Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1918)

3536 Motion Picture News " The Greatest Gift " is the title of an American Red Cross picture, by court esy of Paramount and distributed free by General. It is in a single reel Dalton Prepares " Beyond Law " for Market EMMETT DALTON, general manager of the Southern Feature Film Corporation, whose initial production was shown to an appreciative audience last Tuesday, now announces that " Beyond the Law," the picture in question, is ready for State rights and foreign disposition. Mr. Dalton expressed himself in rather glowing terms on the reception given " Beyond the Law " at its premiere showing at Wurlitzer Fine Arts Hall. "The picture went over even better than I thought it would," said Mr. Dalton. " After it had been shown, a good number of the audience which comprised the trade press, foreign and State rights buyers and other film folk, told me that I had a production which was destined to create a furor in the industry. Of course, my picture will not create a furor, but it will JEWEL PRODUCTIONS continue to report receiving a string of letters and telegrams from exhibitors and exchange men expressing endorsements of various pictures released by that organization. Judging from the tone of many of these letters, there seems to be a sort of competition under way among exhibitors in the very small towns to see which can show the best results and biggest profits on productions of big calibre. This represents a sort of revolution in the policy of small town exhibitors, according to Jewel. In past history the little theatres have been content to book only the lowest-priced subjects, it is said, on the unwritten theory that a big production and a big investment would only make them go broke. The date of the changed belief is attached by Jewel Productions to the time that it began to exploit its superf eatures in the small towns. Several months ago Jewel made inquiries among three or four small-town exhibitors as to how they came out in handling such pictures as " The Kaiser — The Beast of Berlin " and " Crashing Through to Berlin." " The answer was in each case that the exhibitor had been amazed at the at serve the exhibitor's purpose, to satisfy his partons and his box-office. That in the final analysis is the test of any picture; and I am certain that ' Beyond the Law ' can stand that test. " Once again do I want to impress upon the State rights and the foreign film buyer that my picture is in no way a story founded on fiction, but on fact. The story is an historical one, and the picture enhances the value of the story by the fact that it was taken on the actual prairies on which the original story was enacted in real life. " My brothers and myself lived the life of the picture several years ago, and therefore I, as the sole survivor of the Dalton boys, am in a position to state that ' Beyond the Law ' is an historical picture founded on fact." tendance and the profits obtained on an increased admission price," said a Jewel official. The letter written by the manager of the Lyric, of Platte Center, Nebraska, which town has a population of 500, was published in several of the trade magazines. The Lyric man testified that he took $177 gross on " The Kaiser — The Beast of Berlin," and he showed that this gave him a record-breaking profit. As a result of this letter, it is said that several dozen other exhibitors have written in presenting evidence that they either equal the Platte Center record or beat it. War Industries Board Sees Labor Film Harry Levey, manager of the Industrial Department of Universal Film Manufacturing Company, and Nat Rothstein, showed the labor picture and patriotic film, "Keep the Home Fires Burning" to the War Industries Board in convention at Atlantic City. They declare that this is the biggest industrial picture made in the history of industrial pictures. American Defense Society Film Is Shown A private showing will be given of " Keep the Home Fires Burning," the first victory film depicting the birth of a Greater America, produced under the supervision of the American Defense Society. Harry Levey, manager of the industrial department of the Universal, made this picture, which is said to be new in theme and vast in scale and brilliancy of treatment. Among the officers of the American Defense Society who are expected to attend are Theodore Roosevelt, David Jayne Hill, Perry Belmont, Charles J. Bonaparte, Charles S. Fairchild, Mrs. Charles S. Whitman, Mrs. Robert Lansing, George Ade, Hamlin Garland, Eleanor Gates, Owen Johnson, Cleveland Moffatt and Don Marquis. Doris Kenyon Company in North Carolina Doris Kenyon and her company spent Thanksgiving Day in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, where the exteriors of her next picture, " Twilight," are being made. J. Searle Dawley, the director, declared a holiday, and Thomas A. Persons, studio manager, who is also with the party, provided a most bountiful repast, which was served at Esmeralda Inn, twenty-five miles from Asheville, N. C. Return Dates Reported on " The Kaiser's Finish " Theatre patrons in Richmond, Va., gave " The Kaiser's Finish " such a reception at the Bluebird theatre there that it has been booked for a return engagement according to a telegram received by A. Warner, from Mrs. A. E. Thorpe, who manages the house. The telegram reads : " Tremendous business on four-day engagment ' The Kaiser's Finish.' Patrons voice one hundred per cent. Congratulate you on same. Have booked return engagement." Jewel Claims Many Exhibitor Endorsements