The Moving picture world (July 1925-August 1925)

July 18, 1925 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 257 Confide in Fans and Win Independence, Says Senator By Tom Waller Kansas City Blast Yields 3 Bodies With the recovery of only three bodies from the ruins of the Gillis Theatre, Kansas City, which was wrecked by an explosion last week, it is believed now that the total loss of life will be four, including a fireman who was killed in attempting to rescue others. Had the) explosion occurred an hour later, when the midnight show would have been started, the loss of life would have run into the hundreds. Various theories are being investigated as to the cause of the explosion, one being that recent blasting on "Hobo" Hill near the theatre might have weakened the gas mains which entered the house. It has been rumored that gas was smelled in an adjoining restaurant basement on the afternoon of the explosion that night. Labor trouble also was advanced as a possible cause, but nothing logical has yet been run to earth. ROYSTER JOINS WARNER BROTHERS Nat Li. Royster, one of the best known publicity and picture theatre managers In the country, Joined the forces of Warner Bros, this week. Announcement was made of his appointment as managing director of Warner Bros. Southern Theatres, Inc., with headquarters in Charlotte, N. C. This organization comprises the string of five southern theatres recently purchased by the Warners, including the New Broadway at Charlotte, the New Concord, in Concord; the Lexington, in Lexington; the Lincoln, in Winston-Salem, and the Broadway, In Columbia, S. C. SCOTT SIDNEY, Al Christie's star director who is now preparing to film "Madame Lucy" as a successor to "Charley's Aunt," tells an interesting story of the early days in motion picture exhibitions when he was manager of a theatre than ran seventy complete shows a day, using 300 feet of film. Sidney's theatre was run in connection with the Nashville Exposition of 1897. The show was owned by Henry Roltaire, the illusionist, of whom Sidney was at that time a prutege, and was called Edison's Mirage. Occupying a huge, square hall, Edison's Mirage consisted of four sectors for audiences much after the fashion of a four-part apple pie, while in the center of the hall our projectors were mounted on a revolving circular platform. The audience entered one sector and was seated while the platform moved to the second sector where moving pictures were projected from the center of the "nie" to the outside wall. One hundred feet of film showing a train coming down a railroad track was projected. Then the platform moved again, the audience remaining seated in its original position to see one hundred feet of a fire engine coming down the street while in the third sector the audience was being treated to the moving train -film. In the fourth sector May Irwin and John Rice grimacing and kissing each other was the show. UNITED STATES SENATOR EDWARDS, in the few minutes he addressed the New Jersey conventionees at Asbury Park last week, gave a bit of advice that should serve as a major part of the solution of the so-called fight for indepedence. In the estimation of the Senator and those who heard him, his remedy — that of enlisting the public aid— is the most logical and the most inexpensive. If I owned a theatre I would not stop until I had personally told every one of my patrons that I was fighting for independence ; that I was not using certain pictures because they would not aid me in my fight and because using them would aid their producers in taking from me my theatre. Such was the substance of Senator Edward's expression on this point. Viewed from this angle, the fight for exhibitor independence should not be a thing of complexity. It should not engender any high financing. It would mean nothing more than a series of heart-to-heart talks with the fans. Again the speaker called the attention of his banquet audience to the fact that such matters as industrial fights are not confined to the film world. He cited the recent radio agitation— how the power of so-called trusts was soon reduced to a meagre minimum when smaller radio units laid bare the facts to the public and the public arose in its might and immediately brought about a condition with which everyone is familiar. Governor Silzer may have had a good speech in mind but if that were so he discarded it due to his apparent misinterpretation of the In other words, the three projectors in the center of the pie were continually working and three audiences were looking at pictures while in the fourth sector a fresh audience was coming in and being seated. The attraction was a big hit, according to Sidney, because like all good exposition shows it was short and novel. People could see the entire performance and get out in about ten minutes. However, it was very wearing on the film, which, by the way, was about three times the size of the moving picture film projected nowadays and had only two sprocket holes on each frame of action. It is interesting to compare this early show: of Scott Sidney's with "Seven Days," the production he has just completed at the Al Christie Studio. "Seven Days" is 7,000 feet. It will run one hour and ten minutes on the screen, and according to conservative estimate will be seen by ten thousand times as many people as saw the unique movie of 1897. PAUL CAZENEUVE DEAD Paul Cazeneuve, well-known character actor of the films, died at his home in Montreal, Quebec, on Thursday, July 2, after a lingering illness. He had been living a retired life during the past year because of persistent illness but previous to that he had filled many Important roles In both California and New York. use of the word "politics" by his predecessor, Attorney Nathan Burkan. Burkan's talk was strictly from the trade angle. As such it was particularly appreciated by the audience at large, composed mostly of theatre owners. But it was obvious from frowns which occasionally furrowed the brow of the Governor that he was not especially familiar with the language of the industry. Burkan stated that he was a Tammany Hall district leader, but that he never mixed business with politics. He declared that the two could not be successfully merged in the film industry and that the situation within its walls could not be clarified until this condition was appreciated. He asserted that it was the duty of Governors and Senators to see to it that one organization did not gain control of the film world. Governor Silzer immediately rejoined that both government and business were based upon politics. He stated that the trouble with some people was that they were too lazy to interest themselves in the political sphere. Without politics, the Governor stated he could not see how the film industry or any other industry could succeed. He, like Senator Edwards, maintained that the troubles in filmdom were not original; that there was a simple and decisive way to combat them, the same as that used and being used many times by other industries. As to "gouging" and "monopoly" he referred to the coal situation. The price per ton is something which most of us agrees is exorbitant, he said. As long as we sit by and pay the price we will continue to pay it, he asserted. That situation, in his opinion, is one where an exertion of political forces would reach a satisfactory conclusion. Toastmaster Robert E. Welsh, editor of Moving Picture World, quickly rallied to the support of Burkan. He explained to the Governor that Burkan did not mean politics in the sense of governmental usage. The politics this lawyer referred to, Welsh stated, were those of a "grabbing" variety peculiarly indigenous to the film game. Burkan's nod and the Governor's smile showed that Welsh had broken up a situation which had been increasing in tensity. National President R. F. Woodhull of the M. P. T. O. A. paid high tribute to the New Jersey M. P. T. O. and its chairman, Joseph M. Seider. He indulged in light puns which proved a welcome diversion. Ray Lewis, editor of the "Spotlight," gave an interesting talk on conditions in England and how American product had started things moving in the competitive field overseas. She read a prayer which she had composed for the benefit of Independence. This recitation was decidedly impressive. President Seider terminated the banquet by declaring that exhibitors need such cooperation as was manifested in his own organization rather than a generalissimo. The New Jersey chieftain sounded something which was interpreted by many as a warning when he declared: "Milwaukee was talked of and harmony was stressed. We paid a big price for harmony. It is my prayer and hope that the title to unity, the home of harmony, shall not be defective." Scott Sidney Qives Close-up Of Unique, Oldtime Theatre