Variety (December 1914)

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22 MOVING PICTURES STANDARD POLYSCOPE SCHEME COMES TO A SUDDEN HALT Harry Tammen, Henry Seligman, James Stillman, Big Names Mentioned During Promotion of New Program, Reported to Have Lost Interest in The formation and organization of what was promised as a 20-reel weekly program under the name of the Stand- ard Polyscope & Program Co., sudden- ly halted this week and several of the men who had previously been declared to be interested in its formation an- nounced their retirement. Myron Fagan, financial editor and agent of the Scripp-McRae syndicate of newspapers, declared he had retired from participation in the enterprise, ex- cept that he stood ready to handle its advertising if in the future it devel- oped. In the early stages of promotion it was declared H. H. Tammen, of Den- ver, was an interested party and that Henry Seligman, the New York bank- er, and James Stillman, might partici- pate in the venture. It was said this week these men had merely been ap- proached and their views on the prop- osition secured. They were not im- pressed with the possibilities of the plan and never agreed to go into it, it was claimed. The plan was to line up 22 film ex- changes to handle the product of six or seven film manufacturers including Eclair, Balboa, Ramo, Goebel, Blanche and M. & S. The prospect was that the manufac- turers were to contribute $125,000 to the working capital on the basis of $4,- 000 per reel per week released under the program. The exchanges were to invest $2,500 each. To date, it is un- derstood, about 12 exchanges have signed agreements. The film manufac- turers who were to contribute to the program have not yet, as far as could be learned this week, definitely com- mitted themselves to the venture. Its most active promoter is William Cooper, of Chicago, a son-in-law of John F. O'Connor, who is making his New York headquarters in the law offices of Nobel, Esterbrook & Mc- Harg, 115 Broadway. Mr. Cooper was unable to prepare a statement of the concern's affairs when approached Wednesday afternoon, being pressed for time, he said. NOT SO ABOUT MARY. Friends of Mary Pickford went on the warpath for her following Variety's story last week of the re- newal of Miss Pickford's contract with the Famous Players Feature Film Co., at $2,000 weekly for 52 weeks com- mencing in January next, when her present agreement with the same firm at $1,000 a week expires. Miss Pickford's friends objected to the statement in the story Mary had asked that the new contract give her the option of demanding that the price for "Pickford films" produced by the Famous he doubled to exhibitors, and that exhibitors would have to increase the admission charge when showing them. That is not so about Mary, who has not changed with her rapid advance- ment to the fore of picture players, fay her friends, who also remark she appreciates too thoroughly the popu- larity the masses have given her on the sheet to even think of taking ad- vantage cf it at their expense. FINANCING TOPICAL EVENTS. The obtaining of the exclusive pic- ture rights of the Yale and Harvard football game this season by the Colo- nial Motion Picture Corp., has opened up a new field for the moving picture manufacturers and a new source of revenue for the college athletic asso- ciations. In the past the weekly news pictorials secured such scenes of games as they wished without payments. This year the weeklies were unable to se- cure actual scenes of the Yale-Harvard game, but had to satisfy themselves with glimpses of the crowd in the Yale Bowl and general surroundings. The success of the arrangement is said to have been very great, the pic- ture people booking the picture into 400 houses, many of which played it for a full week. FAMOUS ADVANCES RELEASE. The Famous Players has advanced the release date of "The Sign of the Cross," scheduled for February, to Dec. 21. It was decided the appropriateness of the subject to the pre-Christmas period should be taken advantage of The feature is in five reels with Will- iam Farnum as Marcus. JAIL FOR M. P. ACTOR Los Angeles, Dec. 2. E. S. Ferris, formerly a picture ac- tor, was sentenced to four years in the penitentiary by Judge Craig yesterday. He was convicted of contributing to juvenile delinquency. The complainant was Florence Wag- ner, 14 years old. NEW INCORPORATIONS. Albany. N. Y., Dec. 2. International Scenario Authors' Corporation. Capital. $L'f».0<tO. Marie E. Hartltng, C. 8. Mc- Culluni. Arthur F. Pierce, Jr. Photo-play Properties Corporation. Capl- tal. $500.0<M). Thomas A. Kennedy, Malvlna Ooyrr and Clarence Ifrltton, of Brooklyn. X. Y. \1unleyyAmuBem<-nt Co. Amusement park. Capital. f 5,000. Timothy F. Murphy, I^ura A. Kelly, Brooklyn ; William Munley. Stapleton, Howe's Brownvllle Theatre Co. of Brooklyn. Cupltal. 11.000. C. Royal Frazer. Earl A. D:<rr. Wllllnm M. O. Wntson, New York. l-umax Manufacturing Co., films of New York. Capital. $50,000. William H. Orlffen; V. II. Smith. James H. Miller, New York. Krlterlon Film Corporation of New York, pictures. Capital. $1.100,O00. C. II Ayres, H. E. Rellly. II. F. RhatlRan. H. E. Rlngholm. P. R. Buland, of New York. Colorgrnph Laboratory, Inc. of New York pictures. Capital. $L'5.000. Jas. J. Atkinson! Alhrrt E. Osborne, Preston R. Myrlck, of New York. Manuscripts Universal Society of Writers. Ine.. of New York. Capital. $UO.OOO. Anna T. HelmherK. ThomaH F. McMnhon and William J. IiOckhart of New York. HELP ON REPEAL Philadelphia, Dec. 2. A movement for the repeal or modi- fication of the state censorship law and to make it possible for picture theatres to operate Sunday was start- ed yesterday when a delegation of 30 members of the Exhibitors' League of Pennsylvania enlisted the aid of Unit- ed Sates Senator Penrose. The delegation called on Senator Penrose at his office and the case of the movie men was placed before him by several speakers. It was charged that J. Louis Breitinger, the chief cen- sor, is not a practical man, that he hasn't sufficient knowledge of the busi- ness and should be removed from of- fice. Senator Penrose was informed that the Board of Censors is now charged $2.50 per reel on about 233 reels each week and that the cost to the exhibitors aggregates $30,000 an- nually. This large cost is. due to the fact that the censors' insist on charg- ing the same fee for passing upon dup- licate films as they do for the original. It was asserted that the cost of state censorship is not the only burden which the exhibitors have to carry, but that municipal and Federal war taxes are also to be reckoned with. Overpro- duction and hard times have made it impossible for more than 25 per cent, of the exhibitors to make a profit, it was stated. After listening to the appeal for the repeal of the censorship law Senator Penrose replied that he would be glad to co-operate with the picture men and that he would do as much as possible in the effort to secure the repeal of the law. It is probable that a bill re- pealing the present law, which may of* fer a substitute reducing the charges and providing for the appointment of censors informed as to the business, will be presented early in the coming session of the State Legislature. The question of Sunday opening was called to Senator Penrose's attention, but he did not make any promise as to that phase. His attention was also drawn to a bill being framed by the Department of Labor and Industry at Harrisburg which, it was asserted, would impose building restrictions which would make trouble for exhib- itors. $10,000 FOR NAZIMOVA. There is a strong possibility Mme. Nazimova may appear in pictures, that is if there is any producing firm will- ing to pay the Polish actress the price that she is asking. Nazimova expressed a willingness to appear before the camera in any of the Ibsen pieces with which she has been identified, preferably "The Doll's House," for $10,000. There were no takers. Billie Burke when approached by a feature producer some time ago also asked $10,000 to appear in a pic- ture production. Among the announcements from the Alco this week appear these release dates: Olga Petrova In "The Tigress." Dec. 7; Mabel Tali- aferro In The Three of Us," Dec. 14; "TU- lle'H Punctured Romance" (U. S. and Can- adian rights purchased from Max Sennet), Dec. 21. and "Springtime." wit* Florence Nash. Dec. 28. The first release of the new year will be "The Garden of Lieu," with Jane Cowl, on Jan. 4, CALIFORNIA WITH WORLD. The California Motion Picture Cor- poration retired from the Alco program late last week, releasing its latest pro- duction, "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch," through the World Film Cor- poration. Its future output will be marketed also by the World. "Mignon" will be released Jan. 18 with Beatriz Michelena. Other re- leases will be "The Lily of Poverty Flats," based on Bret Harte's poem "Her Letter, His Answer and Her Last Letter," Edward Sheldon's play "Sal- vation Nell" and David Graham Phil- lips' story "The Price She Paid." A statement from the Alco head- quarters Monday made it appear that the retirement of the California Cor- poration was caused by the action of the Alco directors in declining to dis- tribute the "Mrs. Wiggs" subject. The Alco, says the statement, was willing to handle other California Co. subjects, but the Coast manufacturers insisted "Mrs. Wiggs" be distributed in the regular way. On the deadlock the two concerns parted company. The Alco released a split feature, "Lina Cavalieri," for the Pacific terri- tory and another subject (unnamed in the statement) for the east and middle west, as substitute for "Mrs. Wiggs." The Alco this week announced that it had paid $100,000 for the United States and Canadian rights of "Tilly's Punc- tured Romance," the 6,000-foot Key- stone comedy, which it would release Dec. 21. Marie Dressier applied to the courts to prevent this transaction, alleging that it interfered with her property rights in the film. Justice Newberger refused to issue an injunction, point- ing out that the lease of the film on the "state rights" plan by the Keystone to the Alco would work no injury to Miss Dressier. The contract between Miss Dressier and the Keystone Co. stipulates that the film shall remain the joint property of the two parties and shall not be sold. A Life Photo Film Corporation state- ment said that Bernard Loewenthal, treasurer and financial manager of that concern, was in negotiation with Wal- ter Hoff Seeley, looking to the enlarge- ment of the manufacturer's contract with the distributors. PICTURE RIGHTS, TOO. London, Nov. 22. English dealers in pictures are hav- ing some trouble over a recent ruling that the owner of the dramatic rights to a book or other manuscript controls the picture privileges to the composi- tion. All recent contracts between author and producer of plays have a clause bearing on the subject, but there are innumerable old productions that did not provide for this situation. The Monopol Film Co. of New York, and several others, wiade picture pro- ductions of "Carmen," which are be- ing offered on the market here, and now the Cines people of Rome claim to have secured the exclusive picture rights* to tne work from the author, threatening to" proceed against all others.