Variety (March 1921)

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MOTION PICTURE DEPARTMENT—PAGES 34 TO 39 Friday, March 18, 1921 PICTURES :IG MONEY-MAKERS OF 10 YEARS' LISTED "Miracle Man" and "Way Down East" in Front Rank. Ai part °f' ***-** preliminary cs.ni- palgn for "Ladies Must Live," hich is announced for release ipril 6, the George Loane Tucker tales organisation has compiled a jjit of big money makers of the 01m business for the last ten years. This list is not complete, but It gives an Interesting review of Earnings for some of the better [known productions and the Tucker [people declare the figures have been conscientiously compiled. The leader of the group, natural- ly, is "The Miracle Man." the Tucker feature, which has been out almost two years and had grossed, up to Feb. 20. $2,475,000, and still is going strong. Whether purposely or not, "Way Down East," which 'the Griffith organization officially credits with a gross of $2,509,000 between Sept., 1920, and March 1, 1921, is not included in the reca- pitulation. Neither is "The Kid," "Passion" and other big film suc- cesses still in the first flush of their earning power. Here is the Tucker list: — "Miracle Man" $2,475,000 •'Birth of a Nation" 2.125.000 ••Traffic in Soula" (Tucker, 1011). 1.200.000 ••A Dos'» Life" (Chaplin) 1,140,000 "Where Are My ChlldrenT" (1014) 900.000 •Tarzan of the Apea 1 ' 902.700 "8houlder Arms" 880.000 "Pour Yeara In Germany" 838.800 "Beast of Berlin" 810.000 "Broken Blossoms" 800.000 ••Heart of Humanity" 779.000 ••Civilization" 788,000 "Daughter of the Gods" 750.000 "When the Clouds Roll By" 700.000 "Daddy Long Legs" 642.000 "Neptune's Daughter" 480.000 ••Mickey' 408.000 "Eyes of Youth" 420.000 "Right to Happiness" 407,000 •'Romance of Tarzan" 405.000 "Blind Husbanda" 841.000 "Enlighten Thy Daughter" 821.00a "Turn of the Road" »«.000 "Cabirla" (1912) 280.000 •XJuo Vadis" (1912) 210.000 "Ladies Must Live," mads from tt story by Alice Duer Miller, author of "The Charm School," will be re- leased through Mayflower as a Paramount-Artcraft special. In E^e cast will be seen Betty Comp- n, who won starhood by her work "The Miracle Man," Beatrice Joy, Cleo Madison, Bob Bills, Mahlton Hamilton, William V. Mong, Snltz Edwards and others. Tucker admits he shot 140,000 feet In making the picture. "FATTY" WITHOUT PANTS. Comedian Borrows in Cleveland to Talk. SELZNICK BUYS HOUGH. •The Forgettera" Rushed to Film and Retainer Offered. Chicago, March 16. Will M. Hough, local playwright, leaped into film prominence with the enthusiastic acceptance of his •The Forgetters" by Lewis Selznick for Owen Moore, at an unusually stiff figure. Several contemplated productions were set aside to give this one immediate staging, and Hough has been offered an annual retainer toward his entire output. The Alton Play Bureau, of New Tork, handled the deal. "The Forgetters" is an original ■tory, not an adaptation. Cleveland, March If. Tatty" Arbuckle made a speech before the Rotary Club here last Thursday In Hotel Statler ballroom minus his pants. That was because he had only one pair when he stopped off here en route from New Tork to Los Angeles. Trunks containing his other habiliments had been checked through, so when the film comedian reached the hotel he gave the bell- hop his suit to be pressed. The boy asked his name, and "Fatty," thinking everybody knew him, said he was Charlie Chaplin. But the joke was on the big film humorist. Chaplin's name was not on the hotel register, and the boy thought there must be something wrong, so reported the matter to the house detective, with the result that "Fatty's" suit was held until In- vestigation was made as to the oc- cupant of the room. The suit was not delivered in time for "Fatty's" appearance at the luncheon, so he was forced to borrow a pair of trousers. They did not fit very snugly, but they helped fill the emergency and saved his dignity. Arbuckle was the guest at Carlton Terrace at a six o'clock dinner, at which the film executives, Loew's managers and picture editors were included. MISSOURI CENSOR BILL DIES; VICTORY FOR FILM EXHIBITORS WEST VA. COPIES PENNA. Censor Bill Forbids "Nudity, Cruelty or Crime." Charleston, W.'Va.. March 16. Several bills have been introduc.1 In the West Virginia Legislature relative to the censorship of motio.i pictures. One, patterned after the Pennsyl- vania law, establishes a board of censors and requiring one of the three members to be a woman. Another bill makes it unlawful to present a picture showing "nudity, cruelty or crime," and carries a maximum penalty of $1,000 and a six-month Jail sentence. Civic organizations and newspa- pers are actively against It. The argument against establishing a board of censors on the ground that pictures entering this state have been, mostly, passed by either the Ohio or Pennsylvania boards, is be- ing raised effectively. POWERS LOSES SUIT. Warner Bros. Get Judgment in Old Film Co. Deal. "SNOW-BUND" CONTROVERSY A controversy has arisen between Ooldwyn and the Cosmopolitan Productions over the right to the ase of the title "Snow-Blind." Gold- wyn announces for early release a Picturized version of Katherine Newlln Burt's novel now running in a magazine, to be directed by Regi- nald Barker .named "Snow-Blind." The Cosmoplitan people has long had in Its possession for plcturlza- tlon a story of the same name, Written by Arthur Stringer and published some time ago. Albert and Harry M. Warner last week were awarded Judgment for 615,556 against Patrick A. Power, as a result of a business transaction in 1913 when the principals In the action, in conjunction with Lewis J. Selznick, formed the Warner Fea- tures, Inc. Powers had agreed to buy $12,500 of shares In the old Warner Feature Film Co. and had authorized the plaintiffs to buy it. According to Thomas A Friedman, the Warners' attorneys, the plaintiffs did so at their own expense at the instigation of Mr. Powers, but were out that amount when the newly formed company went into bankruptcy. They sued for its recovery. The defendant says he will appeal. PICKFORD DIVORCE JUDGE IS ON TRIAL Mary's Decree Indirectly In- volved in Impeachment Case. Los Angeles, March i«. The eyes and ears of the picture set have been turned toward Min- den, Nev.. since last Thursday, at which time the final brief in the legal skirmish to set aside the divorce of Gladys M. Moore (Mary Plckford) from Owen Moore was filed. Oo that same day Miss Pick- ford and her present husband, Douglas Fairbanks, slipped out of Los Angeles to Mexico for a vaca- tion. Also on that day the trial before the joint session of the Ne- vada Assembly and Senate of Judge Frank P. Landers, who granted the Plckford divorce, was begun. The charges upon which the removal of Judge Landers is sought are not as a result of the Plckford matter, but if they are sustained they will have a direct bearing on the case. In the event the Judge is remov ;d the matters now pending before him in the divorce annulment case would have to be re-submitted. If not sustained Attorney General L. J. Fowler is expected to take steps to stay action in the case by Judge Landers on the ground that P. A. McCarren, one of the attorneys in the Plckford matter, acted as chief counsel for the Judge in his rial before the state's legislative bodies. The attorneys representing the picture stars in the action brought by the state's attorney to bring about an annulment of her divorce are Gavin McNab, P. A. McCarren, Nat Schmulowitz and Gray Mash- burn. The brief attacking the right of the state's attorney general to bring an action of this nature states that he, in a "sixty-da* Investigation," has failed to "disclose a single case which might serve as a precedent for the maintenance and prosecution of the case at bar." It further sets forth that "to per- mit the attorney general of the state to maintain and prosecute this action is to make it possible for him to make a similar attack upon every Judgment heretofore rendered hy the courts of the state of Nevada." KOHN RUNS 16 F. P. HOUSES. Ralph Kohn, in St. Louis -or nine Weeks running the sixteen theatres controlled by Famous Players ia that city, returned to New York Wednesday and goes back Monday, «> remain there until May. John C. Flinn is out there with Kohn, putting over the concern's B «w Missouri theatre in that city. BALSHOFEF AGAIN PRODUCING. Los Angeles, March 16. "red Palshofer is to re-enter the Producing field. He has been rent- Jn* "pace at the old Metro studios, i%hich he owns, to other companies. ,' La'-ly he has started enlarging J h « plant end has informed his Ir J p nds that he is to start producing •gain. QUEEN'S PHOTOPLAY. Lois Fuller's "Lily of Life" Adspted By Roumanian Queen. Paris, March 5. A screen version of this play by the Queen of Roumania has Just been released by Harry under the French title of "Le Lys de la Vie," by Loie Fuller. It was filmed in the south of France. A press show was organ- ized Saturday morning at the Salle Marlvaux. 4l CHINESE-BACKED FILM. Los Angeles, March 16. The James B. Leong Productions, Inc., is the name of a picture pro duction corporation being financed by Chinese here. George M. To- halem is working on a script en- titled "Lotus Blossom," the original of which was written by James B. Leong, a Chinese. It Is the purpose of the company to make a number of pictures setting forth the real side of Chinese life in this country. The project is more or less one to combTt the fueling that all Chi- namen are tor.g hn tch'tmen and out gunning for the members of rival tongs. PREVENT SCENARIO THEFTS Baker in California Introduced Bill to Stop Thievery. Los Angeles, March 16. The California State Senate re- ports favorably on a bill introduced by Assemblyman Baker, designed to prevent the theft of picture scenario ideas. The bill provides for the filing of copies of stories with the Secretary of State, to be used as prima face evidence In civil actions to recover damages. »-.~ MMi ■ Mil* T- "Show Me" State's Senate Refuses to Consider Meas- ure Which Had Passed House—Theatre Owners Credited with Success Against Reformers—Its Moral Effect Elsewhere Important. St. Louis. March 16. The Senate today refused to sus- pend the rules to bring up the Movie Censorship bill for engross- ment, which virtually means its death. The House passed the bill recently. This is the first big victory' of the motion picture industry in its de- fensive warfare ngainst the fanatical elements which have Joined all over the nation in a drive to dominate the amusement business of the United States through enactment of restrictive legislation. Coming so close upon the estop- page of censorship in the District of Columbia, brought by the appeals of D. W. Griffith and other leaders of the film business, it was regarded by producers and exhibitors in New York as a sign of awakening on the part of legislators to a realization of the conspiracy reformers are con- ducting against the entertainment business. The Motion Picture Theatre Own- ers of Missouri are the men who are to be directly credited with this vic- tory. Ever since the censorship bill was first proposed, these men, in- dividually and collectively, have waged strenuous warfare against it. The cards seem to have been stacked against them at the outset, because the bill passed the lower branch of the Missouri legislature about two weeks ago by a big majority. Within the last two weeks, however, the exhibitors have been Intensely ac- tive, lobbying and preaching with the same vigor as the fanatics, with the result indicated in the action of the Senate at Jefferson City. The manner in which the Missouri upper branch put the quietus on the bill is expected by picture makers and buyers to have an important moral effect on the legislatures ot other states where restrictive meas- ures are pending. This season has been noted for the greatest outburst of agitation for laws against amuse- ments, especially pictures, in two decades. Measures are pending in approximately a score of states, and it has been declared that all are dic- tated from a central point, owing to the fact that the methods of lobby- ing are the same in every case. Heretofore, the picture people have permitted attacks to mature Into la\ But with the epidemlo of bills aimed at their business they were forced to organize 'for a major fight, and their success in ths Mis- souri case has heartened them to continue their fight. The next im- portant battleground probably will be at Albany, where the forces of reform, led by a woman who le re- ported already slated for a Job on the proposed censorship commis- sion, has enlisted Governor Miller. In the Albany campaign, the reform- ers have gained the executive's sup- port by using the advertising of one film, already denounced by the ad- vertising branch of the Industry, as an examplo of the "impurities" of the screen. This advertising, to- gether with the title of the picture, has been proved misleading in its promise of "sex stuff," the picture It purports to represent having been declared by reviewers as "clean and wholesome," Playing on the fact that Governor Miller is a "family man," the "pay- roll ball weevils" masquerading as guardians of public morals seem to have won their case. Only the most powerful arguments will prevent the picture industry from being saddled with the expense of keeping a board of high-priced fault-finders gimlet-i minds at the public pay car. THEDA BARA ENGAGED? Reported to Wed Son of English Packer. From England comes the informa- tion that Theda Bara is engaged to be married to Charles Brabin, the film director. It seems to emanate from Mr. Brabin's family, who re- side in Liverpool, where his father was a meat packer. Charles Brabin was at one time a musical comedy teror in New York, appearing in "The Medal and the Maid," "The Yale College," etc., but lost his voice and went into the pic- tures as a director with the Edison Co. and achieved success In that field. Later he was with the Vita- graph and Fox, directing Evelyn Neeblt for the latter. NEXT "PICKFORD" IN MEX. Mr. end Mrs. Fairbanks Celebrating Anniversary in Mexico. F. P.'S 50TH ST. EXCHANGE. Morris Runkle, builder, has con- tracted with Famous Players to erect a four-story structure at 144 W. 50th street, to be used for its New York exchange. Famous Players is to pay annual rental of $35,000, the structure to be completed within seven months. WYNDHAM STANDING SAILS Londuq, March 16. Wyndham Standing, member of the Standing family and one of the most successful English actors In American films, sailed March 12 on the Aquitania and is due in New York the latter part of this week. His brother, Percy, also known In American screen circles, remains here. ENGAGES TOM LEWIS. The Cosmopolitan general mana- ger, George B. Van Cleve, has en- gaged Tom Lewis to appear in sup- port of Marlon Davies in "The Encbintment." now in work, and which Vignola is directing. The feature's first name *as , 'The Manhandling of Ethel.'' 1,650 HOUSE IN BRONX. A picture theatre to seat 1,650 will be erected on the northwest corner of Burnside and Creston avenues, Bronx. The theatre and store be- neath will cost $350,000 according to plans of Samuel Friedenberg, pres- ident of the syndicate purchasing the property, ZUK0RS ARE SAILING. Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Zukor are sailing March 22 on the Aquitania. The same boat will carry Mr. and Mrs. Ai Kaufman. Winnie Bheehan (Vn\) is due to sail March 19 on the Olympie. Los Angeles, March 16. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Plckford leave Sunday for Mexico City, as the guests of Kardolph Jen- nings, theatre owner. They will celebrate their first wedding anni- versary March 27 in Mexico City, Miss Plckford'** latest production, "Through the Back Door," will have its world's premiere in the Mexican capital. This will be the first time an American picture will be initially shown out of the country. REBUILDING APOLLO, HARLEM. The Apollo, on 125fh Street, is to bo rebuilt and converted into a modern picture house. An escala- tor will be added to facilitate the enlranee accommodations. The house was acquired in the recent sale that Included the Har« | lem oners house and Adjoining: properly. The present owners also control ill" I'inza end Mounl Mor* ! ris, ,)otii picture boll H t. j COAST CONTRACTS. Los Angeles, March 16. Irent" Rich has concluded her three year contract with Ooldwyn and signed a new agreement with UnU versal, as lead for Harry Carey. Jack Conway, director, has signed with Universal to direct Carmel Myers. Marcel DeSano, director, oul of Universal a fortnight ago, returned last week and was fired again this LARGEST DIMMER. ML Vernon. N T., March II. Tho largest dimmer ever manu- factured has Just been completed at the plant of tho Ward Leonard Electric Co . here and will be shipped to the Raymond theatre, Pasadena, Cal., next week. The dimmer is 12 feet high and seven feel Wide* It carries 137 plates and 57 dimmers. $80,000 IN 11 WEEKS. Los Angeles, March 16. The F«.x Special, "The Connecti- cut Yankee." finished at Miller's last Saturday night after a run of • v\^n weeks at ths houae, The picture during its run here grossed almost 110.010.