Moving Picture World (Dec 1920)

588 MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 4, 1920 Buck Jones Makes Departure from! Cowboy Roles in Latest Fox Picture, “Just Pals” THERE is a surprise in “Just Pals,” the latest William Fox production starring Buck Jones. Buck, who, since becoming a Fox star, has created a big following for himself as a daredevil horseman in straight western roles, makes a decided departure from the cowboy type in his portrayal of a character described as a “golden-hearted ne'er-do-well,” the star role in “Just Pals.” This is an emotional part such as he never before has attempted, and in which it is claimed, he acquits himself with signal honor. “Just Pals” is an original manuscript by the well-known author, John McDermott. It tells a simple, human, but powerful story of a man’s great love and sacrifice for his friends. Although not strictly a western picture, the locale is taken on the borderland of the wheat and cattle countries, and this enables Jones to use new and novel stunts of the kind that have made him popular. The story is said to be replete with wholesome thrills, romance, and adventure— compelling scenes of great force, a smashing climax that will be long remembered, and a comedy relief that is refreshing. This production also marks the debut of Jack Ford as a director under the Fox banner. Ford is best known for his direction of big Harry Carey successes, but from advance reports “Just Pals” is the greatest endeavor he has yet made for the screen. “ Kismet ” at Strand ( Continued from preceding page ) lot of patronage. People who could not come near the house around the eight o’clock show, went to some smaller theatre and came back. Even last Monday night when a drenching rain followed a showery day, the house was filled to the standing room limit for the eight o’clock show and this writer, standing beside the doorman from ten minutes past ten until the quarter hour, counted twelve people who entered. On better nights there was a standout for the ten o’clock show almost as heavy as that at half past eight. The lobby will hold several hundred people and still give the exit room required by the fire regulations. This was filled almost every night until the last show. A Rubberneck Trip The day before the opening, after the rehearsal, the men in the prologue were loaded into an automobile and driven over town while a strand doorman stood on the running board and gave a megaphone lecture, the banners stating that these were the members of the “Kismet Chorus of Turkey.” Presumably they were being taken around town to see the strange sights —and you can see some pretty strange sights in suburban Brooklyn. This was the only street exploitation apart from the turbaned bill distributors. The result of the drive showed on Sunday. The house was filled to the fire limit within fifteen minutes of the opening, there was a standout from then until nearly ten o’clock in the evening, and, as has been said, there was a call for the mounted police to chase the waiting lines down the side street and keep Fulton clear for traffic. It was the biggest week Brooklyn has ever known, and Hyman declares that “Kismet” is a wonderful attraction if you have a large enough house to hold the trade you are bound to get. The cast includes Helen Ferguson; George Stone, the famous boy actor; Duke R. Lee, Edwin Booth Tilton, William Buckley, Eunice Murdock Moore, and “Slim” Padget. National Board of Review Catalogs Industrial Films A most comprehensive list of industrial pictures has been compiled by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, 70 Fifth avenue, New York City. The catalog issued gives 791 titles grouped according to subject and includes about every industry known. There are, for instance, 65 films listed under “Autos”; 22 under “Dairy”; 30 under “Electricity”; etc. Full information regarding the length of picture and the distributor is also given. This catalog will prove of value to industries, welfare workers, schools, colleges, chambers of commerce, rotary clubs and social groups. 7"ITH eight Paramount pictures in the process of production, the high water mark of the activities at the new Long Island studio of the Famous PlayersLasky Corporation has been registered. Although the new studio has been in operation but two months Arthur V. Smith, general manager, has succeeded in filling the two mammoth stages almost to capacity. Dorothy Dalton in “The Teaser,” a story by J. Clarkson Miller, which has been started under the direction of R. William Neill, brought the productions up to the present record mark. Mae Murray in “The Painted Lily,” by Clara Beranger, is busy every day at the studio. She is being directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Tom Forman, working on “The Quarry” with Thomas Meighan, THE “ TEN O’CLOCK” SIGN ON THE SIDE OF THE BROOKLYN STRAND and Hugh Ford, directing Ethel Clayton in “The Price of Possession,” are adding their bit to the studio activities while the John S. Robertson production of “Sentimental Tommy,” the winsome story by Sir James M. Barrie, is nearing completion. Eddie Dillon is finishing “The Education of Elizabeth,” with Billie Burke in the stellar role, and Charles Maigne is at present cutting and assembling John Fox’s “The Kentuckians,” which will feature Monte Blue, who came from the coast especially to make this picture. The final scenes of the George Fitzmaurice prouction, “Money Worship” by Ouida Bergere, have been filmed and Director Fitzmaurice is now assembling the film and putting it into its final form. HYMAN’S REAL TURKISH PROLOGUERS FOR “ KISMET ” He knows they are real Turks because they all smoke Turkish cigarettes, except the dancing girls, who, of course, prefer Fatimas Production Work at New Famous Players Long Island Studio Reaches Record