Moving Picture World (Sep 1916)

September 16, 1916 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1815 4k News of Los Angeles and Vicinity % By G. P. VON HARLEMAN and CLARKE IRVINE ESSANAY TO START PRODUCTION ON THE COAST. Will Establish Studio in Los Angeles and Reopen Plant At Niles, Cal. WE ARE informed that the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company will soon establish a motion picture studio in Los Angeles or some near-by point. It is expected that a studio site will.be secured in Hollywood lor the new company and production to be started at a very early date. M..\ Kinder, the international-known French comedian, who was the originator of comedies for l'atlie in Paris, is nuw on his way to this coast, together with members of his company, which includes directors and cameramen, and he will be in entire charge of the productions. George K. Spoor, president of the Essanay, has been planning for a year or more to locate a comedy company out here, but it was not until recently that he was enabled to secure the talent and services of Linder. Mr. Linder contemplates making a comedy different from anything yet attempted in America, and much slapstick will be employed. George -Stone, former well-known legitimate star, will soon be sent to Niles, where he will open the old Essanay studio and produce some Western pictures. NEVADA FILM COMPANY TO PRODUCE "THE PLANTERS." John Ince, managing producer for the Nevada Motion Picture Company, arrived in Los Angeles this week with his assistant directors, cameramen and other helpers. On September 11 the company will embark for Guatemala Central America, where scenes for a multiple reel production will be taken. There will be about eighteen persons in the company, which will sail for the Central American Republic, and they will be absent more than twelve weeks. Tyrone Power will be featured in the big production, and he will probably be supported by Edith Sterling and Hal Cooley. The other members of the company will be selected this week. "The Planters" is the picture to be produced by the Nevada Film Company, and is said by many critics to be one of thfc finest stories of Amerian literature. The story calls for a Mexican setting, but on account of the trouble in Mexico, Guatemala was selected as a location. Rubber plantations, mountain and desert scenes, together with mobs of Indians and Mexicans, may be obtained there with a little effort, and these are a necessary part of the production. C. T. Ward, the business manager of the company, who is in the city at present, is planning the details of the trip, and he says he believes "The Planters" story will film spectacularly equal to "The Birth of a Nation," and will be a competitor to any of the "big" pictures now being exhibited. SELIG CARAVAN GOES TO DESERT. With over three hundred stars, players, extras and technical workers, a company of Selig players have gone to the desert. They went to Oxnard, on a desert north of here, to make scenes of "The Garden of Allah" on the sand dunes at the Lehmann ranch at Hueneme. The desert and oasis scenes will be made here. Their production will take aDoui ten days. A special train of five passenger coaches, three baggage cars and two freight cars brought the company to Oxnard. Special scenery, ten or more camels, donkevs and horses were brought. The principals of the company will make their residence at Hotel Oxnard while the film is being made. The large number of helpers will camp near the scene of the production. The director said this morning that Miss Helen Ware Tom Santschi and Mat V. Snyder, will have star parts in the film drama, a great part" of. which is made up of at mosphere, Night scenes will be made on< night during the time the Company is there. A report from <>\uard says: "Tile Universal Company advertised for 300 peopll to assist in pictures to be made this week on the .-.and dunes. Owing to tin conflict in dates with the company now hen-, the Universal postponed its Coming for two weeks. This morning about 200 people had gathered t" apply for work in the pictures. They dispersed in disappointment when told that the company would not come this week." PROMINENT SEATTLE EXHIBITOR HERE. J. G. von Herberg, financial head and moving spirit of the Greater Theaters Company of Seattle, is in Los Angeles. Mr. Herberg has come to the film capital, he says, that he may study and familiarize himself with the producing end of the game. ^There's nothing like knowing one's business from A to Z," says von Herberg, "and that is why I have decided to spend several days here studying all the ins and outs of this .meat industry, which I believe is still in its infancy." Air. von Herberg started in the picture game five years ago with a small storeroom and plenty of nerve and sound business judgment as his only assets. From this small beginning he has climbed to the top of the exhibitor's ladder with the development of the Greater Theaters chain. This controls four of the largest of Seattle's theaters, including the new $350,000 Coliseum, rated as the most magnificent motion picture palace in America. The company is now building another $250,000 house at Butte and has other outside interests. "In this day and age, when everyone from the cradle up reads the newspapers, the picture show manager need not expect success until he learns the value of newspaper advertising," said Mr. von Herberg. This company found that to reap the benefit of national advertising of film companies it was necessary to carry big ads in the daily newspapers to secure local benefits. This advertising was first started when the company owned one theater. Then the profits made possible through publicity were used to build another house and, never letting up on the newspaper advertising, the profits from the two theaters were then turned into a third, and so on. "And in this connection I might add that a theater management can never expect to reap the maximum profits until big space is used in the newspapers. If you have something important to say, use big type and page ads. It pays." SAN DIEGO EXHIBITORS FIGHT ENCLOSED REWIND ORDINANCE. San Diego exhibitors have had to fight to put an ordinance down that was going to compel them to use enclosed rewinders. Framed by the city building department, this ordinance making radical changes in the picture ordinance was thrown into the discard by the council. Members of the Council took this action after listening to arguments by local picture and vaudeville house-men It was shown by J. M. Dodge, of the Spreckles theater; R. E. Hicks, of the Plaza and Cabrillo, and others that the proposed amendments would work a hardship on local managers. Hicks charged that one portion of the ordinance relating to "enclosed rewinding machines" in booths, indicated that persons having these machines for sale advocated the changes. He said that one theater manager had been approached by a concern selling this apparatus. A building department employee declared that the building department knew nothing of any concern attempting or desiring to see such apparatus. He said that the proposed amendments were based on the new rules of the board of fire underwriters, and for no other reason. He read the