Universal Weekly (1922)

Vol. 15, No. 17 Universal Weekly 19 Fire Destroys 200,000 Feet of Film FIRE last week destroyed film valued at thousands of dollars and threatened to wipe out Universal City faster than a telephone call could reach outside fire departments. Crackling sparks, a short-circuited electric wire whipped through an open doorway of a film cutting room. With an explosion that rocked the film city almost 200,000 feet of film was ignited. It burned furiously for five minutes, endangering nearby buildings with blowing sheets of flame and intense heat. The fire by prompt action of the Universal City fire department and through the fireproof construction of all buildings of permanency did no other damage. PRISCILLA DEAN, running up a flight of stairs to the burning room in a desperate effort to save the film of her picture, "Under Two Flags," tripped on the flowing fringe of the Oriental costume which she wore and turned her ankle. She was prevented from entering the room with difficulty. But even on the steps she was painfully burned and her hair scorched. The 110,000 feet of positive film of "Under Two Flags," which was being cut, was first to go. Then the film of five other shorter pictures, 185,000 feet of film in all, approximately worth four cents a foot as it comes from the manuacturer, and worth literally untold thousands, as exposed, caught fire. By a strange coincidence, "Under Two Flags" was completed early the same day. Tod Browning, who di Positive of "Under Two Flags" and Five Other Pictures Burned in Cutting Room at Universal City. Priscilla Dean Injured rected Miss Dean in the big international drama, was about to leave for his home and the star was not yet out of her costume when the fire alarm sounded. A flash from the wire, a roaring explosion that rattled windows and then wildly blowing flame was the almost instantaneous warning. Screen celebrities, studio executives, and hundreds of workmen ran to the place. I FIRST VACATION IN SIX YEARS EH. GOLDSTEIN, assistant to the president # of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, has finally granted himself a vacation. It is a short one, and comprises only the period between Friday, May 26th, and Thursday, June 1st. Mr. Goldstein has not had a vacation in almost six years, two of which were spent in his present position as assistant to Mr. Laemmle. Prior to that he occupied every position in the Exchange system. His wide experience has given him a grasp of the motion picture industry from every angle which has been of a great deal of service to the Universal organization and to Mr. Laemmle personally. Mr. Goldstein is spending his vacation at the Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City. RVING G. Thalberg, director-general of the studio; Julius Bernheim, business manager; Tod Browning, Leo McCarey, his assistant; M. K. Wilson, unit production manager, and Arthur Ripley, film editor, made a desperate effort to drag out boxes of film. To enter the room would have been sure death. Everything except the negative of "Under Two Flags," which was in heavy metal containers, and even a few rushes of that was licked up by the flames in ten minutes, when the fire stopped almost as suddenly as it began, because it had exhausted its fuel. The damage can be all repaired. Even if considerable of the negatives had been burned, none of the sets had been torn down, and all of it could have been retaken. As it is, the picture will be delayed only a short time. Miss Dean will soon be ready to film "Trimmed in Scarlet." Her recently completed Jewel, "The Flame of Life," has just been received at the Universal Home Office, New York City, where a committee of experts proclaimed it as being the most notable of Miss Dean's many triumphs. T? 1? « 1? V 1? "The Storm" Booked Into Capitol, New York City UHpHE STORM," Universal's super-Jewel production of Langdon McCormick's popular stage melodrama, has been booked for presentation at the Capitol Theatre, Broadway, during the week of June 18. S. A. Rothafel, manager of the Capitol, is making arrangements for an unusual presentation of "The Storm" with new music and lighting effects. The central thrill in "The Storm" is a gigantic forest fire, and it is understood that the Capitol Theatre is at work on a prologue which will go far to duplicate the thrills in the picture and those which made it successful as a stage melodrama. The Capitol showing of "The Storm" will be a prerelease showing, inasmuch as Universal does not contemplate general distribution of the picture for several months. Although there may be scattered presentations of the film drama during the summer it will not be placed on the market until late summer. "The Storm" is said by all who have seen it to be one of the most powerful dramas ever adapted for the screen. As a stage play it made an overwhelming success. HELEN MacKELLAR was featured in the stage production during its long run at the Forty-eighth Street Theatre. Virginia Valli plays the feminine lead in the screen version. In addition to House Peters, the star, and Miss Valli, his chief supporting players, the following also have roles in "The Storm": Matt Moore, Josef Swickard, Frank Lanning, Gordon McGee and others. "The Storm" was directed by Reginald Barker, who directed "The Old Nest" and other successes. It is a story of the struggle of two men, one a blase city man, and the other a rough and ready trapper, for the possession of a girl marooned in their cabin during a long and heavy northern winter. It abounds with tense moments and thrilling surges of action, it is said. Mr. Rothafel requested the first preview of the picture as soon as he heard it was on its way from the Coast. By special arrangement, Universal held up the laboratory work on all exchange prints for four days so as to grant Mr. RothafePs request. Cuddle Up to Universall