Moving Picture World (Nov-Dec 1923)

Page scan 00086 from Moving Picture World

Record Details:

Title:
Moving Picture World
Date:
Nov-Dec 1923
Publisher:
New York, Chalmers Publishing Company
Volume:
Moving Picture World (Nov-Dec 1923)
Leaf #:
00086
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema and Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Moving Picture World, founded in 1907 by J.P. Chalmers, was one of the motion picture industry's first trade papers. Published on a weekly basis in New York City, Moving Picture World informed exhibitors about films available for rental and editorialized on behalf of the growing industry (improving the quality of movies through higher filmmaking standards, not government censorship, was a frequent topic). The paper reached its height in the mid-to-late-1910s--a fact reflected in the circulation figures and the huge amount of advertising that filled every issue during the period. In the 1920s, Moving Picture World lost ground to other competing weekly trade papers -- including Variety, Exhibitor's Herald, and Motion Picture News. In 1927, Moving Picture World ceased publication when it was acquired by Martin Quigley's Exhibitor's Herald. Across the 20 year run of Moving Picture World, readers can watch the transition from short film programs to feature films and witness the transition from the dominance of Edison's Trust to the rise of the "Independent" film companies that ultimately became the Hollywood studios. Silent film historians have utilized and cited Moving Picture World more frequently than any other trade paper, and the publication still has many insights left to offer. -- Eric Hoyt, 2012/2013
Date Added:
May 30, 2024
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76 MOVING PICTURE WORLD November 3, 1923 F. B. O. PRESENTS W. P. S. EARLE’S PRODUCTION “THE DANCER OF THE NILE Houdini Mystery Photodramas THE keenly-awaited Houdini mystery photodrama, “Haldane of the Secret Service,” is set for early release through Film Booking Offices. The latest offering of the King of Mysteries carries a full quota of the stunts which have made him world-famous, and the ingenious manner in which they have been woven into the absorbing plot, together with the fame of the star, makes the picture one of the big ones this season. The story does not lag an instant, the action is colorful, gripping and logical, and the mystery elements are strongly worked up. From the very first, sympathy is evoked for the young detective, Heath Haldane’s single-handed fight against a great criminal association having its origin in far-off China, and for the lovely Adele Ormsby, who is in their clutches. Haldane’s rescue of Adele from a forced marriage in the opening scenes, sets the tempo of a most exciting plot. His combats and escapes from the gang in America and Europe are shrewdly used to heighten the Oriental mystery behind their operations. Houdini as Haldane is the real super-detective. One sees that he penetrates all the secrets of their world-wide camouflage, but one cannot conjecture how he will unmask them or what the result will be. After many thrilling escapes and self extrications from danger and death, the hero corners the band in a remote part of France. His trap is set, and it works perfectly. The surprise finish is a marvel. Ordinarily silent spectators of “silent drama” will shout and applaud. Indeed that breath-taking finish is quite too good to be revealed ! “He unites brain and muscle in the most perfect coordination I have ever known,” was the tribute paid to Houdini by Bernarr MacFadden of Physical Culture Magazine after interviewing him recently and seeing his work in “Haldane of the Secret Service.” Mr. MacFadden is just as eminent an expert in the realm of right living — physical, mental and moral — as Mr. Houdini, is in thaumaturgy, drama and pictures. Consequently those who wonder how Houdini performs his almost impossible undertakings in “Haldane of the Secret Service” and other pictures, will be interested to hear the MacFadden explanation as printed in his big, millioncirculation magazine ! “If it had not been for his athletic boyhood, years of long-distance running, swimming and other pastimes, he never would have been Houdini. He swam from earliest childhood, and in teens his favorite lope for running practice was the six-mile circuit around Central Park, New York City, which he usually accomplished in about thirty-eight minutes. It was in this way that Houdini built up the vigorous constitution and endurance upon which he has been compelled to rely in achieving his amazing and mystifying feats. “To his athletic qualifications this miracle man of the stage and the movies adds cunning intelligence and extraordinary coordination of mind and body.” HARRY HOUDINI