Movie Age (1927)

PAGE 14 MOVIE AGE iC~ St— Jt iC S€= iC ===SC = WHAT THE PICTURE DID FIRST RUN « . — ic ae ae ae ae ae at ae ae | h a j Five Years Ago 1 — -M =* 9f X AT OMAHA THEATRES WEEK ENDING AUGUST 6 Taken from the files of MOVIE AGE, August 15, 1922 RIVIERA Beau Geste, Ronald Colman. Distributed by Paramount. BUSINESS: Packed houses for entire week. AUDIENCE REACTION: Exception¬ ally well pleased. HIGHLIGHTS: Terrific battle with Arab bandits in deep desert. THEME: Undying love and loyalty of three brothers who try to take the blame for the theft of a jewel and join the French legion to escape the law. SUMMARY : A picture far above the program type, big enough for road¬ showing. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: 99 per cent. RIALTO Lonesome Ladies, Lewis Stone and Anna Q. Nilsson. Distributed by First National. BUSINESS: Fair. AUDIENCE REACTION: Seemed to enjoy it. HIGHLIGHTS: Acting of Lewis Stone; society atmosphere. THEME: Society drama in which wife drifts away from home life only to re¬ turn to it under circumstances. SUMMARY : Fair program picture, nothing special. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: 80 per cent. WORLD The Heart of Salome, Alma Rubens. Distributed by Fox. BUSINESS: Excellent. AUDIENCE REACTION: Very pleas¬ ing. HIGHLIGHTS: Meeting of hero and heroine; last crime of heroine. THEME: A romantic melodrama. A girl crook drops her ways with difficulty to marry her lover. SUMMARY: Many beautiful costumes and castle scenes. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: 90 per cent. SUN The Unknown, Lon Chaney. Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. BUSINESS: Excellent. AUDIENCE REACTION: Very well pleased. HIGHLIGHTS: Uncanny portrayal by Chaney. THEME: A man has his arms ampu¬ tated to hold his girl’s love. SUMMARY : One of Lon Chaney’s best pictures. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: 95 per cent. MOON The Outlaw, Ranger. Distributed by F B 0. BUSINESS: Good. AUDIENCE REACTION: Very good. HIGHLIGHTS: Saving of the train; foiling of his master’s death, saves a train from being wrecked and is vindi¬ cated. SUMMARY : A dog picture that will please any audience. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: 90 per cent. Fire completely destroyed the ex¬ change, film and all accessories of the Omaha Associated First National branch, August 11, resulting in a loss of approxi¬ mately $200,000. However, within 24 hours, a temporary exchange was opened up and completely stocked under the supervision of R. C. Seery, district man¬ ager, setting a mark for the efficiency hounds to shoot at. E. L. (Eddie) Alperson was the branch manager. Ray Coffin, First National exploiteer and Julius K. Johnson, manager of the Rialto Theatre, Omaha, pulled an ex¬ ploitation stunt in the good old fashioned way. And, it stopped the natives? A taxi carrying a motley looking group composed of a flapper, a Chinaman with flowing queue, a monkey and a goat paraded through the downtown streets to the edificatio and consternation of the passersby. The picture was “Hurricane’s Gal,” starring Dorothy Phillips. A headline reads, “Leah Baird Wears Gown Insured for $12,000 in ‘When the Devil Drives’.” Shades of the past!. . . .Witness the changes of the intervening years, a mod¬ ern press report reading — “Milady’s Cor¬ rect Formal Costume should weigh 12 ounces.” C. A. Schultz was appointed manager of the Omaha Vitagraph branch. Mr. Schultz hails from Minneapolis, his duties there consisting of the handling of the first run accounts. AT DES MOINES THEATRES WEEK ENDING AUGUST 6 • DES MOINES Beau Geste, Roland Colman. Distributed by Paramount. BUSINESS: Very, very good. AUDIENCE REACTION: Most of thorn talk up this picture, most enthu¬ siastic. HIGHLIGHTS: Mysterious, presented at beginning of film. THEME: Three English boys, how they enlisted in the French Foreign Le¬ gion, and the solution of the disapearance of the jewel, Blue Water. SUMMARY : General appeal, exciting. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: Way above average. CAPITOL Fireman, Save My Child, Hatton and Beery. Distributed by Paramount. BUSINESS: Good. AUDIENCE REACTION: Considered film light, but amusing. HIGHLIGHTS: Comedy in the rivalry for the girl. Theme: Two firemen, both inclined to be dumbbells, who prove to be amus¬ ing heroes. SUMMARY : Not as good as some of the others put out by this team but satisfactory as a whole. ENTERTAINMENT MERITS: 80 per cent. Mr. and Mrs. William Fraser, owners of the Fraser theatre, Spencer, la., and Mr. and Mrs. Ray L. Niles, of Rock Rapids, la., were visitors along the row. Sid Meyer, manager of the Fox Ex¬ change in Omaha, has joined the ranks of the Benedicts, and has taken a suite at the Blackstone Hotel. L. A. Graham of the Star theatre, Du¬ buque, motored to Omaha for a short visit. Harry De Baggio’s Star theatre at Colfax, Iowa, was destroyed by fire, August 5, 1922. H. F. Lefholtz, Universal manager, came back from the territory with a big time talk about conditions for fall.