Motion Picture News (Jan - Mar 1914)

28 THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS turing Company in Chicago, was in town last week for a few days. Stephen Smith, of the Western Vitagraph Company, received from a man he employed as a dragoman in Cairo, Egypt, a walking stick of hippopotamus hide. He sent it on to his brother, A. E. Smith, as a Christmas present It is Francis Worcester who wrote the old King Brady series for Blache Features. \\ illiam Robert Daly, the wellloved director who has been producing Imp comedies for several years, has resigned from that company to direct the first picture of the Stellar Feature Film Company. This will be ''Forgiven," a four-part production featuring Edwin Forsberg. At -least a part of the picture will be produced in St. Augustine, Fla. Jack Gorman has formed the Gorman Film Manufacturing Company, with a temporary studio at Cliffside, N. J., and will release two or three features a month. Mr. Gorman will probably soon establish a Western studio near Los Angeles. His first picture, "The Stampede," a three-part feature produced in Oklahoma, is already on the market. The factory of the Manhattan Slide and Film Company is now located at 23-25 East Twenty-sixth street. \\ E. Sipe, of Parkersburg, W. Va.. who was one of the pioneer film men in 1908, conducting exchanges at Atlanta, Omaha, and Salt Lake City, has gone with the Southern Film Exchange of Little Rock, Ark. The Picture Theatre Equipment Company, of 21 East Fourteenth street, has installed a complete motion picture equipment in the rooms of the Young Women's Christian Association at 52 Washington street, Newark, N. J. The equipmenl consists of a Power 6A projection machine and a screen. Received a postal from Stanley Twist in Honolulu en route to Sidney, Australia. I hi Royal Feature Film Company, of 69 West Twenty-third street, is handling thi \mbrosio features "Satan" and the "Kind of Rhodes." Jule Burnstein and M. E. Hoffman, of tin World Special Films Corpora1 1 • 'ii. have become associated with Louis J. Selznick in the Photo Plays Sales Company, formed to buy exclusive special features for the United us. Their first purchase is a four reel Paris Eclair, "The Conspiracy, or A Four Million Dollar Dowry," which will be marketed through the offices of the World Special Films Corporation. E. B. Sawyer, of the Cushman Motor Works, Lincoln, Neb., is in New York on a business trip. One of their engine generator sets was purchased by the Engineering Exporting Company, of New York City, to be shipped to South America and then transported by mules' backs through the mountains, for moving picture shows that travel from one mountain town to another. Because of its light weight, their engine is particularly adaptable for that purpose. The press agent of Eclair, in other words, "The Dopester," went to Fort Lee, where the studios are situated, the other day for "dope" and was handed this canned biography by Charles Morgan, one of the latest acquisitions to the stock company. "Born in New York City in the 70's. Boy soprano in Trinity Church; educated for the Episcopal ministry, but couldn't see it, so went into mercantile life; served fifteen years in the insurance business; acquired a taste for the stage and as an amateur drifted into the profession about ten years ago. Did mostly comic opera and musical stuff (married one of the original Bostonian prima donnas). Wrote a few sketches; played "Her New Groom" in vaudeville five years. Three years with Anna Held; was a moving picture exhibitor for two years; connected myself with the Eclair fourteen months ago, and — you know the rest." FAMILY GOSSIP Here are the senders of what must be the last batch of holiday cards: Jule Burnstein, William Leslie Barry, M. A. Neff, W. F. Taney of the Victoria Theatre, Rochester, and the hamous Players' Film Company. D. W. Griffith and four Reliance companies will soon start for Los Angeles. Directors James Kirkwood, Eddie Dillon and Edward Morrissey will go along. Christy Cabanne is already out there. Frank E. Woods and Russell E. Smith of the scenario department will also go West. Owen Moore and James Cooley, leading men, have joined the Reliance forces. The Balboa Amusement Producing Company held a pretentious holiday affair recently at its studios at Long Beach, Cal. H. M. Horkheimer, president and manager of ill. company, was presented with a silver loving cup. Among the guests were: Mary ord, Mrs. Pickford, Miss Laura Oaklrv. Ruth Roland, Miss Clara Grant, Mr. and l Isidore Bernstein, J. Warren Kerrigan, Francis Grandin, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Nash Mr. and Mrs. William Clifford, Miss Berilii Rush, Miss Gladys Rutledge, Lawrence I 1 i in. Miss Billie Bennett and Miss Vclma Whit i Clara Beyers, a striking brunette, will known in prominent stock companies and an athlete .ni'l swimmer has joined tin Balboa forces. Pri Bennett will in future take all of Director Bert Bracken's leads at the Balboa company. Miss Bennett has played leads ever since she joined the motion pictures, first with Lubin, then Universal, and later the MaHenry W. Otto, for a number of years feature player and producer for the Selig com pany, has joined the Balboa company and will start shortly with an all-star company to produce two and three-reel feature films. E. Mandelbaum and Phil Gleichman of the World Special Films Corporation have returned to New York. In addition to her having made a pet of th« famous horse of the Broncho Company, Snowball, Miss Anna Little, New York Motion Picture Corporation's leading lady, was presented with a big, husky, black bear by one of the Broncho Lompany's Sioux Indians. This also comes under the category of a pet, and it is no uncommon sight now to see Miss Little driving down the main street of Los Angeles, Cal., on Snowball with "Brownie," her pet bear, on a leash trotting alongside. "Abe" Siegel, who has been here looking things over for the Novelty Poem-o-graph Company's Human Voice Talking Pictures, left on New Year's Day for the smoky confines of Cleveland, his home town. With him he carried a contract from William Fox, who has signed all the future releases of this company to be shown over his entire circuit. Siegel has been staying at the Normandie Hotel. E. J. Eichenlaub, president of the American Feature Film Company, of Chicago, has been in New York for the past week selling the rights to a sensational Mexican war film. A great big elephant and a little bit of one, filling up a big stock car en route to California to join the Selig zoo, from Hamburg, stopped over in Chicago recently. Johnny Langmack rigged up a Christmas tree in the animal house with a base of a bale of hay. Cortcealed in this was a hind quarter of beef, which the big new Siberian tiger drew out as his share early in the game. The Siberian bloodhounds that are kept on the other side of the fence also had Christmas morsels worthy of their taste, as the proudest pedigreed dogs of their class in America. Roy Knabenshue, the aeronaut, and his 150foot twelve-passenger dirigible balloon, will be featured by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in the three-reel production "The Flight for Life," a story of South African adventure. Otis Turner will direct this production, other features of which will be "Arabia," a horse, and a herd of six lions. Philip A. Holman, who has been with the Pilot Films Corporation at Yonkers since its inception, has left that concern. Rosemary Theby, well known as a Vitagraph and Reliance star, will make her initial appearance under the Lubin banner as Harry Myers' leading woman in "A Question of Right," released in two reels on January 15th. Miss Theby's many admirers, who have grown impatient at not seeing their favorite on the screen since she left the Reliance Company, will doubtless welcome this picture with much enthusiasm. Colin Campbell, the well-known producer of the Selig Polyscope Company, in California, is visiting Chicago in conformity with some new orders on the Selig chessboard. Some persons might think it was a checkerboard by reason of the dressy patterns that Mr. Campbell is sporting. Director Edw. J. Le Saint, of the Selig forces in California, and Stella Razeto, leading lady of Mr. Le Saint's players, were married on Christmas Day at the home of the bride's parents, in San Diego. Miss Razeto was recently severely injured by a stage coach accident, and had only been out of the hospital a few days when the marriage was consummated. This charming little actress declares she does not intend to allow matrimony to interfere with her art, and will continue to scintillate on the motion picture screen. Tom Mix, the champion all-around cowboy of Selig, daring rider and daredevil deviser of thrilling moving picture stunts, has stopped risking his life for a fortnight in the wilds of Arizona to visit Chicago and take a look about. Some one offered Tom seats to the Grand Opera. "Opera be hanged," said the great classicist from the Wild West. "What I want to sei i^ some real vaudeville." KLEINE'S NEW HERALD Believing thai exhibitors would appreciate a type of herald befitting " Vntony and Cleopatra," George kliine has issued a very neat eightpage booklet entitled "The Story of Antony and Cleopatra." The booklet was printed in 2,000,000 lots on a good made of India tint paper, profusely illustrated witli dainty vignetted cuts.