The Moving picture world (June 1921)

June 4, 1921 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 517 In the Independent Field Sd)C. S. SEWELL Joins Reelcraft Joe Basil has been engaged to direct Sun-Lite Comedies for Reel- craft. His first production will be "Mother's Lamb." He will be as- sisted by Winfield Leota and B. S. Schubert. Mr. Basil formerly as- sisted in the direction and also in writing comedies for Larry Semon. Levine Closes Out Territory and Reports Exchanges Prefer to Handle Features in Series Superior Buys Forward Feature J. Joseph Sameth, president of Forward Film Distributors, Inc., announces the acquisition by the Superior Screen Service, of Chi- cago, of "Hearts o' the Range," starring Milbum Moranti and Alma Rayford, for Northern Illinois. Mr. Sameth also announces the purchase by Peacock Productions, of Kansas City, Mo., of "Hearts o' the Range" for Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois. Nat Levine, president of Plym- outh Pictures, has returned to New York after a tour to independent exchanges in the interests of his company's state right feature, "Every Woman's Problem," featur- ing Dorothy DavenporJ. He reports an improvement in the state right situation and a general tendency on the part of independent exchange- men to regard the future with a greater optimism, which is reflect- ed in increased buying activity. Mr. Levine states he found the bulk of the demand from state right buyers is for series of pictures rather than individual subjects. "Exchangemen feel that contract- ing for a series of pictures not only assures a dependable and uniform supply, but also enables them to identify their exchanges with some brand name or some given star," says Mr. Levine, "and to contract with exhibitors for a group, insur- ing a steady outlet for their pro- duct, reducing selling costs and enabling them to sell each unit more cheaply than they could sell a picture on an indivadual basis." During the course of his trip Mr. Levine disposed of the entire amount of open territory on "Every Woman's Problem." A list of the territories closed during his trip is as follows; Superior Screen Ser- vice, of Salt Lake City, for Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Southern Idaho; the Theatre Owners Corporation, of Minneapo- lis, for Minnesota and North and South Dakota; the Super Film At- tractions, of Milwaukee, for Wis- consin ; the Greater Productions Company, of Des Moines, for Iowa and Nebraska; Richards and Flynn for Kansas and Western Missouri; the All Star Features Company, of Detroit, for Michigan; the S. & S. Film and Supply Company, of Pittsburgh, for Western Pennsyl- vania and West Virginia; A. S. Cote, of St. Louis, for Southern Illinois and Eastern Missouri. Big Foreign Sale The export department of the Arrow Film Corporation, through D. J. Mountan, announces that an- other big deal has been closed with Luporini Bros., of this city, for the distribution of twenty-six produc- tions for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Double Premiere for ''Black Panther's Cub" Marks New Epoch in the Independent Field ESTABLISHING a new record for the independent field, Equity Pictures Corporation has arranged for a double premiere for the big Ziegfeld pro- duction, "The Black Panther's Cub," which will be shown during the week commencing May 29 at the Capitol in New York and for a two weeks' run at the Majestic Theatre in Boston. As is well known, the Capitol is one of New York's finest motion picture theatres and said to be the largest in the world, while the Majestic is one of Boston's lead- ing photoplay houses and one of the finest in that city. This can be classed as an epoch-making event in the history of the independent field as it is the first time that an independent feature has been shown simultane- ously in houses of such undoubted prominence, and indicates that independeilt pictures of genuine merit can secure just as big bookings as the productions of other distributing organizations. Characterized by the trade press as one of the most elaborately staged and entertaining screen dramas of the year, its acquisition by Equity for the independent field was in itself an event, and this hustling organiza- tion has now followed it up by the ten-strike of a simultaneous premiere in two big houses. This production, made by Ziegfeld Films at a cost said to be a quarter of a million dollars, was directed by Emile Chautard, who already has a number of suc- cesses to his credit and stars Florence Reed, who has achieved a reputation not only as a film star but as one of the leading stars of the spoken stage. The supporting cast of "The Black Panther's Cub" is also extraordinary, not only because of the ability of the players, but from the fact that it is a real all-star aggre- gation. All of the principal players have won success on the spoken stage and a number of the supporting cast, including Norman Trevor, Henry Stephenson, Earle Foxe, Tyrone Power and Mile. Dazie have been starred or featured in big Broadway successes. At the present time, Mr. Trevor is co-starring on Broadway in "Enter Madame" and Mr. Stephenson has a prominent role in "Spanish Love." This picture was adapted by Philip Bartholmas from Ethel Donohar's story suggested by Swinburne's famous poem, "Faustine." Following closely on the booking of the Clara Kim- ball Young feature, "Hush," recently shown at the Capitol Theatre, New York, this epoch-making achieve- ment for an independent production places Equity Pictures Corporation in the very forefront of the inde- pendent distributors who are helping to secure for the independent field the place in the industry to which it is entitled, by offering productions of quality. This also bears out statements which we have reiterated from time to time in this department that not only is there a place in the independent field for productions of the very highest calibre, but that the best bookings in the highest class theatres will be open to state right pictures of real mei-it. The double premiere of "The Black Panther's Cub" in two houses of such prominence is double-proof of the correctness of our contention and an encouraging sign for tlic future of the independent field. We heartily congratulate Equity on its courage and foresight in securing this production and the "bang" with which they are putting it over and hope that we will have many more occasions to record similar achievements. C. S. SEWELL.