The Moving picture world (March 1923-April 1923)

March 17, 1923 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 363 News Reel Now Recognized as Important Part of Show By EMANUEL COHEN Editor of Pathe News The news film has become a permanent institution in the motion picture field and is now a part of every program in every important theatre of the country. Whereas only a few years ago it was considered a filler thrown in to occupy 10 or 15 minutes, it is now a feature on its own merit and in many instances is presented as the most important part of a program. One of the reasons for the development of the news film has been the enlargement of its scope and the extension of its activities, so that at the present time it is a world-wide institution comparable with the Associated Press, the United Press, etc. In projecting a modern feature the cost of production is very apparent. On the other hand, the cost of production of the news reel is not apparent from the results. However, it must be clearly realized that behind the news reel stands a tremendous organization, untiring efforts, a tremendous investment, and enormous expenditures. We cannot tell when events are going to happen nor where, but if something does happen in any part of the world the public expect to see the pictorial record of it and it is our business to get it for them. Accordingly, we have to maintain a staff of hundreds of cameramen stationed throughout the world to wait and watch. Time and tide and "news" wait for no man and it is therefore frequently necessary to engage special airplanes, trains, etc., to enable a cameraman to get to the scene of the events while the event is still in progress. Moreover, the interest and value of the news subject depend upon its timeliness, so that on very important stories special arrangements must be made to bring the film to the factory while it is still "hot." The recent exclusive pictures of the Burning of Smyrna is a concrete example of how news is covered and presented. A close study of reports indicated trouble brewing. Accordingly we kept three cameramen on the job in the event that something should suddenly break, and one of them was immediately rushed to the scene of the conflagration when it occurred. When the pictures were obtained they were shipped by special boat to Italy and then by airplane to Paris and Havre, where they were placed on the steamer for the shipment across the Atlantic. Fourteen days after the fire occurred 8,000 miles away the films were shown here at a cost of $7,000. The flight of the Sampeio-Correia from New York to Brazil is another instance of the unusual expenditures. On this occasion, although large expenses were incurred, very few pictures of news value were obtained, so that the expense was practically a total loss. . Still another example is the recent exclusive pictures of the earthquake in Chile. It occurred in a very remote section of northern Chile, about 400 miles from our nearest cameramen. It required the of the stories which we try to covhiring of a special mountain pack er are actually used in the Pathe train to reach the scene of the News, you will realize the percentevent in the quickest possible time, age of waste that necessarily enters When I state that only five per cent into the production of a news reel. Classical Jazz Is Hit at Fox Academy "Vamped" Ready in Early April The second Al Herman all-star Century comedy, "Vamped," will be ready for early April release. While Jack Cooper takes the principal male part, honors go to Marjorie Meadows (formerly Marjorie Marcel) as the vamp. Miss Meadows has had considerable stage experience. Others in the cast are Billy Engle, Jack Earle, Jimmy Adams and Lois Boyd. The scenario is the joint work of Al Herman and Sig Neufeld, head of the Century scenario department. "Classical Jazz" is now the slogan at the Academy of Music, the William Fox downtown theatre in New York City. In keeping with the policy that nothing is too good for his patrons, General Manager F. N. Schwab of the Academy inaugurated on Sunday, March 4, the policy of syncopating the brain children of the classical composers, and the results have shown that motion picture audiences are quick to respond to an innovation that adds zest to their entertainment. In order that this latest form of musical melange might be served up to his patrons in the most effective way. Manager Schwab augmented his orchestra to thirtyfive, making it in effect a combination of symphonic proportions capable of doing full justice to the most difficult and intricate musical composition. Under the able leadership of Musical Director Joseph Klein, the orchestra offered up a delectable and snappy musical program Sunday in connection with the showing of William Farnum in "Brass Commandments," that elicited nothing but words of commendation from the packed house. "Classical music is all right for those who understand it," said Manager Schwab in discussing this innovation at the Academy, "but the majority of motion picture fans like their classics 'pepped up' with syncopation. If variety is the spice of life, syncopation is the seasoning that makes classical music palatable, and the Academy patrons have taken to 'Qassical Jazz' like a small boy to an ice cream cone. "Those who used to think that Rachmaninoff and Liszt were musical crepe hangers, now acknowledge that these old boys had some real melody in them when we jazz up the Prelude in C Minor and the Hungarian Rhapsody. When Director Joseph Klein puts the tabasco of syncopation into the mellifluous creations of the old masters, you can see the reaction immediately in the faces of our audience, and they have a hard time making their feet behave. "Our box office shows we have struck a responsive chord in the jazz-hearts of our patrons, and that chord is a syncopated one. They certainly like 'Classical Jazz,' and we are going to see that they don't go hungry." "Shadows" a Winner "Shadows," the Tom Forman production for Preferred Pictures, featuring Lon Chaney, has proved a sensation at the Coliseum in Seattle, where it recently completed a week's engagement, according to word received by the Al Lichtman Corporation. Not only did the picture play to record business during its entire run, but it received the same whole-hearted recommendations from the critics of Seattle that have been accorded it in every key center where it has opened. Engage Schertzinger to Direct Special Film Made to Fight Narcotic Evil Production behind closed doors has begun on "The Living Dead," the dramatic screen lesson against narcotics being made by Mrs. Wallace Reid. Besides Mrs. Reid, the cast includes Bessie Love, George Hackathorne, Claire McDowell, Victory Bateman and Eric Mayne. The male lead has not yet been selected. The story is by C. Gardner Sullivan, and the production itself is under the direction of John Griffith Wray. Every man feared him! Every woman idolized him! Why? Albert E. Smith, president of Vitagraph, upon his return to New York City last week from Hollywood, announced that he had engaged Victor L. Schertzinger to direct the forthcoming special, "The Man Next Door," by Eknerson Hough, the author of "The Covered Wagon." The engagement of Director Schertzinger is another step forward in the determination of Mr. Smith to produce box office winners for exhibitor and public. Director Schertzinger is credited with being the man w'ho made a star of Charles Ray under the old Ince banner and in his career he has directed such stars as Mabel Normand, Pauline Frederick, Dorothy Dalton, Madge Kennedy and Tom Moore. Among the noted pictures in which these stars appeared are "Mr. Barnes of New York," "The Blooming Angel," "The Slim Princess," "Head Over Heels" and "The Peace of Roaring River." "The Man Next Door" is one of the strongest human interest stories ever written and it is because it has these essentials of heart appeal mingled with big drama that Schertzinger has been placed in charge of production. He knows how to screen heart interest. Like "Masters of Men," the special production which Vitagraph has just finished and which is now being edited, "The Man Next Door" will have an all-star cast, players who have assured box office drawing power behind them. President Smith is elated over "Masters of Men." It is a strong "he-man" story of the sea, acceptably the best sea story written by Morgan Robertson, master of all writers of life before the mast. The principals, Earle Williams, Alice Calhoun, Cullen Landis and Wanda Hawley, never have been seen to better advantage, it is said. ■Ik C^RLLfEMMLE^:,,,/:, JACK LONDON'S Famous obamatic story REGINALD DENNX A HOBART HENLEY PRODUCTWN UNIVERSAL-JEWEL