Moving Picture World (Mar-May 1927)

MOVING PICTURE WORLD 757 April 23, 1927 fair. Several walkouts. Tone fair, appeal weak. Sunday yes, special no. Draw all classes, town about 1,000. Admission 10-25 to 15-35 specials. H. H. Hedberg, Amuse-U Theatre, Melville, Louisiana. MUSIC MASTER. Star, Alec Francis. An old people’s picture; brought them in and pleased them. Strong love moral. A bit long and rather sobby, but a happ'y ending. R A. Preuss, Arvada Theatre, Arvada, Colorado. TONY RUNS WILD. Star, Tom Mix. I think it one of the best Mix subjects I have run here in some time. Anyway, pleased houses. Tone good, appeal 95 per cent. Draw general class, city 23,000. Admission 10-25. Ed C. Curdts, Bijou Theatre (300 seats), Greenville, South Carolina. THE WAR HORSE. Star, Buck Jones. Everyone who likes horses will be strong for this one. There’s pathos when they take his horse from the ranch: good comedy situations over across; and a big dramatic moment when the U. S. troops are about to cross the mined bridge. Good all the way through. The leading lady, Lola Todd, has charm and personality as well as looks. Dave Adams, Auditorium Theatre, Concord, New Hampshire. Metro-Goldwyn DESERT’S TOLL. Very good picture. Tone and for Sunday yes. Box office fair. Mrs. J. B. Travelle, Elite Theatre, Placerville, California. EXIT SMILING. Star, Beatrice Lille. Slow moving comedy that never gets anywhere. Tone, appeal fair. Sunday, special no. Draw farm class, town 412. Admission 10-25. Leveck & Garner, Benoit Auditorium, Benoit, Mississippi. FAUST. Star, Emil Jannings. A special of its kind, just drew a certain class. It’s entirely different from the usual run of films and should have its play on all screens. Keeps one interested from start to finish. Pla'yed during Lent, and glad we did. Suitable for a Sunday. R. A. Preuss, Arvada Theatre, Arvada, Colorado. SLIDE, KELLY,, SLIDE! Star, William Haines. The M.-G.-M. trademark stood out big on this one and so did I, when my crowd went out smiling and saying how good it was. Haines, as the wise guy, was as dumb as he was wise, and what good work he did! Carey and Dane great. This picture can stand a raise and they won’t kick, either. Good paper, print and service. R. A. Preuss, Arvada Theatre, Arvada, Colorado. TIN HATS. Star, Conrad Nagel. Here is an A-l war comedy. Tied up with the local post of the American Legion, and it went over in fine shape, considering the weather. Boys, this is one that you can step on. It will stand all the advertising you can give it. Nagel and Windsor fine, and we mustn’t forget Bert Roach and the rest of the cast, as they all did fine work. A. E. Sharer, Globe Theatre, Savannah, Missouri. UNDERSTANDING HEART. Peter B. Kyne story. Star, Carmel Myers. A wonderful picture recently released. The audience was pleased and could have Cleared a nice little profit by exhibiting it the next night. The whole town (750 population) was talking about it after the performance. Exhibitors of small and big theatres will not be disappointed in showing “Understanding Heart.” J. G. Attanasio, Manager, Columbia Theatre, La Belle, Florida. VALENCIA. Star, Mae Murray. Good little picture, well directed and acted; not a small town picture. Tone, appeal fair, Sunday yes, special no. Draw town and farm class, town 600. Admission 10-30. H. W. Batchelder, Galt Theatre (175 seats), Galt, California. WANING SEX, Star, Norma Shearer. Sure glad to give one M.-G.-M. a good report. This was a good one. I hope they don’t do to her what they have to some of the others. Tone good, appeal 40 per cent. Sunday, special no. Draw general class, town 2,200. Admission 10-30. A. F. Jenkins, Community Theatre (469 seats), David City, Nebraska. WINNERS OF THE WILDERNESS. Very Pearson’s Pick In Clayton, New York, A. E. Pearson has made “Pearson’s Perfect Pictures” stand for the best in photoplay to his community: now Mr. Pearson sends “Our Gang” one of his best bets out of 208 from March of 1926 to the same month in 1927. Here is part of the list : Story Without a Name (Pt.). City That Never Sleeps (Pt.). California Straight Ahead (Uv.). The Talker (F. N.). Knockout (F. N.). Manhattan (Pt.). Steele of Royal Mounted (W. B.). His Supreme Moment (F. N.). The Bat (U. A.). Where Was I? (Uv.). Little Annie Rooney (V. A.). Tower of Lies (M. G.). Drusilla With a Million (F. B. O.). Chip of Flying U (U.). Lights of Old Broadway (M. G.). good outdoor story with good tone and appeal. Sunday yes, and is just above program schedule. Draw merchant, farming class, town 1,650, widely scattered. Mrs. J. B. Travelle, Elite Theatre, Placerville, California. WISE GUY. Very good story. Tone, appeal good. Sunday yes, special no. Draw merchant, farm class, town 1,650 widely scattered. Mrs. J. B. Travelle, Elite Theatre, Placerville, California. Paramount ANCIENT HIGHWAY. Star, Jack Holt. Good program picture, almost ruined by a poor print. Tone good, appeal 40 per cent. Sunday yes, special no. Draw general class, town 2,200. Admission 10-25. A. F. Jenkins, Community Theatre (469 seats), David City, Nebraska. DESERT GOLD. (6,886 feet). Star, Shirley Mason. As good a picture as we have ever seen. Pleases a hundred per cent. Book it and you won’t go wrong. Draw general class, town 2,200. Admission 15-25. New Cozy Theatre, ’Springfield, Kentucky. FASCINATING YOUTH. Junior stars. Not a good drawing card, but it is a pleasing little picture. There was some promising talent shown in this one. Tone good, appeal fair, not a special. Draw better class, town 4,500. Admission 10-20. C. A. Anglemire, “Y” Theatre (400 seats), Nazareth, Pennsylvania. , FASHIONS FOR WOMEN. Star, Esther Ralston. The director seemed to be an immoral person and didn’t have a sense of the right amount of clothing. One of the most forceful arguments for a censor I have seen this year. A decent person with the authority to handle a pair of shears could have taken fifty feet out of this picture and make a dandy picture of it. When they show nude women they make some of your best customers get up and leave. I’m not a prude! I’m a business man, trying to sell decent people entertainment and I feel that an organization as big as Paramount could afford to spend a little on a salary to some decent person to check up on the work of their Hollywood staff and avoid any hint of degenerate minds. Four out of five of their late pictures have needed it badly. Charles Lee Hyde, Grand Theatre, Pierre, ’South Dakota. GOD GAVE ME TWENTY CENTS. Star, Lois Moran. A rather heavy picture With the cast doing all good work. No extra drawing power. Picture deserved more patronage than it got. Good paper and print. R. A. Preuss, Arvada Theatre, Arvada, Colorado. GRAND DUCHESS .. it THE WAITER. (7 reels). Star, Adolphe Menjou, Maybe Adolphe is all right and maybe this is a good picture. I dunno. But this I do know — that we cannot get them in on this star and that we lost plenty on this one. A. E. Sharer, Globe Theatre, Savannah, Missouri. HOTEL IMPERIAL. Star, Pola Negri. This is less objectionable than most of this star’s pictures, but her picture outside is about the same as a measles sign for my box office. Charles Lee Hyde, Grand Theatre, Pierre, South Dakota. IT. Star, Clara Bow. This is one wonderful picture; it is just what the people want. Ranks above The Campus Flirt as a box office attraction. Broke my house record for second night’s business and that is the true test of how really good a picture is. Clara Bow is in a class all by herself. Run this picture — and then hunt up the State Rights picture, The Plastic Age, and make a lot of money and a lot of friends. The latter picture is almost as good and will cost you say one-quarter the price because of its age. However, it is new until played. Charles Lee Hyde, Grand Theatre, Pierre, South Dakota. A KISS IN A TAXI. Star, Bebe Daniels. This is a fair picture; five minutes cutting would make it good. It entertains all right and for those who can understand the French code of ethics and morality it is O. K. However, we have to deal with a lot of people who do not care for ‘‘French” morals, and pictures should be made accordingly. Charles Lee Hyde, Grand Theatre, Pierre, South Dakota. KISS IN A TAXI. Star, Bebe Daniels. I know this isn’t quite up to Bebe’s standard and think quite a few exhibitors will agree with me. Her pictures cost me plenty and I expected plenty. This drew only fair, but those who came got a kick out of it. R. A. Preuss, Arvada Theatre, Arvada, Colorado. LOVE’S GREATEST MISTAKE. This is a fair picture. Charles Lee Hyde, Grand Theatre, Pierre, South Dakota. NEW YORK. Star, Lois Wilson. This was a good picture with a nice star and a clever plot. I would have liked it better with more New York scenes in it instead of being all studio stuff; they should have given us more shots of the actual city, as we used that advertising with the title. It also could have been improved a lot by a few more laughs. Charles Lee Hyde, Grand Theatre, Pierre, South Dakota. Pathe DEVIL HORSE. Star, Rex. Very good story. Fine scenery. Acting of Rex great, Plenty of atmosphere. Tone, appeal good. Sunday, special yes. Mrs. J. B. Travelle, Elite Theatre, Placerville, California. Producers Dist. Corp . MANBAIT. Star, Marie Prevost. Almost as good as It. Saucy and snappy, with Miss FREE FOR ONE WEEK We will mail our “DAILY PERSONAL SERVICE” for six days upon receipt of attached coupon. This free offer is made to acquaint you with the value of our unbiased advice and recommendations concerning standard security issues. 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