The Moving picture world (November 1925-December 1925)

454 MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 5. 1925 Fox Film Corporation Will Release Strong List of Little Features for "Laugh Month'^ FOURTEEN corking two-reel comedies which made reviews laugh as they seldom do at a pre-release showing, will be the contribution of Fox Films to Nation Laugh Month, to be observed in January by motion picture theatres all over the United States. The purpose of National Laugh Month, as has already been announced, is to impress upon exhibitors the importance of advertising and exploiting short subject films instead of playing the loud pedal on feature attractions and letting the rest of the program take care of itself. Eight of the foremost producers of short comedies have formed an organization to this end and National Laugh Month is the result. Included in the list of Fox Films comedy releases for November, December and January are three Van Bibbers, "The Wrestler," "A Parisian Knight" and "The Feud" ; two of the O. Henry series, "Failure," and "Cupid a la Carte"; seven Imperials, "Strong for Love," "East Side, West Side," "Control Yourself," "Heavy Swells," and "The Flying Fool" and two untitled two-reelers, two of the Helen and Warren Married life series, "The Peacemakers" and "His Own Lawyer." Seldom, if ever, have two-reel comedies elicited such enthusiastic praise from reviewers as these, particularly the Van Bibbers, which are produced as lavishly as many feature-length films. It is the opinion of many that Fox has set a new standard for short comedies, not only in elaborateness of production, but also in displacing slapstick and hokum with genuinely humorous situations. "The Wrestler," one of the latest in the Van Bibber series, fairly abounds with screamingly funny situations and afford Earle Foxe greater opportunities to create laughs than perhaps any thus far released. In this picture Foxe, as the bashful Van, is compelled to mix it up with a professional wrestler who has quarreled with his sweetheart, and it is guaranteed to make any audience howl with mirth. "A Parisian Knight" also is crowded with laughs and it would be a gloomy soul indeed who couldn't find a cure in this film. "The Feud" is a hilarious adventure in house-buying that brings a family war along with the purchase. In the Married Life of Helen and Warren series, "The Peacemakers'' finds Kathryn Perry and Hallam Cooley, the Newlyweds, in a thrilling adventure on board ship, in which mistaken identity gives rise to considerable merriment. "His Own Lawyer" gives Hal some anxious moments. "I'ailure," an O. Henry comedy, shows what happened to a divorce lawyer who tried to collect a fee from each of the three principals in a human triangle and lost out all around, while "Cupid a la Carte" is a typical O. Henry yarn made into a great film. Perhaps the outstanding picture on the list for National Laugh Month, judging by the reception it received from pre-release reviewers is "Control Yourself," an Imperial, in which .Sid Smith introduces the celebrated electric horse made famous by President Coolidge. Smith appears as a gilded son who struggles to overcome a violent temper and win the hand of a beautiful heiress and the big scene is the crumbling of an immense dam which a crooked |IIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIII^ I Two Rayart Pictures | s According to a cable received from J i David J. Mountan, President of Rich 1 1 mount Pictures, Inc., who sailed last s i week on the Leviathan, two Rayart 1 j| Pictures, namely, "Thrilling Youth," § I starring Billy West, and "The Mid 1 g night Limited," starring Gaston Glass i 1 and Wanda Hawley, were shown to the | i complete passenger list on board the 1 j Leviathan. The cable from Mr. Moun i J tan reads as follows: g 1 "Screened Billy West 'Thrilling f 1 Youth' Thursday night aboard Levia i g than with tremendous success. Au E i dience in howls of laughter through | 1 out. Screened 'Midnight Limited' Wed s § nesday to very representative audience. [ 1 Wonderful response. Liked by all. Re g i ceived great vote of thanks from pas 1 i sengers for showings." 1 ^'K ii.i:iiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiu^ contractor has built for the girl's father. The hero discovers that his prospective father-inlaw is about to be swindled out of $100,000 and resolves to prevent it. This picture was declared a knockout by all who saw it at a recent screening. However, the high praise bestowed on "Control Yourself" does not mean that the others on the list are inferior in quality. Every one on the list brought hearty laughs and spectators agreed that they were much above the usual standard of short laughing subjects. Felix Adler, who recently signed a contract as chief title-writer of the Fox comedy department, after several years in a similar capacity with Mack Sennett, adds greatly to the entertaining quality of these comedies with titles which are in themselves irresistibly funny. George Marshall, comedy supervisor, has surrounded himself with a staff of fertile-brained gagmen and, according to announcement from the Fox West Coast Studios, an absolute ban has been placed on all the old time-worn gags which once were regarded as indispensable in the making of comedies. Working under Marshall's direction are Robert P. Kerr, Albert Ray, Lee Neal, Max Gold, Andrew Bennison, Daniel Keefe, Lew Seiler and Benjamin Stoloff, some of the ablest comedy directors in the film industry and a veritable army of gag-inventors. The Fox comedy program is filled with exploitation possibilities. Linked with the Van Bibber comedies is the name of Richard Harding Davis, the celebrated .American author, who wrote the stories on which they are based. O. Henry has become known as the world's greatest short story writer. Mabel Herbert Urner, author of "The Married Life of Helen and Warren," is now writing stories which are syndicated to eighty-one of the most important newspapers in the country. Each of them runs pictures of Kathryn Perry and Hallam Cooley in scenes from the Helen and Warren comedies. In order to help exhibitors put over National Laugh Month with a real bang. Fox Films has provided unusually attractive posters, lobby photos, ncW'Spaper clip sheets, and, in fact, everything conceivable in the line of accessories to keep the box-office busy. WILLIAM FOX KNOWS MARRIED FOLKS GO TO SHOWS so he gives them something apropos and entertaining — "The Married Life of Helen and Warren^' — this time "The Peacemakers" holds the screen, Hallan Cooley and Katlxryn Perry being "them."