Motion Picture News (Mar-Jun 1920)

4786 Motion Picture N e s Special Opens at Hotel Astor WITH the .Hotel Astor as its place of exhibition and under the auspices of the American Legion, the premier of " The Wonder Man," starring Georges Carpentier, which look place last Saturday evening, was a remarkable motion-picture event. The premier showing of the production, which is now released for general distribution by Robertson-Cole, followed a dinner in the Rose Room of the Hotel Astor. at which the releasing company entertained one hundred leading newspaper reviewers, trade paper writers, sporting editors, cartoonists and journalistic figures. The Robertson-Cole . Company has issued the following statement in connection with the opening showing of its big special : 1 The picture was viewed by one of the most notable assemblies ever gathered, from a standpoint of diversity and prominence. The boxes in the Grand Ball Room of the Astor, where the showing took place, were filled with dignitaries. Among them were the French High Commission; the International Sporting Club; representatives of the United States Navy and of the United States Army; Lieut.-Gen. Robert L. Bullard, head of the department of the East; the party of John G. Adolfi, who directed ' The Wonder Man'; Frank Hall, motion picture distributor; Chic Sale, the comedian' and party; supporting actors of ' The Wonder Man ' ; and the American Legion Committee, representing the organization under whose auspices the picture was presented. " The premier opened with the Many Notables Witness Premier Showing of " The Wonder Man " dinner which took place in the Rose Room of the Hotel. After this was finished the guests were escorted into a section which had been reserved for them near the middle of the first floor of the big ball room. "By 8.30 the grand ball room was filled and a moment later a bugle sounded from the upper balcony, calling attention of the crowded floors to the Marine Band of thirty pieces which came from Ft. Totten for the event. Broadway, a short time previous, had been stirred by the strains of the band's music, when it stood in front of the hotel for fifteen minutes, in Times Square, playing popular and military airs. " Inside, the hand played ' The Star-Spangled Banner,' as the great crowd stood, and a minute later. ' The Marseillaise,' closed its concert and the program proper was under way. The overture and incidental music was played by an orchestra of 25 pieces, especially engaged for the Astor showing and following a special musical setting put out bv the Robertson-Cole music service. " Above a specially installed screen were the American and French colors intertwined, and below, on either side of the screen, were an American and French flag. , The orchestra was hidden by palms and flowers. After the showing of the Robertson-Cole scenic, ' The Wonder Man ' was shown to the public for the first time. " The premier was a real one, for no exhibitor nor motion-picture men had been given a preview. None outside of John G. Adolfi, who made the production, and Robertson-Cole officials, had seen it. From the time when Georges Carpentier appeared on the screen through to the end the picture was greeted by . frequent applause. " Carpentier, as he is seen in ' The Wonder Man,' reveals the quality of winning and holding the sympathy of the spectator, to a remarkable degree. His wonderful smile and his appealing ways quickly drew the interest and friendship of the big audience, as evidenced by the applause which became thunderous in the scenes in which he knocks out his antagonist in the bout staged at a fashionable club. "One feature of the showing which was met with great applause was the exhibition on the screen of a telegram from Georges Carpentier, thanking the American Legion for its support of the picture, and praising the American soldier, as he personally had known him in the world war." In addition to the co-operation given by the Hotel Astor, a great number of stores, automobile sales agencies and restaurants along Broadway from Fortieth street as far north as Sixty-third street offered their valuable display windows to aid in advertising the initial showing of the picture. Bert Lytell Is Selecting Scripts Thea Talbot, who is playing an important role in Metro's " The Marriages of Mayfair " Metro Has Bought "The Hunch" by P. Wilde Metro announces the purchase of a new photoplay story, " The Hunch," by Percfval Wilde. Although " The Hunch " is Mr. Wilde's initial effort for the silent drama after having written copiously for the stage, Metro officials state that the freshness of his style and deft construction stamp him as an author with a "motion picture sense," and they predict a great future for him in this new field for his talents. In fact, those who have read the Mr. Wilde's original 'script of "The Hunch," were so impressed by it that it is probable Metro will make use of more of his original screen stories. . L. J . Bamberger and Joe Levy Opens Office WADING through a mass of manuscripts was the first task that came to the hand of Bert Lytell, when the voung Metro star arrived in New "York last Saturday from the Pacific Coast, where he had spent nearly two years at the Metro studios in Hollywood, Cal. Mr. Lvtell has • returned to the metropolis' to make a series of special productions at Metros Sixty-first Street studios. At least four pictures will be done in the East by Mr. Lytell, according to present arrangements, and as only one play as yet has been definitely decided upon for the star, he is reading a great number of vehicles with a view to picking out the other three. Metro officials have found Mr. Lytell's judgment in the selection of plavs to be excellent, and upon his arrival in the East they turned over to him for his perusal an accumulation of literary material, designed for a male star of his qualifications. "A Message from Mars," Charles Hawtrev's most successful play, written by Richard Ganthoncy. is the one alreadv decided upon for Mr. Lytell's early use. This whimsical comedy-drama is well known to many of the present generation of theatre-goers. Charles Hawtrey starred in it almost continuously for six years in Will Do His Next Four Pictures in East; "A Message from Mars " Chosen England and the United States. 1 he play has had well over a thousand performances, including several late revivals, and ranks among the first of the great successes in theatrical history. "A Message from Mars" has a fantastic story slightly reminiscent °f Dickens's "A Christmas Carol. A reviewer in this country at the time of the plav's first appearance here at the Garrick theatre, October 7, 1901, described it is having the "rare merit of being novel in theme." The plot tells of a wealthy but hard-hearted and utterly selfish young man who is awakened to more generous sentiments by being brought into actual contact with human suffering through the nocturnal visitation of a strange messenger from the planet Mars. Before leaving the West Coast Mr. Lytell completed his work before the camera in "The Price of Redemption," one of the most spectacular productions, it is said, that has ever been made by Metro. The picture is based on the powerful novel of East India, "The Temple of Dawn," by I. A. R. Wylie. It was adapted to the screen by June Mathis and directed by Dallas M. Fitzgerald. The special settings and effect were by A. W. Alley and G. M. Carpenter, and the photographer was Sol Polito. In looking through the voluminous new material submitted to him Mr. Lytell has announced that he will not confine his choice to any one type of drama. He is exceedingly fond of unusual character delineations and has achieved success in comedy roles as well as in straight ones. Leon J. Bamberger and Joe Levy have become partners under the firm name of Bamberger and Levy, and will act in the capacity of general sales agents to the trade. They have established themselves on the second floor of the Putnam Building, 1493 Broadway, New York. The following items have been quoted by Mr. Bamberger as comln§ within their field of operation: . The sale pf United States rights, state rights and foreign rights on both features and comedies; the sale of scenarios and stories ; the booking of big productions on percentage; exploitation; publicity; advertising; financing; promotion ; organization ; systems installed ; production of advertising and industrial films." C. B. Price Sells Film to Canada Exhibitors C. B. Price, president of the C. B. Price Co., Inc., has just returned from Canada wdiere he negotiated the sale of several of his productions. During the several weeks that Mr. Price was in Canada he visited the important cities of the Dominion and disposed of the Mona Darkfeather Indian dramas to the Canadian Exhibitors Exchange, Ltd., who also bought the Canadian rights for "His Pajama Girl," starring Billie Rhodes. Realistic Sea Setting Results in Accident According to a report from Metro, Edward Sloman, who is directing a picturization of Jack London's "The Mutiny of the Elsinore," sustained "painful cuts and bruises " during a filming of one of the scenes for the picture in the Metro studio at Hollywood. The accident is said to have occurred when eight tons of water were hurled on the deck of the " ship " that had been constructed indoors on a large rocker to give the proper rolling effect of a vessel laboring in a heavy sea. -Mitchell Lewis, the star, is also said to have been tossed about considerably by the on-rtish of water.