Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1921)

September 3 , 1921 1221 Paramount in Publisher TieUp Wally Reid in a scene from " The Hell Diggers," the new Paramount picture adapted from the recent Saturday Evening Post story Tony Sarg Will Design Paramount Posters PARAMOUNT has secured the exclusive services of Tony Sarg, worldfamaus illustrator and cartoonist to design posters of Paramount feature comedies. The arrangement with Mr. Sarg was made by J. A. Thorn, manager of the Poster department, who recently made a ten-strike in the field of outdoor advertismg by signing up Henry Clive to make posters for Paramount dramatic productions. The many-sided genius of Tony Sarg is perhaps best known to readers of American magazines through his delightfully humorous illustrations, magazine covers and political cartoons. Mr. Sarg is well-known both in the legitimate theatre £md on the screen as the creator of the artistic marionettes which have delighted the grown people as well as the children of New York for several seasons. More recently he has widely extended his audience with a series of shadowgraph comedies for the screen, entitled " Tony Sarg's Almanac." Kinograms Claim Beat on Caruso Views Through exceptionally efficient and speedy work, Educational's Kinograms news reel has again made what is claimed to be a big " beat," presenting to the American public pictures of the Caruso funeral days ahead of other news reels, it is stated. By making ever> minute count as they worked on the pictures, Kinograms' representative in Italy managed to get prints of their pictures onto the President Wilson. The President Wilson reached New York twelve hours ahead of the vessel carrying prints for the other American news reels, according to Educational. By rushing the prints to the Associated Screen News laboratory, and there doing some more speedy work, the producers of Kinograms were able to get the pictures into the next reel due for release. Keaton on His Third for First Nat'l Release Buster Keaton is one of the busiest motion picture stars in Hollywood. Only recently did the frozenfaced comedian complete "The Playhouse " for Joseph M. Schenck, to be released through Associated First National and now he has finished "The Village Blacksmith." Incidentally Keaton is hard at work on a new comedy for First National release. " The Playhouse " has been previewed and acclaimed another Keaton " button-buster." " The Village Blacksmith " was written and directed by Buster Keaton and Mai St. Clair, who alternates with Eddie Cline in the handling of the megaphone for the star. Virginia Fox plays opposite Keaton. WALTER r. LIXDLAR, assistant director of exploitation for Famous PlayersLasky Corporation, has elTccted tieups with leading book publishers whereby their subjects put into picture.-; by Paramount may be more easily exploited in smaller towns. The chief feature of the arrangements is an agreement to ship books to small dealers on consignment, thereby decreasing the risks assumed by the bookseller in laying in a large supply. The first tie-up was with Harper & Brothers, publishers of Gerald Du Maurier's " Peter Ibbetsoti," which Paramount w'ill release outside of New York under the title "Forever." In New York, however, the original title will be maintained, and even in other localities "Peter Ibbetson" will appear in the billing almost as prominently as "Forever." Harper & Bros, have already agreed, it is stated, to co-operate with Fred V. Greene, Jr., the New York exploiteer for Paramount, \\hen the picture appears at the Criterion, Rivoli, or R i a 1 1 o Theatres. The chief benefit will come to cither the e.xploiteers or the exhibitors in other cities. Harper & Brothers, through Mr. Henry Hoynes, will consign books to dealers who will be able to return the unsold copies. Every available copy of Du Maurier's novel, issued for the first time some years ago, will be placed at the exhibitor's disposal, it is declared. Extra wrappers will also be prepared for window displays. Mr. Lindlar's next step was to line-up Small, Maynard & Co., Boston, publishers of "The Sheik," one of the best sellers of the day. This picture is rapidly ncaring completion and will be released by Paramount under the original title. The publishers have agreed to aid exploitation in out-of-town cities and in New York. " This is in no sense a duplication of the Moving Picture Edition of books, such as some producers have FIRST run bookings on the new Pioneer releases are coming in at a fast pace, according to advices received from the home office of the Pioneer Film Corporation. The Pioneer statement declares exchange managers and salesmen are experiencing little or no difficult} in placing the Pioneer features in the largest first run houses because of the strength of the productions themselves and the fact that an arra> of stars has been assembled in practically every production. " For instance, ' Indiscretion ' has Florence Reed in the leading role," explains the Pioneer statement, " and supporting her are two film favorites, either one capable of carrying the feature himself and guaranteeing a capacity audience to every exhibitor. They are Lionel Atwill and Gareth Hughes. The former will be remembered for his work on Broadway starring in David Belasco's production ' Deburau,' while Gareth Hughes is a recognized film star and a favor lieen using," Mr. Lindlar said. "The Paramount Exploitation Department was merely trying to see how profitable they could make their tieups for the merchants who were game enough to venture their windows. "We had great success with 'The Inside of the Cup,' which was issued many years before the picture. However, the surest proof of the possibilities is 'Sentimental Tommy.' Barrie is a classic and his books enjoy a certain steady sale but never have been part of everybody's conversation like the typical 'best seller.' Nearly every book-dealer has a stock of Barric and welcomes the chance to 'break' a sale. He can't suddenly flood his windows with Barrie without an excuse. But he can boost his sales materially if he takes advantage of the run of the picture and makes an attractive window enhanced by stills from the ite of millions of people. So far as Florence Reed is concerned, her work in 'Indiscretion' is said to be the best of her brilliant screen career and the indications are that this feature will play more theatres throughout the country than any production yet distributed by Pioneer's national distribution forces. In scores of instances theatres which were closed for the summer are opening up with ' Indiscretion.' " ' Beyond the Crossroads,' which, under all probability, will follow ' Indiscretion,' has Ora Carew as its star and, in this instance, Pioneer scores another success through the distribution of this feature which is a tense drama and which has been given master presentation. " More than usual interest is being centered on the scheduled release of ' Oh, Mary, Be Careful ! ' in which production Madge Kennedy stars. So far as Miss Kennedy is concerned nothing need be said other than the fact that she appears in a role which delightfully picture. "This is part of genuine exploitation service. Don't pull the wool over the other fellow's eyes. Come to him with a real business proposition. If he gets stuck he won't be antagonized against all further service to the theatre in particular and exploitation in general. The dealer ships the books back to the publisher and is out only a few dollars for transportation. "The publishers I have met arc extremely anxious for co-operative arrangements such as this. It costs them very little and the picture and the exploitation service really act as sales stimuli. We expect to follow The Shiek, Sentimental Tommy, Peter Ibbetson, with tie-ups with the publisher of Arthur Schnitzler's \x\zXo\ for The Affairs of Anatol, Get Rich Quick Wallingford, Gappy Ricks, and Miss Lulu Bett." suits her highly artistic talents and those who have seen the private screenings of the picture regard ' Oh, Mary, Be Careful ! ' as Miss Kennedy's greatest laughing vehicle. "Another feature which has all the ear-marks of being a sensational hit, is 'The Forgotten Woman,'in which Pauline Stark is featured. This photoplay is a Sargent production and was made at a cost exceeding $250,000. It is a gripping drama in six reels with action of the kind that will delight and hold the interest of every class of audience. Preceding the release of 'The Forgotten Woman,' will be 'A Millionaire For a Day,' produced by Guy Empey and in which production he appears. ' A Millionaire For a Day' is a comedy drama and has been characterized by critics as Guy Empey's best work. " The release of this picture is being waited for by exhibitors with marked interest." First-Run Bookings for Pioneer