Variety (October 1922)

., rr > ,.;^r,,,;- „. ■ .^J.' ji^»*'*i?'Hr-..■"'t'* r>*! •.-»;-'. I #^ friday, October 27, 1922 V**: ,.:.$■ MOTION PICTURE DEPARTMENT-^^Sl,!^''^''^^^^^^ :^v;;.:-....:.., PICTURES ,:• ^"->■■^>•■.:^:.:•:v: «7 ■A T' T % W *T- PICKFORD'S "TESS" HRST HLM >.,,. t -.♦ ;*■-■; BOOKED BY EXHIBITORS' A. B. C *■. >■ T^. lOeal with United Artists Proves Direct Slap at Two Big Circuits—Independent Houses on Heels of Broadway Pre-Release —Pool Has 250 to 300 Days at Start—Could Finance Productions Without Pledging Cent t' v.. I The Aflsoclated Booking Corpora- tion, the orgtinizatlon of Independ- ent exhibitors who have combined , to buck the two big circuits of plc- , ture theatres In New York, have closed with the United Artists for * th<5 Mary Pickford production of •♦Tess of the Storm Country," con- Bldered by many as her greatest picture and the one which cn-iginally brought her world-wide favor as A screen star. Miss Pickford has recently completed a remake of "Tess," and the A. B. C. deal will give the exhibitors of Greater New York first run on the production * following the pre-release dates, against both the Loew circuit and * the Peerless Booking Corporation, ■ which holds the bookings of the ^ combined Keith, Proctor and Moss ^ houses. The securing of the "Tess" pro- duction by the A. B. C. In face of the competition of th^ two circuits is looked upon to materially ; strengthen the position of the new ♦ exhibitor organization and the fact I that the booking was rumored early this week brought a deluge of re- quests for franchises in the new organization, which has been formed but a few months and started active operation less than a week ago, with Percy Wattrs at Its head and Paul Swift, formerly of the Famous Players New York ex- change, handling the booking end of the organization. f The franchise which the organi 1^ ^tion Is issuing calls for 12 pic- tures during the first year of the 7 Jlfe of the organization. With Mary J Pickford In "Tess" to start with the * A. B. C. should undoubtedly deliver 2- a sti'ong set of box office attrac- * tions to the exhibitors during the ^ year. Under the present plan the fran^ chises are being issued to all ,, houses outside of the circuit the- atres In every territory, taking In all opposing theatres. The step appears to be the first substantial one In a direction that win bring about a new era In the , picture business and practically ^ place It alongside of the legitimate theatres, where it Is the theatre manager that dictates the terms in regard to attractions and not those that are trying to either book or •ell the shows. It Is forecast It will start with be- tween 250 and 300 days on its books, representing a considerable propor- tion of fif-st-run time. A new angle to exhibitor booking was disclosed this week in trade discussion of the A. B. C. proposition. It is figured that an exhibitors' pool with a good-sized block of first run time In the metropolitan dis- trict could practically finance Inde- pendent producers without pledging - a cent of money. The exhibitor , group could negotiate with a director with a good commercial name, ar- range with him to sign a box office star and by Its mere agreement to play the picture and pave the way ., for the director to secure an ad- vance loan on the nepative. The . director could pkdge his playing contracts with the exhibitor syndi- cate with a bnnk. It is estimated ■ that a block of playing dates rep- re.sentlng $60,000 in rentals would be amp!e to cover more independent producing ventures. The exhibitor group comes into the field at a p^'chologioal moment for the encouragement of independ- ent producers. Cioldwyn is doing ^ little. First National is in a con- fu.«?cd state, Metro is tied to the Loew interests and Fox is operating pretty much on its own. The Independent exhibitor has long complained that the Loew peo- ~" plc and other circuits with big lots of playing dates at their command Were getting inside prices on pro- ginm material by virtue of buying playing time in quantity. The Keith interests and t'neir associates have not been mentioned pn i>ositively in this connection. The situation in the Keith office appoar.«» to be that iht r.u:-:rcus :nt;;c'ts do not work together. The • Moss houses are booked apart from the others and se.eral districts are tied up by In- dividuals. The Shea properties, for example, have Its own district tied up and book It without regard to the other booking elements asso- ciated with the Keith exchange. The Moss properties are handled alone, also. The A. B. C. proposition alma at "quantity buying" of plcturesr It Is figured that bulk booking can be had cheaper than individual playing dates, as is alleged to be the case with the Loew company. This an- gle Is apart from the argument of encouraging Independent producers. The* factor of trade restrains has been studied and the project Is pro- nounced proof against this charge. There Is no Intent to boycott any distributor nor can the pool be charged with controlling priqes. The plan has In It some of the features roughly outlined by the Theatre Owners of America at their Minneapolis convention last year, but that scheme ran Into opposition from the membership for numerous recsons, one being "ae boisterous talk about "putting out of business" certain distributors. SAND BAGGING METHODS PLAINT OF EXHIBITORS • • WILLIAMS OUT? So Reported Following Diroctors' Meeting Wednesday CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AGAINST BOB WAGNER Members and Investors of Film Company File Complaint With District Attorney CENSORED SHORT REF^^ WILL NOT BE RELEASED No Scenes Deleted in 1 and 2- Reelers in Kansas—Longer Pictures as Before Kansas City, Oct. 25. A ruling just made by the Kan- sas Board of Motion Picture Cen- sors means that some of the one and two-reel comedies wUl be for- bidden In the state. Announcement was made that hereafter the short films will not be cut by the censors. Instead of eliminating scenes offensive to the board the entire picture will'be condemned. The action was taken on the com- plains of exhibitors that fllnjs from which scenes had been "cUt" were unsatisfactory to their audiences. The ruling affects only the shorter productions whose length does not permit revision. Pictures longer than two reels will be cut as be- fore. SENSELESS RULES Film Producers, Censors and Wet Words of the Censors. Do you know that It Is against the law to utilize the words whis- key, beer, gin or champagne In any advertising matter? If a maker of pictures happens to have used any of those words In titles the censors win soon let you know that they arc banned. A producer last week in New York had a picture before the censor.s in which a coui)lo of men walked up to a bar and placed their foot on the brass rail, and the censors cut it. There are supposed to l>o no more bars with bniss rails, so the censors say they cannot be shown, even in pictures. * , At the same time the word "licor" was ordered removed from a title. ^ ■ r NO "ROBIN HOOD" ROAD SHOWS Chicago, Oct. 25. It Is reported the contemplated slew of road .'•hows of "Hobin Ifoxl" planned has Lcea culled off. The Distributors Demand Theatres Take Other Pictures Also— Three Films Naimed Exhibitors are In arms against what they term the sandbag meth- ods of selling film practiced by a number of the distributing com- panies. According to the theatre men, the Universal, Fox and the First National are trying to compel them to take certain productions in order to secure others they want to book. An Instance with Universal Is If an exhibitor wants to book "The Storm" he cannot secure the pic- ture i:nless he also books "Human Hearts." With Fox on last year's material they refuse to permit the exhibitor to have "The Connecticut Yankee" and "Over the Hiir unless he also contracts to play "The Queen of Sheba." With the final settlement for the release of the Jackie Coogan pro- duction "Oliver Twist" with First .National, the lessors at the head of the producing company reserved the right to pass on contracts for the picture and are Insisting no ex- hibitor receive the "Oliver Twist" production unless he had played "Peck's Bad Boy" and "Trouble," two previously released Coogan pictures. FOR FEATURE ACT Forest Hills, L. I., House Wants ' High-prioed Headliners A theatre venture Is In the mak- ing In Forest Hills, Long Island, an exclusive residence suburb which was without a theatre until the house now ready for opening was put up at a cost of $350,000 by a firm of Greek exhibitors. The house, according to an agent for the owners who has been In- vestigating vaudeville salaries, will play "the highest-priced headliners obtainable." The limit for the initial attraction has been set at |2,000. Probably nowhere In the country Is the percentage of auto owners higher than In Forest Hills and the group of suburbs nearby. So far, the people have had to moter to Jamaica for evening screen enter- tainment. The new Forest Hills house will have a top of 75 cents evenings, and will try to draw the patronage away from the* half dozen houses In Jamaica. For this reason. It Is de- sired to start with a hurrah. The house seats 999. CAMEO FOR EIGHT WEEKS American Releasing "Queen of Moulin Rouge" There. The American Releasing Corpora- tion has secured the Cameo, New York, from B. S. Moss for eight weeks, beginning rext Sunday, when It will show "The Queen of the Moulin Rouge* for a run. The hf)use is under a guarantee, with a sharing ba.»-iH arrangement. To follow "The Queen" the Amer- ican has three other productionH In readiness, and the arrangement may be extended for a period beyond ".he original time. BEID RECOVERn^G picture is reported to have gotten $12,500 last week, with this w«ek falling below that figure. Tuesday the gross on two performanccH it reported ns under fl.OOO. The only road .showa that the pic- ture will have will bo in the lti,','ge: town.s, Buch as here. New York .ind i.onion. TjOS AngeleH. Oct. 2'). Wallace Held Im i'\i<ii\<<} .-is lapM- ly recovering from a liad att;t«I< f»r "J\lieg eyes," ami is t') leave the sanitarium, where he is confined next wei k. There were local r-imors lliat "\<\ cfz eyes" were rot the sole rea- son for the «i;ir taking a re^t cine Although the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Asso- ciated First National was practi- cally held in a steel vault at the Hotel Chatham, New York, as far as any news leaks were concerned, it was practically certain that J. D. Williams was out of the organiza- tion late Wednesday; also that Robert Leiber, president of the First National, had resigned, and that Richard A. Rowland was to assume the general managership of the organization. •: ' ♦ It was practically settled also that the proposed producing cam- paign of First National had been' adbpted and that the organization would almost Immediately take steps to take over the United Stu- dios on the Ccast, formerly the Brunton lot, and the Biograph Stu- dios in New York for production. A rumor to the effect that Rex Ingram, the Metro director, who has been turning out the big spe- cials for that firm, has been weaned away and signed by First National was denied Wednesday afternoon In the Loew offices, where It was stated Ingram was under contract for a period of years. The First National directors started to arrive Monday, but the meeting did not really get under way until Tuesday. The first day, it Is said, was entirely given over to routine business of the company and no active action was taken on the Williams situation until late Wednesday afternoon. At First National Wednesday afternoon It was- stated nothing was known as to what might have transpired at the directors' meet- ing up to that time and as far as It was generally known in the organ- ization no changes had been brought about. . GOLDIE AND SINGER HED FOR GRAND MY Harry Marsh, assistant director In a film venture sponsored by Bob Wagner, Inc., Marguerite Gale, film actress, and 13 others who invested money In the company, fl ed a com- plaint in the district attorney's oflice last week before Assistant District Attorney Roy Weller charging Robert Wagner with obtaining money under false pretenses. Former Assistant District Attorney W. D. Bosler, who Is acting for Miss .Gala and Marsh, Is preparing his casi for the Grand Jury. The common grievance Is that Wagner, under promise to secure long term contracts for etch of hia Investor-performers, obtained vari- ous sums ranging from $100 and J200 up to exceeding $1,000. It is estimated Wagner collected between 19,000 and |10,000 In this manner, about $2,000 of which was expendei on the actual production of u :Ii.le- less, plot-les^ film. It consists of about 12,000 feet, considered so much wasted film. Even after the camera- man, known only as "Tony" had cut it down to 4,000 feet, the result was voted impossibly hopeles.s, com- mercially. Tony was elected fOr tho catting job as the only one who knew what all the shooting was about. The actors allege Wagner wrote his next day's continuity on his cuff and then lost that In the .laundry. Miss Gale was practically the only legitimate screen ^ctress In the cast, tke rest being amateurs. She was Induced to Invest several hundred dollars to assist In paying a labora- tory developing bill. Not all of the Investors aio aligned In the district attorney proceedings. One woman who was heavily "taken," Is keeping out of It for two reasons. One Is because of the report Wagner's mother Is dying and the other Is the negotiation for a possible settle- ment. Wugner Is said to be the son oC N. C. Wagner of the I^hiladelphia exchange of the First National. , Woman Alleges They Seized "Scrooge" Film She Sub- mitted for Sale James Goldle and Julius Singer were held In $2,000 ball for the Grand Jury by Magistrate Sweet- ser In the West Side Court Tues- day on a grand larceny complaint by Arabelle Kel««chor. The de- fendants, film men. Singer's oflflce being at 729 Seventh avenue, New York, are alleged to have seized a "Scrooge" film which Miss Kelscher owned. "Scrooge" is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Christmas Carol." It Is alleged the plaintiff visited Singer's oflice for the purpose of selling the picture, the latter ask- ing to consult Qoldle. When Goldie appeared he stated he had bought the same picture In England some years ago and then lent It to an- other to make a print, never get- ting It back. Goldie Is alleged to have seized the film and offered Miss Kelscher a receipt. NOT INTERSTATE COMMERCE Charles G. Binderup's petition for a writ of certiorari to have the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals re- view his suit again.st the I'uthe Kx- chango. Inc., the Omaha Film Board of Trade and others, was denied by (he U. S. Supreme Court la«t week. Binderup sued for $750,600 triple damages under the Sherman anti- triKst act alleging that defendants refused to book their films wl«h him under any circumstances ?n an al- leged combine to destroy his bus- iness. • The U. S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals ruled that the defendants did not fall within the category of Intcr- Htato commerce. HOUDINrS ROAD SHOW Escape Star, with Feature Picture^ . Out for Twenty Weeks. The Houdlnl road show Is to start In Newark, N. J., Nov. 3. The at- traction Is to havo HoudinI and his feature picture, "The Man from Be- yond," and is to be known as "The Houdlnl Wonder Show of 1922.'* The tour Is to be confined solely to the larger picture theatres and lim- ited to twenty weeks. According to the present plans a sixty-foot carload of special scenery and effects is to be carried with the master escape artist, making a per- sonal appearance In conjunction with the picture In which he appears. A special advance publicity repre- sentative will travel ahead of the show, and HoudinI will do the big ballyhoo stunts that he pulied as a vaudeville attraction. For the Newark week It appears that Houdlnl Is getting one of the highest prices that a film house has ever paid for an added attraction^ witii possibly one exception. The picture and his personal appearance are guaranteed $4,000, with a shar- ing arrangement on a gross above $10,000. . ._, McVICKER'S OPEN Started This week — Continuous from 9:30 A. M. fit Li.i.i iinu^ ..• '^1 Spectacular "Little Old New York" 'I'lie Cosni'ipolitai. Ht.'trttd pro<lue- tlon this veek on "Little Old Ntw York." whieh Is to have Marion Da- vicH as itH star. The film v,\]\ be made Into a .spec ♦ ^"jt'nT* ppc ."1 fe'\*'tr''. r'v-Vr' ,iv.utii>{avv/u" iii iiS raa.s. i\ein,3.^. Chicago, Oct. 25. The new McVicker's will open to- morrow (Thursday) at 6:30 p. m., and will piny continuous thereaf- ter, opening at 9:»0 a. m. The first picture will be "The Old Home- Htoad." Presentations will include the Tartar danee from "Prince Igor," with Adolph Bohm and his as.sociatos, and "Autumn I^cavep." a prelude In color and Kong by S. Bar- ret McCormick. The dance was at the Auditorium ."^omo years ago, when P.ohm was director of the iMulMl^-rr HHllf^t U^MiHo, - li4»hm wHl^ only (lire<?t ;it .Mc'V'iekers. Konstan- tin Ki>]jol»(T. his ns.surlale, will do the dance. The x»rinelpal womna dancer will be Amita Grassl. H. I«eop<jJd JSpttalny will direct .McVicker'H e-rtheMtra. and W. H«m- J t,-r:% We!t:i v;::i ].j ui the Wur-