Movie Age (1927)

DECEMBER 10, 1927 PAGE 7 Richard Barthelmess to Play “Little Shepherd” “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” will soon be started at First Na¬ tional West Coast Studios, with Richard Barthelmess in the stellar role. This is an adaptation of the famous novel by John Fox, Jr. In the meanwhile, Barthelmess has completed his part in “The Noose,” an underworld picture from Willard Mack’s stage play. John Francis Dillon direct¬ ed this film and Alfred Santell will make the next one. Stern Brothers to Reign During Christmas Week December will be a big month on Broadway for the Stern Brothers. In all, six Broadway showhouses already are lined up to play their comedies, with more likely to be added to the list. The Capitol has booked “The Newly¬ weds’ Christmas Party,” the special Stern Brothers holiday picture, for the week beginning December 10. This pic¬ ture also is booked for 150 days over the Loew circuit in and around New York, starting with Loew’s State and Loew’s New York Theatres. The Big Loew Metropolitan Theatre will show it about the same date, just prior to Christmas. The Roxy Theatre will show another Newlyweds comedy during Christmas week, beginning December 26. It will be “The Newlyweds’ Imagination,” the latest two-reeler of this series to be received from the Coast. These Newly¬ wed comedies are adapted from the fa¬ mous newspaper comic strips by George McManus. Snookums is featured in them. Addie McPhail plays Mrs. Newlywad and Jack Bartlett, Mr. Newlywed. The Colony Theatre will present a “Mike and Ike” comedy Christmas week. This series is made from Rube Gold¬ berg’s comic strip. “Helen of Troy” Premiere At Globe in December 3 “The Private Life of Helen of Troy,” the super-special made by First National Pictures from John Erskine’s famous novel, opened at the Globe Treatre, New York, December 9 for an indefinite en¬ gagement at a $2.20 top scale of prices. This will be the world premiere of the much-heralded picture. “The Private Life of Helen of Trop” was directed by Alexander Korda, the Hungarian director who made many fine pictures for UFA before coming to this country. Maria Corda, his wife and a German Censorship Bars Many American Films Forty-one features were censored in Germany during September, of which 21 were German made and 20 foreign ((11 from America) as compared with 26 domestic and 21 foreign during Au¬ gust, and 25 domestic and 10 foreign in July, state reports to the Department of Commerce. Total length of all films censored dur¬ ing September was 174,864 meters, as against 169,570 meters in August and 136,064 meters in July. The German share of the total number of features censored during September was 51 per cent, as against 55 per cent during Au¬ gust. Of the 286 films of all kinds cen¬ sored, 56 were prohibited for showing to youth. Of these 29 were German, 21 American and the remainder productions of other countries. beautiful European actress, plays the role of Helen, with Lewis Stone as Menelaos and Ricardo Cortez as Paris. Among others in the cost are Alice White, George Fawcett, Mario Carillo, Tom O’Brien, Charles Puffy and Gus Partos. Some 3,000 extras were em¬ ployed in the production, photographed in settings wholly in keeping with the story. Burn Hollywood House To Complete Realism Shooting has started on the fire se¬ quence, the most dramatic scene in “The Siren,” the Columbia melodrama which presents Tom Moore and Dorothy Revier as a new romantic team. A Holly¬ wood mansion condemned by the city as a fire trap and destined to be razed, was purchased by Harry Cohn for these scenes, and arrangements were made with the Hollywood fire department to fight the blaze, in order to insure a production of the utmost realism. Jed Prouty and Otto Hoffman, signed for this sequence, complete the cast of the production, which includes besides Mr. Moore and Miss Revier, Norman Trevor in his first “heavy” role. Haines in Polo Comedy “The Smart Set,” it is announced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, will be the title for William Haines’s new picture, a society life comedy with a background of the international polo matches. Alice Day and Constance Howard have the feminine leads. Varied Shorts on M-G-M Releases for December Eight varied short subjects will com¬ plete Metro^Goldwyn-Mayer’s Short Subject release schedule for 1927. The first release for the month of December was the Oddities subject, “Winged Death,” on December 3. This is an interesting release showing the training of falcons as an ally of the hunter. “Putting Pants on Phillip,” a Hal Roach all star comedy, was released on December 3. It features Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The December 10 release is Max Davidson in the Hal Roach comedy, “Fighting Fathers.” Another of the UFA Oddities, “The Lion Hunt,” is released on December 17. This is an exceptionally thrilling and en¬ tertaining story of a lion hunt in the heart of Africa. Many a gasp from audiences as the fierce lions charge the intrepid cameramen. One reel. Our Gang gives the industry a Christmas present, also on the date of December 17, in the form of their latest comedy, “Dog Heaven.” Two reels. Charley Chase’s latest Hal Roach comedy, “Never The Dames Shall Meet” is scheduled for December 24. Two reels. “The Parasol Ant,” one of the series of Oddities, is the first of two releases scheduled for December 31. This un¬ usual subject is interesting for its mar¬ velous picturization of the life of these tiny creatures. They seem almost hu¬ man in their activities and intelligence. One reel. The second release on the same date is the latest of the Hal Roach All Star comedies, “The Battle of the Century,” starring Stahn Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Two reels. Bath Fixtures to Hospital After Picture is Filmed For once that rather intimate institu¬ tion known as a Turkish bath will be seen in all its detail by millions of film playgoers, when “Ladies’ Night in a Turkish Bath” is released by First Na¬ tional Pictures. This lively screen play features Dor¬ othy Mackaill and Jack Mulhall, and for the sequence showing the ablutionary establishment, a gang of carpenters, plumbers and painters have been in¬ stalling the bath in the studio. All the latest innovations have been provided, and after the picture has been filmed, Edward Small, who is producing it, will present the fixtures to a new hospital which is being constructed in Los An¬ geles.