Paramount Pep-O-Grams (1927)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Page Ten p E P-O-G Rams WHAT ROAD SHOWS REALLY ARE. This very excellent article by A. Griffith Grey, head of Paramount’s Road Show Department, comes to us through the co-operation of Irene F. Scott, Chairman of the Educational Committee. It should be read by every true Paramounteer if for no other reason than to inculcate into them the full facts of what Paramount Road Shows are and what they actually accomplish. WHAT THE ROADSHOW PICTURE MEANS TO THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY By A. Griffith Grey, General Manager of the Paramount Roadshow Department Generally speaking, a roadshow picture is a spectacular production meriting that much abused term, “epic.” The genuine roadshow picture is vastly superior to the ordinary movie in popular appeal. But the main distinction is that a roadshow film is handled and presented exactly like a legitimate show. The prices of seats are scaled up to $2.20, there are only two showings daily with all seats reserved, there is a musical accompaniment that has been written specifically to synchronize with the theme and motif of the picture, and there are usually some special effects, such as the Magnascope and the airplane sounds in "Wings,” which, like the musical score, are employed to accentuate and enhance the dramatic or comedy action of the film itself. Perhaps I can make clearer my explanation of the term “roadshow picture” by citing those which have been most successful as $2 photoplays — “Wings,” “The Big Parade,” “The Covered Wagon,” “The Birth of a Nation,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Way Down East,” “Beau Geste,” "Ben Hur” and “Hearts of the World.” Advancing the Industry AC the risk of being accused of bias (for I have specialized in the handling of roadshow pictures ever since “The Birth of a Nation” was first presented fifteen years ago) I contend that the roadshow has done more for the advancement of the industry and the prestige of the motion picture than any other single factor. I honestly believe that the stimulating effect of the real roadshow pictures enumerated above has done more to throw the business forward than anything else. For they are the show windows of the business. Roadshow pictures such as “Wings” or “The Big Parade” will excite forty times the comment that an average program picture will provoke. A genuine roadshow picture may be pointed to with a distinct sense of pride by all associated with the industry. It is an undeniable fact that every truly fine picture made by Paramount confers a benefit upon all the other companies, for it elevates the standards of the cinema. Tickets in Advance But it is another and equally vital sense that such productions as “Wings” and “The Covered Wagon” help the entire industry. A totally different audience patronizes $2 film entertainment than you will find in the palatial picture palaces. That large group of entertainment lovers who usually attend musical or spoken plays prefer to see a fine picture where seats may be purchased in advance, with no waiting in line, and no interruptions while the performance is going on. Drop into the Criterion any night and you will observe that there are as many men and women attired in evening clothes as you will find at the high priced musical comedies. That class of patrons who prefer to buy their seats through a ticket agency generally do not attend ordinary movies, hut they will go readily to see a roadshow production. And when this extremely large element of men and women — lukewarm toward movies — do attend pictures presented like “Wings,” “The Ten Commandments” or “Beau Geste,” they will find a desire has been stimulated to see other screenplays. During a recent discussion of new motion picture trends, Jesse L. Lasky himself told me that he regarded as one of the vital problems of the business, the need of attracting fresh patrons to the films. In other words, we have 30,000,000 or more enthusiasts who are regular cinemagoers and probably see as many as fifty films a year. The industry can expand only by gaining the sympathy and interest of those who, for various reasons, do not go regularly to the movies. And I maintain that the roadshow picture is a good inducement with which to attract the great numbers who never have grown to appreciate the enjoyment and educational advantages to be derived from many films. Now, I have pointed out the value and the importance of the genuine roadshow picture from the standpoint of adding prestige to the industry and also in attracting new business. But there is another reason (Continued on Page 12)