Movie Age (1927)

PAGE 10 MOVIE AGE As the result of an aggressive sales campaign carried on during the past two months, Ned Depinet, general sales man¬ ager of First National, announced that on the first day of August, First Na¬ tional had come closer to blanketing the country with its product than in any previous season since the company was organized ten years ago. Charlie Chaplin will resume his work on “The Circus” in September. All ar¬ rangements have been set for studio ac¬ tivities. The bulk of the picture has been made and only a few “odds and ends” remain to be filmed. For the 21 weeks ending August 5, the Roxy has taken in a gross of $2,216,858.39. This is an unprecedented record. The high water mark was reached Easter Week when the gross was $129,524.34. Ramon Novarro is reported to have mentioned the fact that he will quit the films at Christmas time and enter a monastery. Novarro, a devout Catholic and deeply religious, stated that he never was interested in pictures. His family is urging him to enter church work. Novarro is a Mexican. Reginald Denny will not make “Good Morning, Judge”, as his next for Uni¬ versal as was planned. A fight picture on the order of the old “Leather Push¬ ers” series will be his next. Vitaphone has inaugurated a policy of producing one-reel musical comedies, the first of which has been completed on the Coast. One reel dramatic sketches also will be produced. The first of these, “The Lash”, adapted from a vau¬ deville sketch, has been finished. Rayart’s serial “The King of the Jungle” has been completed. Shooting began April 15 on the Selig lot in Los Angeles. Production was held up by many delays and accidents, but the fin¬ ished product is something to be proud of, according to W. Ray Johnston, pres¬ ident of Rayart. Harold Lloyd’s first feature length comedy, “Grandma’s Boy”, will be brought back for a re-issue by Pathe. Release date is September 4. United Artists will make 18 pictures before the end of the year. Exhibitors, after reading this start digging around your theatre. While scooping up a pan of dirt on the site of a new theatre at Oroville, Cal., a work¬ man found a rich grade of gold. According to a recent agreement be¬ tween B. P. Schulberg and Emil Jannings, the latter will make four pictures a year for Paramount. “The Callahans and the Murphys” is still getting “raked over the coals.” Re¬ ligious and social societies claim that it is an insult to the Irish, and yet Catholic priests who have seen it say that it’s good entertainment and without object¬ ionable scenes. However, M-G-M has promised to cut a few scenes. One critic said, “It’s a scream no matter how you look at it.” Truman Tally, director of Fox News, has estimated that 10 million feet of negative will be shot by the six news reels during the next 12 months. Of this grand total only slightly more than half-million will be exhibited in thea¬ tres. Tally declares that between 25,000 and 40,000 feet are necessary to produce two reels every week of 900 feet each. The Dickey-Pathe Ethnological expe¬ dition has sailed for South America where it will penetrate the little known regions of interior Brazil and Venezuela and Brazil. The party was accompanied by Harold Noice, representing Pathe News and Pathe Review which will have the pictorial record of the adventures and discoveries. Upon the completion of “The Gaucho,” Douglas Fairbanks will make a sequel to “The Three Musketeers.” This will be Dumas’ famous story, “Twenty Years After.” D. W. Griffith will use Mary Philbin in his first picture for United Artists since he strayed from his fold. Mary was borrowed from Universal. The Educational studios are going “full blast.” Every unit is at work on the new product. “Old San Francisco,” Warner Broth¬ ers’ feature starring Dolores Costello, celebrated its one hundredth perfor¬ mance at the Warner Theatre, New York, last week. Subtitles in four different languages are necessary when pictures play at the Royal Theatre, Alexandria, Egypt. The titles are generally in French, but Greek, English, and Arabian titles are flashed simultaneously on a small side screen. The Royal has 1,600 seats and possesse all the comforts of an Ameri¬ can or European theatre. Two German inventors are working on the manufacture and development of a film that will record night scenes without special lighting or equipment. C. C. Pettijohn is offering a prize of $15 to the person writing the best slogan for the Film Boards of Trade. The second prize is $10 and third prize is $5. The contest is open to all mem¬ bers of the film boards throughout the country and the secretaries. Contest closes September 20. The motion picture industry raised more than $400,000 for the Mississippi flood relief. Harold Lloyd has arrived in New York where he will make his next for Para¬ mount. New York gave him a big wel¬ come. This business of economy and cutting down in the film industry is getting con¬ tagious. The Department of Commerce has designated October 24-28 as CutWaste Week. The department en¬ deavors to point out to commercial or¬ ganizations various ways and means for cutting waste in production. The idea of replacing stars and fea¬ tured players with new talent in case the old favorites refuse to accept lower salaries has been branded silly by Holly¬ wood producers. There are 47,587 persons employed in the film business of Germany, ac¬ cording to a recent census. Of this num¬ ber 15,864 are women and 31,723 are men.