Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

1038 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 22 Essanay in Crusade on Film Pirates First Convictions Obtained in Cleveland, Where Organized Gang Is T~" SSANAY has begun a wholesale cam*— ' paign against film pirates and has succeeded in obtaining its first convictions under the criminal statutes. The first action was taken in Cleveland, where Joe Morrow was arrested and found guilty in the county court of receiving stolen property and of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The minimum sentence is one year in prison and $500 fine. Lee Friedman was convicted of larceny. Sentence has not been pronounced in either case, the court withholding its findings until the completion of the trial of another man, who also is charged with receiving stolen property and with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. This is but the first of a series of prosecutions which Essanay is conducting. Action will be taken on criminal grounds in several cities as soon as all the evidence is completed. In Cleveland it was shown that the film thefts were conducted by an organized band which made a business of pirating films. Essanay discovered that several Broncho Billy and Chaplin films were missing. Andrew J. Callaghan was dispatched to Cleveland to investigate. He discovered that films were being shown that did not come from the authorized exchanges. These were traced to the men who were renting them out. Brought Into Court Detectives followed these films when they were returned and found that the business was conducted from a shack in the outskirts of the city. The place was raided and Morrow and an accomplice arrested. Twenty-five stolen films, some of them belonging to Essanay and several to other companies, were found. The detectives also waylaid Friedman and took him into custody. He confessed to the thefts. He said the gang's method was to bribe boys working in exchanges to steal the films. Friedman admitted taking several films from an exchange for which he worked. The same organized method of theft was discovered in other cities and arrests are expected shortly. Lytell Shoots Shark There is one less shark in the Pacific ocean because of Bert Lytell's skill with a revolver. Lytell and members of his supporting company were on location at the beach working in his forthcoming Metro picture, "No Man's Land," when Lytell was required to handle a pistol in a fight scene. There was also a "close-up" of a handful of steel-jacketed bullets. In his left hand Lytell was holding the bullets before the camera and in his right was the pistol. Will S. Davis, directing the picture, was gazing seaward when suddenly he shouted: "Shark ahoy!" Lytell whirled around and loaded his weapon. The shark sped shoreward, intent on catching a smaller fish. With the moving target at 150 yards Lytell fired three times. As one of the bullets found its mark the shark sank and then reappeared lifeless on the surface. Griffith Makes One Story Out of Three New Artcraft Feature Will Be Based on Best of Each Plot with Locales Nearly Circling Globe the heels of his great success oN. nth plans to launch another huge war drama which will be released as an Artcraft picture. Though Mr. Griffith has withheld all information regarding the story, he has permitted it to be known that the picture will present an entirely different angle from that of "Hearts of the World," and it is reported on good authority that he does not intend to depict a single battle scene, using the world-war merely as a background for a poignant love story. A fact of much interest is that Henry Walthall, who gained prominence under the direction of Mr. Griffith, especially in the character of the little colonel in "The Birth of a Nation," has been engaged for the cast, which will also include Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, George Fawcett, George Siegmann and other prominent players in "Hearts of the World." As near as now known, scenes will be laid in France, Canada, Hawaii and Scotland, some of which were photographed when Mr. Griffith was in Europe, and others are being made in settings reproduced in California. The picture promises to be a revelation, for it will probably be a combination of three separate stories, originally written for three distinct Artcraft pictures, and Mr. Griffith has taken the strongest points in each story and blended them into one production, the threads being interwoven as the story progresses and ending in a powerful climax. This accounts for the widely separated locales, nearly circling the globe. Following his established custom, Mr. Griffith is conducting elaborate rehearsals before the various scenes are actually filmed. A small town wedding in "The Lesson," the new Select starring vehicle for Constance Talmadge. Here's Latest in House Names! The U-Kum Theatre, Toronto, has been renamed Little Palace of Happiness.