The Moving picture world (January 1920-February 1920)

January 17, 1920 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 383 AN ACTIVE FIELD lUNmctiuuiviitNuiiiiiiiiiiitiniiiiniHiiiiMMiimintiiiiiiirmiitiiiniiniiiirimmtnnitiiiiriiiiniiiimtriiitiimtiiiffl^ of the various exchanges of the city to promote harmony in work and the formulation of rules of ethics to guide the distributors in the territory. The dinner was a success from every standpoint, many imaginary difTerences in policy being ironed out. The committee on rules and regulations was instructed to draw up a set of rules to guide the board members in their future activities. Third Fire Badly Damages Bijou Theatre, Jamestown IN a fire which the firemen insisted was the meanest they ever fought, the Bijou Theatre at Jamestown, N. Y., was put completely out of the running, with an estimated loss of $25,000. The only fortunate thing about the fire was that it occurred just previous to the opening early in the afternoon, for if it had started an hour later it is believed that a panic might have resulted at a time when there is usually a large crowd on hand. The cause of the fire was attributed to an overheated furnace in the basement. A. E. Van Croix, manager of the house, says that the new pipe organ is a total ruin. The pipes and valves are installed in the rear of the second floor and the smoke, combined with the sudden heat, warped the delicate valves and gummed up the pipes so that they are useless. All of the seats were either smashed or badly blisted by the heat. The floor is ripped up in a dozen places axid so undermined that there is danger of it collapsing under its own weight. All of the interior fixtures of the house were ruined by smoke and water. The fire was the worst to occur in Jamestown within a year. But for lack of ventilation in the basement, firemen say the place would have been a roaring furnace within a few minutes. This is the third blaze to start in the Bijou. Another fire originated through an overheated furnace and the other in the operating booth. The latter occurred while the theatre was crowded, but the audience was marshaled out in good shape. Duluth Theatre Company Starts With $1,000,000 FORMATION of the Duluth Theatre Company with $1,000,000 capitalization has been announced. The incorporators are M. Finkelstein and I. H. Ruben, of Finkelstein & Ruben, of Minneapolis and St. Paul; William Hamm, St. Paul, and J. B. and Julius Cook, Duluth. Articles of incorporation have just been granted the company by the Minnesota State Securities Commission. The company is licensed to operate theatres and other amusement enterprises within the state. Finkelstein & Ruben have already three of the leading vaudeville and motion picture houses in Duluth. The formation of the new company indicates new enterprises to be entered into soon by the firm members in the Duluth theatrical field, it was announced. Finkelstein & Ruben recently anovmced their affiliation with Marcus Loew. Their new move is the beginning of the ex tension of their sphere of activities in both the motion picture and vaudeville fields, they said. Kansas City Exhibitors Like First National Plan THE proposed new booking system for the First National Exhibitors Circuit has occasioned considerable favorable comment among exhibitors in the Kansas City territory. It is believed that the plan will revolutionize the booking system of the entire business and that it will be adopted by other film concerns. A. H. Blank, of Des Moines, who has the franchise in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska for distribution of First National pictures, has conferred with practically all the exhibitors in that territory on the plans for the new system of booking. He told them that he would be prepared to begin definite action by January 15, after he had attended the convention of the First National Exhibitors Circuit at Atlanta on January Mr. Blank will be in Kansas City upon his return from Atlanta, where he will meet the exhibitors and lay before them the complete plans for the new system. The tentative plans provide that an exhibitor be chosen from each section of the three states to act as booking agent for that section. Probably there will be eight or ten selected for each state. This will facilitate service and is expected to prove much more satisfactory than to have all booking done at one point far remote from some parts of the territory it supplies. M. P. D. A. Elects Officers for "Big Year" of 1920 WHEN the "last counties" had been heard from after the midnight closing of the polls at the meeting of the Motion Picture Directors' Association on January 5, a most satisfactory list of officers had been elected to office. James Vincent won the post of director; Paul Scardon, assistant director; George B. Seitz, technical director; C. Jay Williams, treasurer; Travers Vale, secretary; John Joseph Harvey, inner guard; William F. Haddock, outer guard; J. Searle Dawley, trustee (term of office, three years). New York Again Faces Sunday Closing Agitation THE fight against Sunday movies, which it is rumored will become statewide during the next few weeks, has already cropped out in Watertown, N. Y., where members of the City Ministerial Union met on January 5 and outlined a plan of campaign which has for its object the prohibiting of Sunday motion picture shows in the theatres of that city and the re-submission of the issue to the new city administration which on January 1 became the commission form of government. Several of the clergymen express the At Ease, Gladys — At Ease! Not much of the "vamp" about this Gladys Brockwell attitude in her Fox, "Flames of the Flesh." iIIIIiiilltiitllM1iiiriiiitMiriitiii1iriitiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiriiiiliiiMitiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiNitiiiimii)iiiiriiriiiiiiiiiirii[ll opinion that the action on the part of the common council of that city, which permitted Sunday movies, was not represeptative of the major part of the city itself. Efforts will be made to put the matter to a referendum vote. In Schenectady yesterday, Sunday motion picture shows were resumed. Rev. Dr. George R. Lunn, the new mayor, permitting the picture houses to open under an agreement to give a portion of the profits for the anti-tuberculosis campaign. For three years there has been a stiff fight in Schenectady in an eflort to obtain Sunday motion picture shows. It is now believed that under the administration of Mayor Lunn, who is broadminded on the subject, that the theatres will again operate. Arthur Kane on Way Home. Seattle, January 5. Arthur S. Kane, former president of Realart, left here today for the East after visiting exhibitors in this city for three days. On his way home he will stop at Spokane and Butte. He announced his trip, which has included a long stay in Los Angeles, as having been highly successful. Mr. Kane expects to be in New York January 12 and to make an announcement that may be of interest to the trade about the middle of the month. In the Field and on the Job Page 461