Universal Weekly (1920, 1923-27)

Vol. 19, No. 3 Universal Weekly 11 One Jewel a Month Until Summer Is Universal Sbring Release Plan UNIVERSAL has definitely scheduled three great Universal Jewel productions for Spring release. They are “Fools Highway,” the long-promised Mary Philbin picture; “The Law Forbids,” the second feature production with Baby Peggy, and “The Storm Daughter,” Priscilla Dean’s last Universal picture. These Jewels will afford one release a month during the Spring. “Fools Highway” will be the March release, “The Law Forbids” the April release, and “The Storm Daughter” the May release. Together with “A Lady of Quality,” Universal January Jewel, and “Sporting Youth,” that company’s popular February Jewel, they make an unsually strong aggregation of releases for the opening months of 1924. “Fools Highway” is beginning to be one of the mosttalked about pictures yet unreleased. Universal has gone to great trouble and expense to stage a world’s premiere of the production in the Atlantic Garden, a film theatre down in the Bowery section of New York City, and built on the exact spot of the variety show-hall which plays an important part in the Mary Philbin picture. Also “Fools Highway” is an adaptation of “My Mamie Rose,” Owen Kildare’s celebrated romance of the Bowery in the early nineties and generally accepted as his autobiography. Then, too, this is Mary Philbin’s first Jewel since “Merry Go Round,” in which she won fame. Many exhibitors, other film men and movie fans h ive asked whether she can repeat her unusual work in the Rupert Julian picture. Universal says that in “Fools Highway” Irving Cummings has obtained even better results with the little star. Much of the interest and action in “Fools Highway” comes from the capable acting of Pat O’Malley, who plays opposite Miss Philbin. As a Bowery tough he is a character one will long remember. Max Davidson as the Yiddish clothing merchant, and Buster Collier as his son, also lend color and interest to the story. Next to Miss Philbin’s wistful characterization, however, the appeal of the picture lies in the remarkable fidelity with which the old Bowery has been reproduced. This applies even to the old steam-driven “L” trains, the old-fashioned beer trucks and the horse-cars of by-gone days. The Atlantic Garden premiere pi’obably will be February 29. The release date of the picture is March 4. Universal’s Jewel release in Api-il, “The Law Forbids,” was written for Baby Peggy by Bernard McConville, supervising editor for Jewel productions. It was scenarized by Lois Zellner and Ford I. Beebe, and was originally known by the title, “The Right to Love.” Jesse Robbins, who directed it, chose an exceptional cast for the production. Besides Baby Peggy, the leading roles were filled by Robert Ellis, Eleanor Fair and Winifred Bryson. Others in the cast are James Corrigan, Anna Hernandez, Ned Sparks, Eva Thatcher, Victor Potol, William E. Lawrence, Buddy Messinger, Joseph Dowling and others. The picture is laid in a fashionable setting and tells an intensely human story of a little girl torn between two loves by the divorce courts. Although the picture is not in any sense “preachy” it puts over in forceful and gripping sequences the unusual situations sometimes resulting from domestic division. Baby Peggy is even better in “The Law Forbids” than she was in “The Darling of New York.” Her role is more pathetic, and exerts a stronger ( Concluded on Page 40) “Fools Highway” for March, “The Law Forbids” for April, and “The Storm Daughter” for May 3J3ISEJ3MSISIS13ISM3EM3MSM3M3JSM3J3J313M3ISM3MSISMSM3MSIi “T he Hunchback” Jams the Strand «rpHE HUNCHBACK I OF NOTRE DAME,” U n i v e r s a l’s great photodrama, opened in the Strand Theatre, New York City, last Sunday for a two weeks’ run. It was the signal for the Broadway crowds to storm the place. As a result the theatre played to absolute capacity Sunday. But what is more surprising, and perhaps unique in the history of that theatre, not to mention most other houses, is the fact that the business was better and the attendance much greater on Monday than on Sunday. This strange fact, all the more unusual when one has seen the great crowds which flock to the Broadway movie houses on Sundays and then has noticed the almost deserted appearance of the lobbies on Mondays, is explainable only by the theory that a large cross section of the New York public has been eagerly awaiting the appearance of “The Hunchback” at popular prices. The Strand showing is its first Broadway run since its twenty-week run at the Astor Theatre at a $1.65 top and on a two-a-day basis. Although the Strand run offers only a 30% reduction from the original Broadway prices for “The Hunchback,” it gives an indication of how the theatre booking “The Hunchback” in any city following an exploitation run at legitimate prices, may expect to pack them in for almost unlimited periods. “The Hunchback” is still enjoying its extended run in the Crescent Theatre, Brooklyn. The run, which began shortly after the completion of the Astor showing, was originally set for four weeks, but was extended to seven weeks when it was found that advance sales warranted doubling the run. Shortly after this Brooklyn run is over and the picture has played its first run in the Brooklyn Strand, this picture will appear over the U. B. 0. circuit. The managers of the Keith, Moss and Proctor houses are laying great plans for 100% presentations. Smaller houses are lining up to book the production later. There is no question in the minds of George Brown, managing “The Hunchback” bookings, and W. C. Herrmann, manager of the Big “U” Exchange, that “The Hunchback” will be the most familiar picture in the history of the screen to the New York photoplay fans. Makes Unique Record of Bigger Monday Than Its Opening Sunday