Movie Age (1927)

PAGE 8 MOVIE AGE Big Houses Only for Publix; Smaller Theatres to be Sold New Policy to be Inaugurated Under Which Small Towns Will Be Abandoned According to Report Sent in In the future Publix will run theatres in key cities and other important points only, according to excellent authority, and will abandon its plan to operate theatres in small towns. It is understood that Publix has al¬ ready taken steps to divest itself of theatres which fall under the Class B and Class C categories, because the greatest revenue is to be gained from operation of the theatres in key cities, although this plan has been denied by an important Publix official. From the South, it is reported that Publix is all set to carry out the new policy insofar as that section of the country is concerned. In the Charlotte section it is expected that B. C. Wilby will take over many of the houses. In Atlanta, Arthur Lucas, who is develop¬ ing a chain of small town theatres, will take over many of the Publix houses, it is understood. Publix may finance Lucas. The plan, as reported, provides that Lucas will put up a fifty per cent share in each deal and Publix will re¬ tain the remaining fifty, but would re¬ main entirely out of the management and operation. The Saenger Amusement Co., is men¬ tioned as the exhibiting unit which will get many of the smaller Publix theatres in Alabama and Louisiana. 300 Newspapers Use F B O Serial Service F B O’s pretentious serialization ser¬ vice is meeting with the unqualified ap¬ proval of the newspapers throughout the United States. Two stories have already been released, both of which were well received. These two, “The Great Mail Robbery” and “Shanghaied” ran in three hundred newspapers, and proved so sat¬ isfactory that most of the users signed for the complete F B O schedule. Six stories will be released within the next six months, and will be read by a combined circulation of almost two and one-half million. These stories were chosen because of their interest compell¬ ing features, and it is confidently ex¬ pected that next year’s program for F B 0 will see still further progress. The stories that will follow are “Coney Island” “Little Mickey Grogan”, “Chicago After Midnight” and “The Devil’s Trademark.” They Like It There are two women in New York who have the “Big Parade Fever.” In the 92 weeks that “The Big Pa¬ rade” has been playing at the Astor, one woman has not missed attending every week. It is reported that she attends every Thursday night. The other woman has watched the picture in the same theatre 31 times. Tiffany Announces First Seven Releases on New Product for 1927-1928 The following seven pictures have been announced by Tiffany Productions as the first seven of the twenty-four features planned for release this sea¬ son: Sept. 1, “The Girl from Gay Paree”, Sept. 15, “Their Hour,” Oct. 1, “Once and Forever,” Oct. 15, “Lingerie,” Nov. 1, “Grass Widows,” Nov. 15, “Wo¬ men’s Wares,” Dec. 1, “Streets of Shan¬ ghai”. Four of these are now being filmed. Eugenia Gilbert Signed For New Film By Columbia Harry Coch, vice president in charge of production for Columbia Pictures, announces that he has selected Eugenia Gilbert for the feminine lead of “‘By Whose Hand?” the mystery feature starring Ricardo Cortez, which is sched¬ uled for early production. “By Whose Hand?” marks Miss Gil¬ bert’s third appearance for Columbia, her other two portrayals being in “Obey the Law,” and in “The SwellHead,” an August release and Colum¬ bia’s last production for 1927-28. Stars in New U. A. Film The largest number of established star and featured-player names in any film will be seen in Herbert Brenon’s “Sorrell & Son,” according to United Artists’ publicity department. The cast includes: H. B. Warner, Anna Q. Nilsson, Alice Joyce, Louis Wolheim, Mary Nolan, Nils Asther, Carmel My¬ ers, Norman Trevor, Mickey McBann and Flobelle Fairbanks. “Callahans and Murphys” Satisfactory to the Irish After an M-G-M Cutting “The Callahans and the Murphys”, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Hibernian com¬ edy which recently has undergone con¬ siderable criticism at the hands of nu¬ merous Irish-American societies, has had the objectionable scenes removed and should now be perfectly satisfactory to those organizations which were offend¬ ed, according to a letter received by Will H. Hays from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The communication states that after viewing the revised film, representatives of various Irish societies have expressed their approval of the pictures in its pres¬ ent form. The M-G-M letter to Mr. Hays furth¬ er said that in making “The Callahans and the Murphys” special care was tak¬ en not to incorporate in the picture any¬ thing of an Objectionable nature as it was the desire of the producer never to offend any particular class of people, there being obviously no advantage to be gained by doing so. The Catholic Register, published in Kansas City, has received a letter from D. J. Dunn, corresponding secretary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, in which Mr. Dunn states that he and the committee representing the Hibernian organization had viewed the picture, had requested two additional eliminations and these had gladly been made by C. S. Gregory, Metro-Goldwyn branch manager at Kansas City. Mr. Dunn fur¬ ther stated that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were to be congratulated on their will¬ ingness to eliminate all objectionable features from the picture. In two of the leading roles there are Polly Moran, an actress of Irish des¬ cent, and Marie Dressier, who has been active for years in giving considerable service to philanthropies under the aus¬ pices of the Catholic Church. Sally O’Neil, who had the leading dramatic role in the picture, is also an Irish girl. Norma Shearer Engaged To Irving Thalberg Norma Shearer is engaged to be mar¬ ried to Irving Tahlberg, executive at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Per¬ sistent rumors of their forthcoming marriage were confirmed for the first time when Miss Shearer appeared at the Culver City studios wearing a large marquise diamond engagement ring. The wedding is expected to take place late in the fall. Miss Shearer plans to continue her career after her marriage to the young studio executive.