Motography (Apr-Jun 1916)

860 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XV, No. 16. Vote to End Feature Happily When "The Heart of Paula" is shown next week as the feature of the Strand theater's program, its ending will find the Spanish maid and her handsome American hero locked in each other's embrace. In other words the picture with two endings will fade from the Strand screen upon the happy ending of the Mexican romance (produced by Pallas) for the Para Thc gathering which injected joy into "The Heart of Paula." At this dinner following the press showing of the Pallas production V\e happy ending was decided upon. mount Program. The decision to end "The Heart of Paula" thus was reached at the luncheon after the press showing of the picture on Friday, March 24. Representatives of the daily and trade papers gathered round a table in a private dining room at the Hermitage. Those who had seen both endings then voted that the tragic should be set aside and the happy ending used during the picture's run at the Strand. Lenore Ulrich, the star of the picture, Julian M. Solomon, Jr., and Pete Schmid, of the Pallas press department ; B. A. Rolfe, manager, and E. Victor Wilson of the Strand were present at the voting and eating place. If every dual ending Pallas production calls for our opinion over a luncheon such as this one, there will be no protest voiced if future Pallas pictures are offered with two endings. Village Turned Over to Players Pensacola, North Carolina, is a little nest of very modest houses among the mines, the lumber camp and the farms. There is a thirty-mile railroad which connects the village with the world via a typical "junction." That's about all that can be said of Pensacola, except that it is owned by one man. And it was because he knew this man. Dr. Aldrich, that Director Ralph Dean of the Frohman Amusement company, took Alice Brady and a company there for the making of "Then I'll Come Back to You," the feature lately completed. A great deal of squeezing was necessary to get all the 34 players lodgings. It took 34 of the houses of the villagers to do it. Then the use of the whole town — railroad and all — was turned over to the company. In return for the courtesies extended by Dr. Aldrich, ( reneral Manager Spiegel of the World Film Corporation gave the first showing of "Then I'll Come Back to You" in the Baptist Church at Pensacola. It was necessary to take a projection machine, several illuminating gas tanks and an entire motion picture equipment to Pensacola, as the town does not boast a picture theater and there is no illuminating means, other than kerosene lamps. BIG PRODUCTION RACE Paragon Director Tourneur and John Ince, Equitable Creator, Complete World Features in Exactly Same Time Maurice Tourneur, production-creator of the Paragon Company, was handed the completed scenario of Arthur Stringer's "The Hand of Peril" upon the same day that Director John Ince of the Equitable producing force received the finished scenario of Harry Chandles' fiction story, "The Struggle." That was on January 23, and both these features Avere announced for release on March 27. That meant a keen artistic and constructive race. . To secure the settings called for in "The Struggle," John Ince took his company to Miami, Florida, and thence by steamer to Manaos, Brazil, an eight-day journey across the Gulf of Mexico, the Carribean sea and up the Amazon river. At Manaos a week was lost securing government permission to use the leper colony there for certain scenes. Tourneur's story required the construction of a nine-room house with the surface removed so that action could be seen going on in all the rooms at the same time. Also a large number of secret passageways and other devices were necessary. Delays were unavoidable. Less than a month later the completed negatives of the two productions were received within forty-five minutes of each other. Each contains 307 separate scenes and the prints of the two features were shipped to the various World exchanges in the same cases. Charlie Gave Syd $75,000 Sidney Chaplin, who is business manager for Charlie, received a present of $75,000 for his services in neg-otiating the contract which Charlie Chaplin has signed with the Mutual Film Corporation, by which the comedian is to get $670,000 a year. Charlie is not noted for spending money recklessly, either. "Driftwood" Not on Program The Ocean picture "Driftwood," which is being marketed by the Raver Film Corporation will not be released on a program. "The open market is badly in need of just such strong features as 'Driftwood,' " said President Raver, "and although Ave had a number of program offers, in the long run the other way will mean more profit for us and for the purchasers of territory." What is considered the "plum" territory of the United States in the purchasing of state rights, was recently secured by Walter E. Greene of the Greene Feature Film Company of New York and Mr. Abrams of the Boston Photoplay Company on the pictures "The Other Girl," from the Augustus Thomas play featuring James J. Corbett ; "The Fortunate Youth" from the novel of the same name by Will I. Locke, and "Driftwood."