Moving Picture World (Jul-Aug 1922)

Harry Levey Company to Furnish Pictures to Churches Everywhere IF amusement motion picture exchanges won’t supply pictures to churches, then the churches will secure them through another definite channel, and the divorce between church and theatre becomes final. Tills in a paragraph is the reaction of the church field following the refusal on the part of a number of exchanges in various sections of the country, notably in Cincinnati, Ohio; Springfield, 111., and points in the Middle West to supply pictures to churches because of the protest of exhibitors and the fear of a boycott from their regular and chief customers. By an exclusive contract entered into during the week, the National Non-Theatrical Motion Pictures, Inc., will place in each of the twenty-six exchanges now being organized to complete its non-theatrical distribution in the United States and Canada, a branch of the new organized Christian Herald Motion Picture Bureau, which will concern itself exclusively with church and allied organizations. The Christian Herald is now militantly espousing the cause of a free and unlimited supply of church pictures, with no line drawn except such as good taste and clean morals sug To Build in Dallas Fox Exchange to Cost Approximately $30,000 Closely following on the heels of the announcement of a film exchange building five stories in height, now building in Dallas, Texas, the Fox Film Corporation, through Branch Manager J. K. Johnston, has announced that it will build a structure to house its Dallas exchange, in Jefferson street, close to the new Jefferson Hotel, at a cost of approximately $30,000. The new Fox exchange will be the first departure from a long-established film area. Gillstrom in Town Arvid Gillstrom, well known com edy director, arrived in New York this week for his first vacation after more than a year of steady production. Gillstrom has been staging Century Comedies. which came to the front with a rush in the past year. Among the first runs playing this product are Grauman’s in Los Angeles, the Rivoli and Rialto in New York, and houses of that rank throughout the country. Gillstrom is planning a vacation. New Music Plan In a letter mailed to all producers, Sydney S. Cohen, M. P. T. O. A. president, invites them to cooperate with the organization in providing tax-free music for the motion picture scores. The newly organized music department, he writes, has “sufficient tax-free classical, orchestral, standard and popular music to meet any and all demands.” The letter points out the necessity for close co-operation between producers and exhibitors if tax-free music is to become the rule rather than the exception. “We hope to elevate and dignify American music and in reality make the United States the great musical center of the world,” it says. gest. In this they take issue with Will H. Hays, who has publicly asserted that the schools should stick to educational subjects, the church to religious films, and that amusement films be restricted to the theatres. Australia Censorship The Prime Minister of Australia now is the court of last appeal on all questions of motion picture censorship in the operation there of a Parliamentary Censor Board, according to word just received by Thomas H. Ince from Australasian Films, Ltd. But even the Prime Minister cannot get around all the regulations woven by Parliamentary law and procedure, although he did succeed in having “Hail the Woman,” a recent Ince picture, shown to Australians after the Parliamentary board had “killed” the picture in its entirety. Here is the Parliamentary censorship chain : Censor board, controlled by act of Parliament, does not permit film importer to take film out of customs until duty has been paid. Customs duty cannot be paid until film has passed the censor board. If the censor board rejects the film, the importer cannot get it out of customs to show members of Parliament and representative citizens without an appeal to the minister in Parliament for customs. If the customs minister fails, then comes the Prime Minister. The National Non-Theatrical Motion Pictures, Inc., of which Harry Levey is president and Don Carlos Ellis and Arthur James are vice-presidents, has taken a floor at 130 West Forty-sixth street, New York, and is rapidly putting its distribution plan into operation. Through contracts signed within the past two weeks it has added to its product and now has ready for release religious, pedagogical, amusement and interest pictures in quantity. These also include pictures that will be distributed exclusively in the non-theatrical field, pictures that will never be shown in theatres. A complete announcement of these pictures will be made at an early date, direct to the non-theatrical market. “The non-theatrical market,” said Harry Levey in speaking of the situation, “needs product and distribution. We have the product in quantity and our distribution will make this product as easily available to our field as the amusement pictures are to the theatres. Our operation system is simple and direct and we believe there is plenty of room for the churches and the theatres without any necessity of warfare or ill feeling.” Suing Laura Belknap Three Judgments Are Filed Against “Talking Motion Pictures, Inc.” Three judgments have been filed against J. Laura Belknap in the New York county clerk’s office, because of her failure to re-purchase the stock from those who invested in the “Talking Motion Pictures, Inc.” Her guarantee at the time of sale provided for this re-purchase within the year. Edward Walcott is suing for $2,000: Robert Schalkenbach for $10.906 : Frederic C. Leubscher for $1,108. Leubscher avers that the assets of the “Talking Motion Pictures, Inc.” have been officially appraised as amounting to $2,095 with preferred claims against the concern for $3,375, and that the stock in which the creditors invested is worthless. Trifts Murdered Fred Trifts, for several years a manager of theatres in St. John and Halifax, Canada, was murdered recently in St. lohn. A milkman found him dead in his sedan car one morning. He was 50 years old and leaves a wife and four children.