nevada, Missouri. George Kleine books Billie Burke serial for the Willis-Wood theatre. A. C. Melvin, manager of the Kleine office, left June 27 for Wichita, Kansas, to be gone the rest of the week. The Pathe Exchange, Inc., announces that it has the " Iron Claw " running in forty-one houses in Kansas City, and the serial "Who's Guilty?" for which it recently took the agency, is now booked in nineteen theatres. M. A. Levy, president of the United Film Service, Chicago, 111., and his brother, Joe Levy, Los Angeles, California, went to Kansas City last week to look over the office, of which A. A. Chatkin is manager. M. A. Levy announced that Joe Levy would succeed Mr. Chatkin, who will be given an office in some larger city. G. B. Howe, Associated Film Service Company, has been trying to secure a contract for the " Hans and Fritz " serial for the vicinity of Missouri and Kansas. Mr. Howe recently put William Sillman, formerly properietor of the Lyric theatre, Kansas City, Kansas, in charge of the poster department. Mr. Sillman is an experienced exchange man, and with his addition to the company, Mr. Howe expects success for that department of the exchange. E. J. Hall, Western Film Exchange, will attend the Motion Picture Exhibitors League of America Convention to be held at Chicago in July. Other exchange men will probably go. E. E. Young, formerly of the Cincinnati office of the Bluebird Exchange, is now working on the road for the Mutual Film Corporation. Frank E. Owens, formerly with the Kansas City Feature Film Com FVLLER CONCEIVES ADVERTISING STUNT FOR WORLD FILMS George W. Fuller, in charge of the World Film Exchange at 3626 Olive street, St. Louis, conceived the idea of advertising World Film pictures in the Sunday Globe Democrat in the issue of June 18, giving a hst of the World features to be shown during the week at local houses, giving the names of the theatres, and the dates on which the pictures were to be shown. The advertisement appeared at the head of the " Movie Directory " column, which is made up of a number of leading neighborhood motion picture theatre advertisements. The Mutual Film Corporation Exchange, at 1311 Pine street, St. Louis, has decided to discontinue the handling of supplies and various lines of motion picture theatre accessories. Fred A. Keller, manager of the exchange says that all the time and energy that was formerly devoted to several lines of manufacture, will now be concentrated on the matter of placing the Mutual program. EXHIBITORS BOOK WORLD PICTURES FROM "NEWS" ADVERTISEMENT, SAYS GOLDSTONE Manager Goldstone of the World exchange in Omaha says his is the only exchange in that part of the country to get additional copies of each picture on all releases at this time. " Business is so good we need them to supply the demand," he said. Goldstone is delighted with the reception given the Brady-made World Film pictures. " I am convinced the advertising they did in Motion Picture News has been a great aid to our efforts," he said. " Orders began coming in for them almost before our salesmen were on the road. I am convinced more every day that exhibitors read the advertisements for pictures, and go a whole lot by what the advertisements say." GENERAL EXCHANGE IN OMAHA NOW A BUYING CENTER Edward A. Schuster, traveling auditor for the General, spent a week at the Omaha exchange recently. He commented at length on the remarkable gains made in business since the exchange recently came under the management of C. W. Taylor and ceased to be only a distributing center. The Omaha exchange is now a buying center.