Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1918)

Motion Picture N e wi 2020 " The Yellow Dog/' at Broadway Universal Announces That " The Yellow Dog" Will Open at the Broadway Theatre, September 29, for New York Run FOLLOWING its tryout at the Superba theatre in Los Angeles, " The Yellow Dog " has been given a final polishing and will be presented for a run at the Broadway theatre in New York City beginning September 29. Realizing that this production will have a great bearing upon the vital question of suppressing enemy propaganda, it was decided to put the screen version of Henry Irving Dodge's brilliant indictment of patriotically deficient Americans to the test of public approval in Los Angeles, where any changes found necessary could be made without delay. The production, however, was reported to have been received with great enthusiasm and the only changes that have been made are in the matter of " dressing " the titles. Throughout the United States there are now said to be over one thousand AntiYellow Dog Clubs, with a membership of over one million, that will greet this Jewel production when it is released on November 3, and it is confidently expected that the campaign against the spread of Hunbred discouraging rumors will receive added impetus when the visualized efforts of yellow dogism are seen on the screen. While the Universal Film Company has produced many stimulating patriotic films since the war began, " The Yellow Dog " is decidedly different from the features that have preceded it. It deals with the treacherous phases of the war as it is being secretly fought in America and is faithful to the printed story that called into being a gigantic civilian army to fight the influence of the German propagandists. The story from which this film was adopted stands unique in the literary world. It is a tale of plain, ordinary people in an average small suburban town without any apparent idealization by the author in depicting the important roles they play in the great war. Yet of all the war stories dealing with the first line trenches and describing battle scenes, it is asserted that none to date have aroused such militant patriotism as this story by Henry Irving Dodge in which there are no battles, no troops, no military scenes nor naval views. The furore created by the story is attributed to its intense human interest. It brought the war right home and showed the people in civilian clothes that they, too, had battles to fight with a branch of the Hun army more dangerous than the German in uniform. In fact clothed in its strong vein of humor, " The Yellow Dog " points to a double enemy — the secret agent of the Hohenzollerns and the incontinent tongue of the headstrong, thoughtless American. The literary critics in reviewing the book were unanimous in declaring it to be a great " win-the-war " story, and the opinion of the New York Times is an example of how the book was received in printed form. The literary critic of the New York One of the Scathing Denunciations in " The Yellow Dog," Jewel Production Times said in the issue of August 11 : " Mr. Dodge's idea and the story in which it is embodied are hoth so good that they have had immediate success, and ' YellowDog ' societies are being organized in many towns and cities for the purpose of spotting and showing up the slimy lies by which the enemy is making good Americans do his work for him. The little book ought to have readers by the hundred thousand and every one then ought to ask himself with deep searchings of the heart, ' Am I or have I been at any time a Yellow Dog?'" If the screen is as some claim, mightier than the printed word in circulating thought, then the premier of Jewel's production of "The Yellow Dog" will herald the advent of a great force in the battle agains the Hun on this side of the Atlantic. " The Bond " Is Chaplin's Liberty Loan Film A special propaganda picture called " The Bond " has been produced by Charlie Chaplin at the request of the United States Government and donated to it for use by the Liberty Loan Committee in the forthcoming drive for the Fourth Liberty Loan. It will be released September 21 by the First National Exhibitors' Circuit and given to exhibitors without charge. The production is one of essential propaganda value, produced by Mr. Chaplin apart from his work on regular releases. The cast includes Edna Purviance, his leading lady, who portrays the Goddess of Liberty in addition to other famous figures in a series of allegorical scenes, through which the Chaplin feet help to inject the spirit of humor and fun into the purpose of the Fourth Liberty Loan. Because " The Bond " is a special Government picture, and not a regular Chaplin release, representatives of the First National Exhibitors' Circuit will ask all exhibitors who show it to agree to advertise it to their patrons as a propaganda production exclusively. Metro Selects Sites for West Coast Studios Richard A. Rowland, president of the Metro Pictures Corporation, definitely announced in Los Angeles this week that he has picked a site for new Metro studios to house the activities of eight or nine companies that are coming West this fall and winter. Building operations will necessarily be held up, he said, until the company receives a permit from the War Industries Board to begin construction work. The architect's plans for the new accommodations have been forwarded to Washington, together with statistics showing the amount of material and labor that will be necessary to construct the proposed new studios. Mr. Rowland says that it is absolutely necessary that new quarters be secured for the producing companies he intends to bring to California, and that these quarters must either be newly constructed or leased. Thus far, he said, he has been unable to lease the facilities needed. Farnum's Latest Declared Triumph by Fox William Farnum has scored the greatest success of his career in the dramatization of Zane Grey's novel, " Riders of the Purple Sage," according to an announcement made this week by the William Fox offices. " First-run houses everywhere report a tremendous business," says the statement. " The manager of the Kinema says that he has played numerous male stars since he opened his theatre, but all of them had proved failures. William Farnum in ' Riders of the Purple Sage,' however, opened on a Sunday to a record crowd. Moreover, the crowds continued throughout the whole week, capacity' houses being the rule at every performance. The manager reports that he did the biggest business he has ever done, with this production." Edna Goodrich is Starred by Mutual Film in " Treason "