Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1926)

"The Brown Derby" Contest Winners After long deliberation, the judges made their decisions, and here are the names of those to whom the awards have been sent. 67 WINNERS "THE BROWN THE task of compiling, reading, sorting, and choosing the winners of the Johnny Hines "Brown Derby" Gag Contest has been, in all truth, a most difficult one. The nation-wide interest manifested in this particular contest was amazing, since practically every town, city, and State was represented. Gags also were sent from Canada, England, the Philippine Islands, Cuba, New Zealand, British Honduras, and other remote corners of the globe. Interesting, also, is the fact that men and women of all sorts of professions were entrants in this contest. Comedy gags were submitted by members of the clergy, by doctors, lawyers, chauffeurs, teachers, stenographers, druggists, clerks, factory workers, and a hundred and one other classes of professional and non-professional people. In many instances, people admitted in their letters that in view of financial embarrassment, any kind of a prize would be tremendously welcome. Of course, judges couldn't take cognizance of these conditions in view of the . fact that the prizes were to be awarded purely on the basis of merit. The majority of gags submitted were purely thought-out incidents, but about twenty-five per cent of them consisted of actual occurrences in the experience or lifetime of the contestants. In many instances, the latter type were decidedly funny, though many of the first type were also interesting. " A very large amount of the gags submitted were impossible to photograph, either because they were of the conversational type, or else because they were so fantastic that it would have taken the technical force many weeks to devise the machinery adequately to portray these gags on the screen. In other words, the task of the judges proved most arduous, particularly as every gag received the scrutiny and rating of no less than nine judges. In view of the fact that the scenario for "The Brown Derby" was materially changed from the original conception outlined in the February issue of Picture-Play, many of the prize-winning gags will not be used in that film, but will be saved for some future time, when they can be adequately worked into some future Johnny Hines stories. While this is to be regretted, the fact remains that many complications arose in the original story which made it impossible to film, with the result that, after weeks and weeks of arduous work, the scenario men eventually worked out a story that was a bit more feasible OF DERBY" GAG CONTEST First Prize, $250.00 — Benjamin Levene, 4837 N. Ninth St., Philadelphia, Pa. Second Prize, $100.00— Mrs. Lillian Carter, 9914 Madison Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. Third Prize, $50.00— Edna Buttimer, 766 26th Ave., San Francisco, Calif. Fourth Prize, $25.00— Stephen Zoltai, 6418 35th Ave., Woodside, L. I. Fifth Prize, $15.00— C. L. Iverson, 621 West S3d St., Los Angeles, Calif. Sixth Prize, $10.00— Wally Johnson, 5428 So. Wells, Chicago, 111. Seventh Prize, $10.00— Donald Walsh, 60 West Market St., Bethlehem, Pa. Eighth Prize, $10.00— James Flockhart, 223 Welch Ave., Ames, Iowa. Ninth Prize, $10.00 — M. Blumenstiel, 76 Columbia Hgts., Brooklyn, N. Y. Tenth Prize, $10.00— Geo. W. Mackwitz, New Castle, Wash. Eleventh Prize, $10.00— Wm. McKeever, Portola, California. Twelfth Prize, $10.00— George Osborne, 128 Edinburg Ave., Hollywood, Calif. Thirteenth Prize, $10.00— Miss Philomena Hilgert, 1016 N. Tenth St., St. Joseph, Mo. Fourteenth Prize, $10.00— Earl B. Searcy, 1330 Lowell Ave., Springfield, 111. Fifteenth Prize, $10.00— Clarice De Preter, 100 Union Hall St., Jamaica, L. I. and practical for the particular sort of vehicle that Johnny Hines is so famous for. Thousands of gags were submitted after the closing date of the contest, so of course were not read, as the closing date, February 10, was specifically mentioned in the February and March issues of Picture-Play. What was most pleasing to Johnny Hines, C. C. Burr, and Picture-Play Magazine, was the national aspect of the contest. Almost fifty per cent of those who submitted gags made special reference to the high entertainment calibre of such Johnny Hines productions as "The Live Wire," "The Crackerjack," "The Early Bird," "The Speed Spook" and others. The familiarity of the nation with the Johnny Hines product was amazing, and adequately proved this star's unusual popularity. Not that it needed to be proven, for the box-office success that his pictures have enjoyed, from the time that he first began to make movies, long ago gave proof of the popular demand for the dynamic type of comedy that is so characteristic of him. He started his film career very modestly, but when his pictures began to forge their way to the top of box-office attractions, despite the fact that there was no big organization behind them, it was realized that here was a comedian to be reckoned with, and so First National, some months ago, hastened to sign him up under a high-priced contract. He has already made two highly successful pictures for them, and hopes to make many more, just as fast as it is physically possible. There is never any slackening of pace around the Johnny Hines studio — things move ahead with the same speed as in the films he makes. There is probably not a harder-working man in the business than Johnny Hines, and there's never a dull moment when he is around. That explains why his pictures are so good — for he never lets you down. He's constantly on the lookout for laughs, and he knows how to get them. The sponsors of the contest would very much like to have given each contestant a prize. But so many thousands of gags were received, that to do so would have taken the complete resources of the United States treasury. However, Johnny will send his personally autographed photo to each one of the contestants, as a mark of appreciation for their endeavors. "The Brown Derby," which is the third of the productions in which Johnny Hines is starred by First National, will be released nationally about June 1st.