Moving Picture World (Nov-Dec 1927)

December 24, 1927 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 33 Straight from the Shoulder imports Exhibitor Information Direct from the Box Office to you Edited by A. Van Buren Powell F B O HOOK AND LADDER NO. 9. Stars, Cornelius Keefe, Edward Hearn, and Dione Ellis. Altho the title suggests the central action in the fire scenes, the love story absorbs and holds the audience’s interest. This is not a special by any means, but up to the average program picture. Ben Eskind, New Kentucky Theatre, Madisonville, Kentucky. HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER. Star, Fred Thomson. Fairly good Western, not as good as most of his pictures and didn’t take as well either. Too much love and dramatics for a Western. Tone, good. Sunday and special, no. Appeal, seventy per cent. Rural class town of 300. Admission 20-40. L. L. Like, Dreamland Theatre, Drummond, Montana. LONE HAND SAUNDERS. Star, Fred Thomson. A very entertaining picture. Will please the kids one hundred per cent. If you want a picture with thrills this will please. Had a nice house on this one. Tone, good. Sunday and special, no. Appeal, ninety per cent. Farming class town of 800. Admission 15-25, 20-35 for specials. Ray P. Murphy, Old Trail Theatre (300 seats), Hebron, Ohio. Previous reports: good 3. PAINTED PONIES. Star, Hoot Gibson. One that will make money for any house. Tone, good. Sunday, yes. Not a special. Appeal, ninety per cent. Town of 350. Admission 15-25. Ira Stonebraker, Allen Theatre (350 seats), Allen, Kansas. OUTLAW DOG, THE. Star, Ranger (dog). Another fine picture with Ranger doing his part in a remarkable manner. Played two nights to fair houses and made some good money. Think it pleased all my patrons. Tone, good. Sunday, yes. Not a special. Appeal, one hundred per cent. eGneral class town of 600. Admission 10-25, 15-35. W. C. Snyder, Cozy Theatre (260 seats), Lamont, Oklahoma. RANGER OF THE NORTH. Star, Ranger (dog). A good Northern picture. Made a little money at box-office. Tone, good. Sunday, yes. Special, no. Appeal, eighty per cent. Town of 350. Admission 15-25. Ira Stonebraker, Allen Theatre (350 seats), Allen, Kansas. Previous reports. ; SONORA KID. Star, Tom Tyler. A very good one of Tyler’s, but not as good as others as it lacked the kid and the pony. Played this to a fair Saturday night crowd and made a little money. Think it pleased the majority. General class town of 600. Admission 10-25, 15-35. W. C. Snyder, Cozy Theatre (260 seats). Lamont, Oklahoma. Previous reports: poor 1. TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION. Featured cast. An entertaining picture different from usual run. We have seen dog pictures, horse pictures, but our first lion star picture. Did a good business. Six reels. Tone, okay. Sunday and special, no. Appeal, eighty per cent. Farming class town of 800. Admission 10-25, special 20-35. Ray P. Murphy, Old Trail Theatre (300 seats), Hebron, Ohio. Previous reports: good 3, fair 1. TOM AND HIS PALS. Star, Tom Tyler. This fellow makes good Westerns, but he doesn’t seem to go good for me. Tone, good. Sunday, yes. Not a special. Fair appeal. Working class city of 13,500. I Admission 10-20. G. M. Bertling, Favorite Theatre (160 seats), Piqua, Ohio. Previous reports, good 1. First National AFFAIR OF THE FOLLIES. Star, Billie Dove. A nice little program picture that went over fine and pleased the majority. Played two nights to fair houses and came out a little ahead. Tone, fair. Sun Between Ourselves A get-tocjether place where we can talk things over here's something new, deViSed to help you in using these reports. It takes more work at this end, but that’s just gravy for the chap who collates the dependable tips you send. Anything to make your work easier, your picture choice more simple and accurate. The stunt is this: under each report, if there have been previous tips on that picture, you will find listed the number of previous reports that said the picture was good, or fair, or poor. In making this listing for you my way is to study the previous reports, if everything is in favor of the picture the listing is “Good.” If nothing is in favor, the listing is “Poor.” If the exhibitor has said it was a fair picture, or his report was neither fully favorable nor entirely against box office, the listing is “Fair.” Where my choice of listing would leave a doubt you will find enough quoted from the report to make the reason clear, as, a good picture might be reported but not good for a small town; that would be listed “Good” with a note “Big city.” Hope it clicks with you. VAN. day and special, no. Appeal, eighty per cent. General class town of 600. Admission 10-25, 15-35. W. C. Snyder, Cozy Theatre (260 seats), Lamont, Oklahoma. Previous reports: good 1, fair 1. CONVOY. Stars, Dorothy Mackail and Lowell Sherman. An excellent picture from an educational standpoint and enough action and thrills mixed with the drama to make a good evening’s entertainment. Play it. I secured through the courtesy of the Navy Recruiting Service at Salt Lake a supporting Navy short subject. Rural class town of 300. Admission 25 50. L. L. Like, Dreamland Theatre, Drummond. Montana. DON DARE DEVIL. Star, Ken Maynard. One of the best Westerns that I have ever seen this star in, and a real picture. Good enough for anybody. Tone and appeal, good. Sunday and special, yes. Working class town of 13,500. Admission 10-20. G. M. Bertling, Favorite Theatre (160 seats), Piqua, Ohio. DROP KICK. Star, Richard Barthelmess. This is a fine picture and Barthelmess is perfectly cast in this college football here. Did a good business and pleased every one, so what more could an exhibitor expect? Special, yes. L. O. Davis, Virginia Theatre, Hazard, Kentucky. DROP KICK. Star, Richard Barthelmess. If you expect to see much football in this picture you will be disappointed, but, as a whole, a pretty good show. Tone, okay. Sunday, yes. Not a special. Fair appeal. Mrs. S. J. Brown & Son, Phoenix Theatre (200 seats), Neola, Iowa. FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE. Star, Beny Lyon. Played this one week after playing that lemon, “High Hat” and attendance was poor. This is an honest-to-goodness piece of entertainment and it pleased a small crowd one hundred per cent. If First National will hold Benny Lyon to good features like this he will soon be a good drawing card. That is, if they don’t make another slip like “High Hat.” Tone, fine. Sunday, yes. Appeal, one hundred percent. General class town of 1,000. Admission 10-25. H. H. Hedberg, Amuse-U Theatre, Melville, Louisiana. HIGH HAT. Star, Ben Lyon. Just a fair program picture and didn’t draw here. Played two nights to very small houses and tpok in about enough to pay film rental. Pleased about fifty per cent. Fair tone. Sunday and special, no. Appeal, fifty per cent. General class town of 600. Admission 10-25, 15-35. W. C. Snyder, Cozy Theatre (260 seats), Lamont, Oklahoma. Previous reports: good 1, poor 1. LONG PANTS. Star, Harry Langdon. A knockout comedy drama that pleased, but failed to draw for me. Langdon pleases them all but will not draw at my box-office. Not a special. L. O. Davis, Virginia Theatre, Hazard, Kentucky. MAKING OF O’MALLEY. Star, Milton Sills. Old picture but a very good one. Plenty of action to suit the western fans and heart throbs for the melancholy. Very good picture in eight reels. Tone, good, appeal 90 per cent. Sunday, special, yes. Draw rural class, town 300. Admission 20-40. L. L. Like, Dreamland Theatre, Drummond, Montana. RED RAIDERS. Star, Ken Maynard. Why do they have to put Indians in Westerns nowadays. They sure don’t go as good as straight Westerns. Tone, okay. Not a special and not suitable for Sundays. Fair appeal. Town of 896. Admission 10-25. Mrs. S. J. Brown & Son, Phoenix Theatre (200 seats), Neola, Iowa. SEE YOU IN JAIL. Featured cast. An excellent little program attraction that will please your average audience. Not a special. L. O. Davis, Virginia Theatre, Hazard, Kentucky. Previous reports: good 1. SEE YOU IN JAIL. Star, Jack Mulhall. A very good program picture and pleased the few we got out to see it. Played two nights to small houses, but came out a little ahead. Buy it as it will stand up very well for two nights. Tone, good. Sunday, yes. Special, no. Appeal, eighty percent. General class town of 600. Admission 10-25, 15-35. W. C. Snyder, Cozy Theatre (260 seats), Lamont, Oklahoma. SYNCOPATING SUE. Star, Corinne Griffith A right entertaining little picture and as this star is popular it did a very nice business here. Tone, okay. Not a special. Good appeal. All class town of 5,000. Admission 10-30. M. W. Larmour, National Theatre (430 seats), Graham, Texas. VENUS OF VENICE. Star, Constance Talmadge. Looked to me like a fairly picture, but like all T„ 1madge pictures here, it failed to click at the box-office. Tone, okay. Sunday, okay. Not a special. Average appeal. All classes town of 5000. Admission 1030. M. W. Larmour, National Theatre (430 seats), Graham, Texas. WHITE PANTS WILLIE. Star, Johnny Hines. Pretty good for a Johnny Hines. He seems to be popular elsewhere, but my people just refuse to fall for him. Tone, okay. Sunday, okay. Special, no. Fair appeal. All classes town of 5,000. Admission 10-30. M. W. Larmour, National Theatre (430 seats), Fraham, Texas. WHITE PANTS WILLIE. Star, Johnny Hines.