The Moving picture world (January 1922)

54709 -January 7, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 3 I By EDGAR F. KIRCHNER Manager, Family Theatre, Detroit, Mich. Here Are Some Current 0>aramountQidures CECIL B. DeMILLE'S " The Affairs of Anatol" GLORIA SWANSON in ELINOR GLYN'S " The Great Moment" " THE SHEIK," with Agnes Ayres and Rudolph Valentino, a GEORGE MELFORD Production " GET-RICH-QUICK WALLINGFORD," a Cos- mopolitan Production GEORGE LOANE TUCKER'S "Ladies Must Live " WALLACE REID, GLORIA SWANSON and EL- LIOTT DEXTER in " Don't Tell Everything " ELSIE FERGUSON in "Footlights" WILLIAM deMILLE'S " Miss Lulu Bett" with Lois Wilson, Milton Sills, Theodore Roberts and Helen Ferguson WILLIAM S. HART in " Travelin' On " A WILLIAM S. HART Production BETTY COMPSON in " The Law and the Woman " CECIL B. DeMILLE'S " Fool's Paradise " JACK HOLT in "The CaU of the North" THOMAS MEIGHAN in "A Prince There Was" CECIL B. DeMILLE'S "Saturday Night" ELSIE FERGUSON and WALLACE REID in "Forever," a GEORGE FITZMAURICE Pro- duction BETTY COMPSON in "The Little Minister" POLA NEGRI in "The Last Payment" •* MORAN OF THE LADY LETTY," with Doro- thy Dalton. A GEORGE MELFORD Produc- tion GEORGE FITZMAURICE'S " Three Live Ghosts " 1 SOME people have said to me that the Family The- atre, with its remarkable location, could have played to capacity business during those good old days with nothing but a music box as an attraction. Maybe they are right. The Family is situated right under the front windows of Detroit's city hall; it is the center of a fork of seven of the busiest streets in the nation and thousands of people are called past its door daily. The Family Theatre during those good old times played just ordinary moving pictures. The people came and as long as they did, I didn't stop to analyze the pic- ture market closely. It mattered little to me what brand of pictures we were showing, so long as the attendance figures held up—so we went merrily on our way, until— —the business depression and hot weather slump hopped on us at the same time. Even our choice location was affected. People were hanging onto their money and bargaining closely for every purchase they made. It was then that I stopped to figure how to beat the hard times. I studied my booking sheets and talked with various exhibitors who were meeting with the same problem. WAS there anything in the world that I could show that would stand an even chance of fighting the hard times? Someone asked: "Have you tried Paramount pictures?" and in reviewing the career of the Family Theatre I discovered that the house hadn't played a Paramount picture. I began to think the mat- ter over. I realized that Paramount pictures were na- tionally advertised, that the people were familiar with them, and that they had a reputation for quality that certainly should bring an exhibitor a return on his invest- ment if anything could. I played my hunch and booked some Paramount pic- tures, and I firmly believe that it was one of the very best moves of my career. It was very noticeable in my receipts on the days I played Paramoutit, and I know for a fact that I have created a patronage at the Family that is a standing one through their use. My matinees are building up nicely and I have noticed a far different aspect in the class of people who come in. Paramount pictures helped me beat the hard times bugaboo, and now that I have learned what they can do, I do not want to be caught without them again. FAMOUS PIAYE R.S LASKV CORPORAnON g .jSHWft' ^