Moving Picture World (Aug 1917)

August 18, 1917 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1089 A. Kay Distributes Lion Comedies Master Motion Picture Company Has Arranged for a Weekly Release of Its Product. FOLLOWING close on the heels of the announcement from the Master Motion Picture Company that the "Make 'Em Roar" phrase represented a new brand of comedies that were being made by Masterpictures of Houston, Texas, and that were to be released through the independent market, comes another important announcement with regard to these comedies. The announcement is from the executive offices of the A. Kay Company, and says that an arrangement has been entered into and agreed upon between the A. Kay Company and Harold J. Binney, president and director general of Masterpictures for the world-wide distribution of the latter's product. The A. Kay Company has been negotiating for the output of Masterpictures for the past few months, and now that arrange Scene from "Nathan Busts Into the Movies" (Masterpictures). ments have been completed whereby the A. Kay Company become the sole distributors of these comedies, plans are already under way for the marketing of these comedies. Masterpictures has decided to call the pictures Lion Comedies. The name has been accepted by the A. Kay Company, and in the future, in advertising and exploitation, the brand of Lion Comedies will be used. Masterpictures has arranged with the A. Kay Company for a weekly release of these comedies, the first to be released on or about the middle of August. At present an extensive campaign is being mapped out for Masterpictures. The A. Kay Company also informs us that the distributors in this country will be exchanges ofan established reputation. The first of the Lion Comedies is called "Nathan Busts Into the Movies," and will certainly "Make 'Em Roar,'" according to the announcement. Further reports about this comedy indicate that it is a comedy of a slapstick nature. The second, picture is entitled, "A Village Villain," and is heralded as a sure box-office winner. TOBIAS TO REPRESENT FOURSQUARE IN CONNECTICUT. Arrangements have been made whereby L. S. Tobias, former branch manager for Mutual in New Haven, Conn., will act in the capacity of Supervisor of Sales in Connecticut for M. H. Hoffman-Foursquare Pictures. Mr. Tobias leaves for Connecticut this week, where he will arrange for special showings and first runs for the first releases of the Foursquare, namely, "The Sin Woman," "Trip Through China," "Her Fighting Chance," "Should She Obey?" and "The Silent Witness." These features will be handled direct from the New York exchange, thereby affording the exhibitor correct shipping and co-operating facilities. UNIQUE HOUSE ORGAN FOR FOREIGN BUYERS. J. Frank Brockliss, Inc., 729 Seventh avenue, New York, are issuing a bulletin for circulation among buyers of motion picture films in all countries outside the United States. The bulletin takes the form of an illustrated-catalogue fully descriptive of a large list of films released on the open market. The nature of the bulletin will at once be realized when it is stated that Brockliss handles the world's rights of such recent notable successes as "The Deemster," "The Barrier," the Billy West Comedies, "The Land of the Rising Sun," the U. S. Navy, "The Canadian Army," the A. Kay Productions, Motoy Comedies and many others. OLDKNOW TAKES MUTT AND JEFF. Colonel William Oldknow, the general manager of the Consolidated Film Supply Co., of Atlanta, Ga., has very recently acquired the rights to many of the worth-while short subjects released in the state rights field. Chief among these are the Mutt and Jeff Comedies, for which he has acquired the rights to the entire South. NEXT EDGAR LEWIS PICTURE PROMISES SURPRISES. In spite of the secrecy surrounding the next special Edgar Lewis picture, which is now being completed at Ticonderoga, New York, enough news has reached Broadway to cause considerable speculation in film circles as to the nature of the well known director's new contribution to the screen. Although Mr. Lewis has been working on his new production for two months, and has had his large company assembled at Ticonderoga for more than six weeks, the only definite news received has related to the fact that Mitchell Lewis, Hedd.i Nova, Victor Sutherland, William A. Williams, Ray Chamberlain, members of "The Bar Sinister" cast, and Mabel Scott and Edward Rossman, who played prominent parts in "The Barrier," including Joseph Heron, Philip Sanford, William Cavanaugh and Juanita and Alberta Meizner, will also be seen In the coming drama. The nature of the story and its title have never been mentioned, and are still jealously guarded, but Charles Feature Adams, who visited the Edgar Lewis company recently, managed to get some news past the Lewis censor, which gives a hint of the importance of the production. The amount of construction work done by Edgar Lewis can be judged by the fact that one building is over sixty feet long, its interior being used by the director to stage large ensemble scenes, while its exterior is necessary to the photographing of important action in the main street of the town. The photoplay is under the personal supervision of Edward Earl, who has selected the Craftsman Film Laboratories to do the printing and developing under the personal supervision of Charles Herliman. LIBERTY HAS MUTT AND JEFF COMEDIES. Mayer Silverman, president of the Liberty Film Renting Co., which has its offices at 938 Penn avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., has taken over the franchise for Mutt and Jeff Comedies for Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This move on his part speaks well for the selling qualities of Bud Fisher's new releases, as Mr. Silverman is reckoned one of the most careful and conservative exchange men in the business. CHRISTIE ON BUSINESS TRIP. Charles H. Christie, business manager of the Christie Film Company, has just left Los Angeles for a trip which will cover the greater part of the United States and will include visits to practically all the open-market exchanges handling Christie Comedies throughout the country. Mr. Christie expects to arrive in New York during the first week in August to conclude negotiations for the Christie rights in a number of foreign countries, notably those of South America. "Within a few weeks," said Mr. Christie before his departure, "we will complete our first year of production for the open market, having begun our state rights distribution on September 18 of last year. As we have subjects completed up to the end of September, 1917, it may be said that we have reached our first birthday, and our success within this period has been very gratifying to us. We have delayed the disposal of some of the foreign rights until we had established our product on a firm and proven basis, but with our recent sale of the Japanese and Scandinavian rights we feel that we are ready for an invasion of the markets of the world. SUMMER ACTIVITIES OF KING BEE. Probably no company engaged in the production of motion pictures has been more active during this summer than the King Bee Films Corporation, whose studios at Bayonne, N. J., have seldom been idle even during the most trying heat. Under the direction of Louis Burstein, President and General Manager of the company, work has gone incessantly night and day as the demand for the comedies with Billy West as the star is overwhelmingly great. The ninth two-reel King Bee is in hand and promises to be no less humorous than its predecessor NOTHING FOR THE GOATS. Comedy situations happen on and off the screen many times during the day in a film distributing office. Henry J. Brock, president of the Inter-Ocean Film Corporation, 220 West 42d street, New York City, relates one of these which transpired some weeks ago in his office. The Inter-Ocean Film Corporation pursue an export business exclusively for motion picture films and there are times when representatives of many foreign countries, talking in their native tongue, are doing business for the country they represent. Among these foreign buyers was a gentleman from one of the Latin American countries who had just purchased several subjects for his territory. The entire deal was practically consummated, all but the order for advertising matter, which usualy consists of pictorial paper, heralds, slides, photographs, etc. The customer in question ordered a full line of everything, but omitted the pictorial paper, much to the astonishment of the salesman, who immediately told him he had overlooked the most important part of the publicity matter. His reply was: "We can't post any paper in our country, for goats are very common and walk the streets as freely as dogs do here, and the goats usually have a feast when paper is posted. They love the paste and naturally the paste is all licked off and tha paper is used for desert."