Universal Weekly (1928-1930, 1933-1936)

16 Universal Weekly January 28, 1928 Carl Laemmle Sets Box-Office Winners for Anniversary “Cat and Canary,” “Les Miserables,” “We Americans,” “Cohens and Kellys In Paris,” and “Finders Keepers” Will Be Available For 22nd Anniversary Period. George Sidney who stars in “We Americans,” and Beryl Mercer, who left a Broadway show to play the mother role in the Universal picture to be released in April. A typical night class where foreign grown-ups are taught English is one of the settings from, “We Americans” that makes it a gripping drama of our times. CARL LAEMMLE, president of the Universal Pictures Corporation, after having recently made a general survey of picture prospects for the coming months and particularly of Universal’s outlook, has just issued the following memorandum of instructions to the sales and other personnel of his organization: “I have just completed a survey of current screen successes and prospective screen successes for the current season, and with reference to Universal, I want to point out that we have five releases which stand out head and shoulders as exceptional box-office pictures. “They are ‘The Cat and the Canary,’ ‘Les Miserables,’ both already released, and ‘The Cohens and Kellys in Paris,’ ‘We Americans,’ and ‘Finders Keepers,’ yet to be released. The first two, by their remarkable runs in various leading theatres throughout the country, already have demonstrated their superiority. Of the other three, ‘The Cohens and Kellys in Paris,’ prints of which now are being rushed to exchanges, is hailed by all who have seen it as a worthy successor and an even better box-office picture than ‘The Cohens and Kellys,’ our clean-up picture of a season or so ago. ‘Finders Keepers,’ already shipped east, is in a class by itself as a laugh riot. ‘We Americans,’ which is nearing the cutting stage at Universal City, will be equally entertaining a picture. I have followed the production of this feature closely and have seen the rushes day by day. My candid judgment is that this picture will be another winner, with heart interest and general entertainment value that will make it stand out brightly in the year’s galaxy of screen offerings. “I wish I could make just five such pictures as the foregoing every year and then rest on my oars. Every one of them is destined to roll up amazing grosses for our exhibitor patrons. Two of them already are doing just this. I will stake my reputation as a judge of pictures, backed by many years of experience in this business, that the other three will do likewise.” “The Cat and the Canary”, made by Paul Leni from the John Willard mystery play, with Laura La Plante at the head of a strong cast, was launched by Universal last fall. It was such a decided success that it immediately jumped into the super-film class and took its place as a recordbreaker. It has consistently broken house records from Coast to Coast, on the basis of exhibitor reports in this country. On the strength of this picure he was entrusted with Universal’s biggest offering for next season, “The Man Who Laughs.” “Les Miserables” is regarded as the surprise picture of the current season. It was made by the Societe des Cineromans in France and obtained by Carl Laemmle for release as a Universal Film de France. It was set into a Broadway house by Universal with some trepidation, but it astounded filmdom by being a complete sellout for days and days. It ran on Broadway for three months and rolled up amazing box-office totals. Its history since being ( Continued on page 40)