Motography (Jan-Jun 1917)

562 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XVII, No. 11. Mme. Sarah Bernhardt is to be seen on the screen during the week of March 11, at the Rialto in New York, in "Mothers of France." Manager Rothapfel has arranged a distinctive musical program for the occasion and has devised lighting and scenic effects to heighten the effect. As part of its program for the week of March 25, the New York Strand will introduce a motion picture novelty. It is called "Animated Sculpture," which means that statues made of clay are made to move. The idea has been worked out by Helena Smith Dayton, the New York sculptress. The results are amusing. The St. Denis Theater, Montreal, Canada, is now under the management of G. T. Barry of the Windsor Photoplays. Under the new policy, there will be four program changes a week. Arrangements are being made for suitable features with special and exclusive releases. A reorganization of the whole business policy of the house and the staff is to take place. The Exhibitors' Union of Argentina, South America, states in its annual report that the members have much satisfaction in recording the triumph of the open market system of booking, for which, as a body, they had struggled hard. They claim that by their action they have prevented a crisis in the industry and helped to encourage national production. Frank R. Powell of Ponca City, Oklahoma, has been exhibiting pictures in his theater on Sunday afternoons. At a recent meeting of the city council, petitions were presented to that body by the Woman's Club and Ministerial Alliance asking the council to suppress Sunday shows. Mr. Powell did not wait for the council to act, but suspended his Sunday performances voluntarily. Seven hundred and eightythree eggs were collected at the box office of the Bonaventure Theater at Kansas City for the benefit of the little patients at Mercy hospital. Dr. Katherine Richardson, hospital superintendent, was so pleased with the response, that she has arranged with the manager for a "potato show." The show charging potato admission will be at the Broadmour Theater, March 17. Rose Tapley, Vitagraph actress, lectured in Kansas City, Missouri, recently to the Parent-Teacher Association. Miss Tapley said that there are many companies that refuse to produce objectionable films. The public does not desire them, it has grown weary, and is asking for better, said Miss Tapley. She lectured at the Alamo Theater, her lecture being illustrated with a one-reel film "From Script to Screen." A fire which completely destroyed the Old Mill Theater at Dallas, Texas, February 22, started while 1,200 persons were watching the fire scene in William S. Hart's photodrama, "The Gun Fighter." The fire broke out on the second floor and for a while threatened to destroy half a block of buildings in the principal business district of the city. The audience left the building without any accidents. The damage was estimated at $30,000. Many exhibitors of Sydney, Australia, are facing ruination through the introduction of the daylight saving scheme. As the saving is taking place in the summer season, and the starting time of the show is eight o'clock, when it is still broad daylight, patrons prefer to spend the extra hour or so at the beaches. Thus the exhibitors fare badly. A deputation is to interview the government on the subject. W. H. Smyth, manager of the Strand Theater, one of Seattle's Second avenue motion picture houses, announces that together with Henry Lubelski, an old time showman of the Pacific Coast, he will open the old Tivoli Theater on Madison street with musical comedy and burlesque. The Tivoli has been closed for over a year. The employes of the Greater Theaters Company of Seattle were entertained on Monday, February 19th, in the ball room of the Liberty Theater. John H. von Herberg, manager of the Liberty, opened the ball at eleven o'clock Monday evening and it was three o'clock before the guests, departed. It is intended to make the event an annual affair. Exchange men affiliated with Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati, Ohio, state that they oppose sensational advertising of photoplays. Posters have been used by exhibitors giving the impression pictures offered startling features or immoral scenes when such was not the case, it is said. The exchange men have taken the matter up with the exhibitors. W. H. Smyth, manager of the Strand Theater of Seattle, has been showing a navy slide calling for volunteers for the past two weeks. This slide was furnished by the naval recruiting office in Seattle. Taking advantage of the opportunity this slide offered for patriotic decoration, Mr. Smyth had a flag surmounted by the American eagle placed over the entrance to the Strand. Galveston-made pictures proved a good drawing card for the Rex Theater of that city recently. Starting with the children's pageant of the Eighth Annual Cotton Carnival and the civic parade, it re-pictures the first annual Easter egg rolling and other public events familiar to Galvestonians, the city schools, public buildings, police force and the Texas A. and M. -Louisiana State University football game. William Fox has a live-wire publicity man on the other side of the water. When "A Daughter of the Gods" began its run in Sydney, Australia, the William Fox Film Corporation labeled about two thousand empty soda water bottles with an announcement of Annette Kellermann's appearance, filmitively speaking, and cast them into the ocean so that gradually the bottles drifted onto the beaches where thousands of holidaymakers were enjoying themselves, a la Annette. John H. Kunsky, Detroit exhibitor, announces changes in his organization affecting the management of his various downtown houses. M. H. Starr, who has been manager of the Washington Theater, has been appointed to the position of manager of the new Madison, at the corner of Grand Circus park and Broadway. R. G. McGaw, formerly manager of the Liberty Theater, takes Mr. Starr's place at the Washington Theater, and H. W. Irons returns to Detroit to fill the vacancy at the Liberty Theater caused by these promotions.