Motography (Oct-Dec 1916)

November 18, 1916. MOTOGRAPHY 1127 George M. Cohan Joins Artcraft "LESS THAN THE DUST" BOOKED FOR LONG RUNS M. Cohan. territory anne. MARY PICKFORD is no longer the only star of the Artcraft Pictures but now has a famous companion in George M. Cohan, who long has withstood all offers to appear in the films. For several weeks Walter E. Greene, president of Artcraft, has been promising that Mary Pickford would soon have a companion in the Artcraft circle, which he describes as the foundation of a system "to handle the headliners in motion pictures." Certainly George M. Cohan is a headliner in the amusement field. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the preliminary announcement of the formation of the George M. Cuban Film Corporation is the statement that in addition to his services as producer and player Mr. Cohan is to devote much of his time to original writing for the screen. That in itself is a pronounced boon to the industry. Work on the first production of the George M. Cohan Film Corporation will begin at once. Mr. Cohan will of course appear a the -tar and the vehicle will he one of his most successful play-. The selection will be made from the group which include "Little Johnny Jones," "45 Minutes from Broadway," "The Governor's Son," "The Miracle Man," "The Yankee Prince," "George Washington. Jr.," "The Talk of New York." "Seven Keys to Baldpate," "Hit the Trail Holliday," "The Man Who Own Broadway, Hie Little Millionaire," and others. Walter E. Greene, -peaking of the arrangements for the George M. Cohan productions, said: "Every one within the motion picture industry has a very definite conception of the great potency of Mr. Cohan as a popular idol. Every motion picture exhibitor throughout the United States is asked more frequently why he does not show pictures either written by Mr. Cohan or in which he appears, than any other of the hundreds of questions which the picture fans delight in asking. The reply that he has always refused to act has never been entirely satisfactory to them. "It is of course a matter of extreme satisfaction to me and my associates that Artcraft can announce that the George M. Cohan pictures will be distributed through our exchanges to all parts of the United States. With the Mary Pickford and George M. Cohan productions it looks like a busy year for Artcraft." Bookings on "Less Than the Dust" Spreading out from New York City, where five theaters are this week presenting Mary Pickford's new est production, "Less Than the Dust," Artcraft Pictures Corporation points to a total of nearly 80 theaters which have booked the new superior Mary Pickford pictures for runs of from one to three weeks. The New Grand Central in St. Louis, and Clune's Broadway in Los Angeles are the houses where the forth coming series of Pickford pictures are to run three weeks. In nine cities at least one theater has arranged for engagements of two weeks each. In another, two theaters under the same management will have "Less Than the Dust" and its successors one week apiece. Ohio and Massachusetts lead their sister states in a tie for first honors, each having nine theaters on the honor roll. Both the La Salle and the Bijou Dream in Chicago will run "Less Than the Dust" for two weeks. The other 14-day houses are the Stillman, Cleveland; Majestic, Detroit; Strand, Denver; Columbia, Portland, Oregon; Coliseum, Seattle; and Portola, San Francisco. In addition to the Stillman the Metropolitan and Knickerbocker are week stands in Cleveland. Ohio's other representativeare the Strand, Akron; Dome. Youngstown ; Pastime, Columbus ; Majestic, Dayton; and Temple, Toledo. Canada, in which the Mary I'ickford invasion is rapidly assuming considerable proportions, furnishes to the total the Regent in Toronto, the Dominion in Winnipeg, and the St. Denis in Montreal. Prominent Men at Trade Showing Among the prominent men in the motion picture industry present at the trade showing of "Less Than the Dust" in New York, were Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky, Walter E. Greene, B. P. Schulberg, Whitman Bennett, Marcus Loew, B. S. Moss, John J. Murdock, Denis O'Brien, J. J. McCarthy, James Logee, Walter J. Moore and Daniel Frohman. There was general regret that Mary Pickford could not be present to witness her new triumph, but she is hard at work on her second Artcraft production, striving to finish her work on location in time to reach New York to experience the novelty of having half a dozen premieres all at once. the latest important .■i/ by l-'ilmland. Lasky Produces "Oliver Twist" The Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company states that December 11 will be the release date for its elaborate adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous novel, "Oliver Twist," in which Marie Doro is starring. Not only is "Oliver Twist" one of the most successful and most popular works of England's greatest novelist, but the fact that Miss Doro is to play the title role of this Paramount Picture gains added significance from the fact that she scored one of the most distinguished triumphs of her stage career in the Liebler all-star presentation of the play during the Dickens Centenary in 1912. At that time Miss Doro was accorded remarkable praise by the critics who declared her Oliver to be sweet, pathetic and appealing. This is the third time that Miss Doro has appeared on the screen in adapta