The Moving picture world (March 1921)

40 MOVING PICTURE WORLD March 5, 1921 New York Premiere of "The Four Horsemen" to Be Held March 6 at the Lyric Theatre BEFORE a brilliant and distinguished audience in the Lyric Theatre, New York, on tne evening of Sunday, March 6, Metro's "million dollar picturization" of Vicente Blasco Ibanez's novel, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," will have a New York premiere unprecedented in the annals of motion pictures. This photo- drama, which is a Rex Ingram Production from a screen adaptation by June Mathis, will be given a presentation of superlative distinction under the personal supervision of Dr. Hugo Riesenfeld, managing director of the Rivoli, Rialto and Criterion theatres. Because of the great success of the Span- ish author's novel on both sides of the At- lantic, the appearance of "The Four Horse- men" as a motion picture has been awaited with intense interest in literary and artistic circles as well as in filmdom and theatre- dom. Plans are being made for the recep- tion at the premiere of Don Juan Riano and Dr. Thomas Le Breton, the Spanish and Argentina ambassadors from Washington; the official consular representatives in New York of Spanish speaking countries; Archer M. Huntington and other officials of the Hispanic Society of America, together with prominent authors, newspaper and maga- zine editors, college professors, artists, sculptors, as well as notable figures in the film and theatre world. With its picturesque episodes in the Ar- gentine, its romance against the gay back- ground of Paris and its epic sweep of drama in the big Marne scenes, the screen version of "The Four Horsemen" offers unusual scope for musical interpretation. An elab- orate music setting, to be rendered by a symphony orchestra, is being specially ar- COMPLETIOX of plans for the Asso- ciated Motion Picture Advertisers' "Naked Truth" dinner, to be held at the Biltmore Hotel, March 4, shows one of the most notable lists of guests and the most brilliant array of entertainment talent ever assembled in one room for a motion picture function. "The Na':ed Truth" dinner, which has been the subject of constant planning dur- ing the last three months, promises, it is said, to eclipse any function ever offered in the motion picture industry and will be offered to members and guests as a seven- reeler of super-special merit, released on an exclusive basis to franchise holders con- sisting of members of the A. M. P. A. When Director Paul Lazarus, president of the association, takes his place at the head of the table to initiate proceedings for the dinner he will do so as the result of work by a committee that has exerted every ef- ford to make the first of these annual "Na' ed Truth" dinners by the association an affair that will be formal and still unique in entertainment value and in bringing to- gether executives and leaders of the in- dustry with the advertising and publicity men. Some Who Will Attend Among the invited guests who have to date signified their intention of attending are: Adolph Zu'-or, president of Famous Players-Lasky Corporation; J. D. Williams, general manager of First National Exhib- itors' Circuit; H. Schwalbe of First Na- tional; Hiram Abrams of United Artists ranged by Dr. Riesenfeld, together with other strongly appealing interpretive fea- tures, and it is predicted that this photo- drama's metropolitan debut will set a new mark in the annals of filmdom. Arrival of "The Four Horsemen" on the screen has been eagerly anticipated by thousands of admirers of Blasco Ibanez's novel, not only in New York, but through- out the United States, and for weeks vari- ous Metro offices have been deluged with inquiries as to the date of the picture's re- lease. With the announcement that "The Four Horsemen" is about to reach the screen comes the news from the publishers that the novel has passed its 161st edition and it still is in heavy demand. Many months ago, it broke all records as a "best seller" in bookdom and its legion of read- ers throughout the United States alone is estimated at more than 10,000,000 persons. Likewise, the translation of "The Four Horsemen" into a photodrama has broken motion picture production records. Just a few of the statistics of the picture's produc- tion, which was made at Metro's studios in Los Angeles, reveal the magnitude of the understaking. It was six months in the making. More than 12,000 persons were utilized. Over 125,000 tons of steel, lumber, masonry, shrubbery, furniture, and varied construction material were used in building- ing its massive settings. More than 500,000 feet of raw film were exposed. Fourteen cameramen and twelve assistant directors were required in handling and recording the big ensemble scenes. A French village, capable of housing 6,000 souls, was erected and destroyed in the filming of the stirring Marne scenes. Corporation; Percy Waters, president of Triangle; Gabriel Hess of Goldwyn Pic- tures Corporation; Lewis J. Selznick, presi- dent of Selznick Pictures; William Fox. president of Fox Pictures; Paul Brunet, president of Pathe, and Charles Urban, pres- ident of Urban Motion Picture Industries, Inc. For the entertainment end of the program, which is under the direction of Victor Shapiro, a galaxy of talent has been as- sembled from the A. M. P. A. membership. Headlining the bill will be "The Big Five" with Herb Crooker, the big five consisting of Jerome Beatty, C. L. Yearsley, Paul Gulick, P. A. Parsons and Harry Reichen- bach. Father Time will dominate the sketch in a scintillating series of episodes intro- ducing the Cave Man, the Roman, the Bell Man, the Showman and Just Man. Will Introduce Them "The Newer Idea" will be a one-reel fea- ture in itself, presented by Nat Rothstein, Victor Shapiro, Joe Brady and Arthur'Bril- lant in which press agents may meet an in- troduction to their favorite adjectives and overburdened phrases. Other members whose services have been enlisted so far for the presentation of stunts on the program include: Paul Lazarus, Hal Fyfe, Paul Sarazan, J. Irving Green, Horace Judge, A. M. Botsford, Maurie Myers, Sam D. Palmer, George Landy, Al Feinman, and Walter F. Eberhardt. A pageant which will deal with "Blue Laws," censorship and other tribulations incidental to the industry will be a feature of the evening. Tom Wiley, in charge of arrangements, has complete control of the tickets for "The Naked Truth" dinner, ad- mission to which will be limited by the seating capacity of the private dining room. Promotions Announced in Sales Organization S. R. Kent, general manager of distribu- tion, recently announced the following promotions in the Paramount sales organ- ization : Joseph H. Gilday, who for some time has managed the branch exchange at Kansas City and was previously in charge of the Chicago and Indianapolis exchanges, with headquarters at Chicago. Mr. Gilday suc- ceeds Harris P. Wolfberg, who recently re- signed to enter the coal business. Herbert Elder, branch manager at Cleve- land and formerly at Pittsburg, is promoted to the position of assistant sales manager at the Home Office, suceeding John W. Hicks, Jr., who goes shortly to Australia as man- aging director of Feature Films, Ltd., Mr. Elder is succeeded as branch manager at Cleveland by P. A. Bloch. Philip Reisman, branch manager at Min- neapolis, is promoted to the position of dis- trict manager in charge of the Minneapolis, Omaha and Des Moines offices, R. C. Li Beau remaining in supervision of the Kan- sas City and St. Louis offices. Film Arrangements Made In New York, where he is now arranging his affairs so that he may speedily return to Los Angeles to concentrate his activities there, Oliver Morosco has concluded one of the biggest film transactions in the history of the motion picture industry. By the terms of a contract signed by Morosco and execu- tives of Associated First National Pictures, Inc., the recently projected Oliver Morosco Productions, Inc., will release its entire film output through Associated First National. JOHN W. HICKS, JR. Managing director, Feature Films, Ltd., Syd- ney, Australia, distributors of Paramount pictures in Australia and Ne<w Zealand A. M. P. A. Dinner Plans Scheduled for March 4, Include Brilliant Entertainment