Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

656 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, JfaikM/. United Picture Theatres Forges Aheap! First Five Hundred of Desired Two Thousand Days in ] Sight, with Three-Quarters of Country to Be Canvassed THE visits of President Ochs and Vice-President Seelye to middle western cities have resulted in large accessions to the membership of the United Picture, Theatres of America, InC;' Branch Manager C. W: Bunn signed up more than fifty Chicago theatres in mid-March following the Ochs visit and the latter's addresses to the exhibitors of Chicago territory. "The Chicago office," writes Mr. Ochs, "will have one hundred days inside of four weeks. Indeed, I should not be surprised if the Chicago territory gave our plan no less than two hundred days." The announced plan of United Picture Theatres is to start wholesale cooperative buying of films for its members after two thousand booking days have been obtained. For Chicago alone to take from 5 to 10 per cent of this aggregate would indicate that the plan is in fair way of realization. General interest in the plan is shown by the fact that applications for fifteen days had to be rejected because they happened to be opposition houses to those that had already signed. Each member is to be carefully protected in his drawing territory and there will be no cutting down of receipts by permitting two houses to appeal to the same neighborhood patrons with the same films. From Chicago Mr. Ochs paid flying visits to Cincinnati and St. Louis and then visited the Southwest with stops at Memphis, Little Rock, Dallas and New Orleans. C. R. Seelye is organizing branch officesrin these same cities, putting men in charge who are^. thoroughly acquainted -with, the needs of Southwestern exhibitors! The keynotes of the organization are economy and efficiency. The proper handling of distribution is being carefully studied1 with the view of cutting out unnecessary expense, assuring rapid shipments and doing away with "positive waste," i. e., the idle days, resulting from the ordering of superfluous prints. In New York the efforts of Arthur S: Abeles, eastern representative, and; Aaron Corn, city sales manager, are lining up additional metropolitan houses every day. The home offices of United Theatres at 1600 Broadway have become the rallying point of eastern exhibitors. There are always a dozen to twenty managers visiting headquarters to discuss the new plans and figure out the particular requirements of their houses. Another live Eastern center is Boston with Stanley Hand in active charge. N. I. Filkins in Buffalo, Joseph Schwartzbine in Minneapolis, C. S. Edwards in Kansas City and Gilbert Heyfron in Montana likewise report great activity, the general friendliness of exhibitors and the actual lining up of new members daily. Conservatively it may be stated that the first five hundred of the desired two thousand booking days are in sight, though as yet only seven branch offices have been started and three-quarters of the country remains to be covered. Film Ranks Split in Censor War The fight of Winnipeg exchange managers against the Manitoba Board of Censors, which started on March 4 with the promise that no more comedies would be brought to Winnipeg on account of the censors' strictness, is apparently not working very well. The manager of the Dominion Theatre has just announced that the comedy lid is off so far as his theatre is concerned and simultaneously the Dominion started the presentation of the Paramount-Mack Sennett comedy, "It Pays to Exercise." beautiful cover of a program now being used by the Strand theatre, Milwaukee. Star's Disguise Fools All Francis X. Bushman, who with Beverly Ba3rne, is starred in the forthcoming Metro production, "With Neatness and Dispatch," a story which was written by Kenneth L. Roberts and published in the Saturday Evening Post, has a bizarre tramp make-up to wear in some of the scenes. So realistically does he dress the part that on several occasions employes of the studio have mistaken him for an intruder.