Variety (December 1922)

PICTURES Friday, December 22, 1922 SHORT REEL PROGRAM BRINGS TALK OF POSSIBLE COME-BACK Revival of Former Picture House Policy Raised : by Exhibitors—Double Feature Bills and Long Supers 4 la the picture theatre that played a program entirely composed of Bhort subjects going to do a come- back? That question was raised this week by one of New York's moat prominent exhibitors, who stated that the prevalence of double feature bills and the unusual length of auper-specials was virtually driv- ing the one and two-reel picture out of the majority of picture houses. That the producers of short sub- jects are realizing that the market for their product is gradually be- coming narrower is rejected by the report from the coast that with the exception of the William Fox lot and the producer allied with Educational for distribution there is practically no short reel producing going on at the present time. Short reel pro- ducers have curtailed their produc- tion because of virtually no demand «t this time. If the short reel theatre should come back it would mean a rever- sion to type, for it was with short reel programs the exhibitor first bid for public patronage. It Is quite possible that even on Broadway in the heart of the theatre section a house devoted solely to the show- ing of short subjects as a drop-in theatre would have a vogue with the film fans. "^ In territories where the exhibitors are in opposition and fighting for patronage by bidding against each other for feature and boosting rental prices, a pooling arrangement might be entered Into, with one house playing the short subjects and the other the regular feature bills. In discussing the situation one ex- hibitor cited that "Knighthood" and "Robin Hood" were both 14 reels In length. "Nero" and "Monte Cristo" 12 reels each and "The Prisoner of Zenda" 10 reels. None of the houses playing these productions at the rental prices asked for them could afford to show any short subjects other than a news weekly and get in the requisite number of shows to make the playing of the long fea- tures profltable. fiven in the case of the program specials, running anywhere from 6,500 to 9.000 feet, the exhibitor that wants to get out on his rental price .has to play them close. M. P. T. 0. A. COMPLAINS OF MUSIC soam Society Claims It's Politics— Take Action When Notified i ■r*^ HAYS LIFTS BAN ON . ARBUCKLE PICTURES Comedian to Be Permitted to Resume Screen Work After New Year's UCHTMAN-SCHULBERG PLANS Al Lichtman returned to New Tork on Saturday from Los An- geles and announced that B. P. Schulberg had placed Gaston Glass under contract for three years to play leads in Preferred Pictures. The future production* plans-of the organization were mapped out at a scries of conferences between Lichtman and Schulberg, At present Louis" Gasnicr is di- recting "Tiie Girl Who Came Back" and his next production will be "Mothers-In-Law." *Tom Forman"s next production will be "The Broken Wing." Following these three pictures the order of produc- tion will be "The Parasite." "Fri- volity," "The Aristocrat." "The Satin Woman," "My Lady s Lip.s" and "A Mansion of Aching Hearts." : J. G. Bachman, treasurer of the Al. Lichtman Corp.. started for the coast Tuesday and will remain in Los Angeles six weeks. Although prematurely heralded by the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America that suits had been lllcd with Attorney General Daugherty and the Federal Trade Commission anert the alleged restraint of trade practices of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publish- ers, formal complaint was only filed Monday. No Federal Trade Com- mission proceedings were instituted, but a complaint has been entered with the attorney general charging violation of the Sherman anti-trust law. It is alleged that the American Society is an illegal com- bination in restraint of trade and that it hampers and restricts the development of American musical culture. The defendant has taken no ac- tion and will not do so until notified by the attorney general, if the com- plaint is being seriously considered. J. C. Rosenthal, general manager of the A. S. C. A. P., opines that this issue, threshed out in the courts two years ago. Is being employed by Sydney S. Cohen and Frank Rem- bush, the Indiana exhibitor, as a political Issue. Rembush has been grabbing considerable space lately, accusing Cohen or not taking any action on the music tax question on the ground Cohen is remitting his fees periodically en the theatres he controls without murmur. The so- ciety records show that Rembush has done similarly for the dozen houses he o|»«rules until recently. As a result of the recent failure to pay the music tax. Federal Court proceedings are pending against him. LOEW GINGERS UP HIS COAST HOUSES Circuit Director Visit to West Starts Doings — State, Los Angeles, Opens ABRAMS' SUIT SETTLED The suit against Hiram Abrams. president of the I'nited Artists Corp., begun by Benjamin P. Schulberg two years ago for a share of the defendant's profits for services rendered in the organiza- tion of the "Big Four," has been settled out of court. Schulberg alleged he conceived the idea of getting Mary Pickford. Charles Chaplin. Douglas Falrb.inks and D. W. Griffith together imder one banner. Ccmmissions allego<l due for closing a contract with Morris Greenhill. a British distribu- tor, to handle l^. A. pictures abroad also figured in the allegations. Abrams counter-sued for $5,000. E. C. SMITH DIES V I-os Angeles, Doc. 20. « R. Cecil Smith, scenario writer, who came here from New York sev- eral months ago in search of health, " Sunday. H« leavet a widow. Los Angeles, Dec. 20. While Marcus Loew is probably back in his New York oifice at this time, the effects of his visit to the cojrst could be .«:een this week at Loew's State, the circuit's large pic- ture house here. A general gingering up of the cir- cuit's theatres' i)i'ograms and forces occurred while Mr. Locw remained on the coast, his instructions cover- ing as well Loew's Warfield in San Francisco. Th.'»t is also reported to liave evinced additional life within the past days. The local State started the week with a crush outside of its box office. Mr. Loew, while here, ordered a jazz orchestra into the State to supple- ment the Bessie Clayton dancing act, which, with another turn or so, were installed as extra attractions. The cost of the additions is said to have reached between $3,500 and $4,000 (in addition to the picture program's cost). Returns so far in- dicate it was .1 splendid investment. Following the cteparture of the jazzers. Max Fischer, who has a rep as a musical Icador, will be in charge of the State's musicians. Other drastic chanf,'«s in the di- rection of the two I^new theatres are reported to have been made by Mr. Loew and they will develop. The change in the anticipated quality of the music to be furni.shed the Loew patrons, gauged through the Fischer engagement, is looked upon as an importait move In tlu- a.tiempt to please the film pubic. Included in the alterations ordered is an increase of advertising appro- priationa. _l,,_^ _*. . . Los Angeles, Dec. 20. Will H. Hays has lifted the ban against the appearance of Roscoe ("Fatty") Arbuckle in pictures be- fore starting for the east today. Ar- buckle will return to work for Jos. M. Schenck, who will start him in a production shortly after the first of the year. The exhibitors of the country withdrew the Arbuckle pictures im- mediately after "Fatty" was charged with causing the death of Virginia Rappe who died during a party in the St. Francis hotel, San Fran- cisco. The comedian was acquitted In .April and at the time Hays is- sued a statement that the l>an on the releasing of Arbuckle pictures would remain in force for the time being at least. > It was understood at the time Hays made the announcement with the sanction of Adolph Zukoi and Joseph M. Schenck for the ir.oral effect it would have on the public of the country and serv> to estab- lish'Hays as the dictator of the motion picture industry. REAL FlUM PEOPLE ON COAST WOULD WELCOME WEEDING OUT '2 Committee Appointed hy Hays to Settle Studio Disputes—Hays and "Cleaning Up"—Denies He Will ^age War on Dope Ring v. t^ TURNER & DAHNKEN TO RETAIN FILM INTERESTS Change of Plan by Coast Con- cern—First Nationars Possible Reissues In the east several exhibitors of prominence stated they are for the return of Arbuckle to the screen, fte had been acquitted by a jury and that ended the question of hi»> guilt. They are willing to run his piotures, thus putting it up to the pubic whether or not they will accept them. Famous Players has two Arbuckle features in readiness for the mar- ket. One is "Gasoline Gus," which had played but a few pre-released dates when the scandal broke, and the other is "Freight Prepaid," which was made at the Chicago stockyards, and had been finii^ed but a short time before the San Francisco party. Zukor and Schenck, had tfie ban against Arbuckle been continued Indeflntely, stood to lose approxi- mately $1,500,000 on these two pro- ductions alone in gross business, not counting what Arbuckle would have been worth to them in future productions which he would have made under bis contract with Schenck. RELEASING ^OLERANCE" Griffith Film Spectacle to Be Offered to Trade "Intolerance," the second great spectacle which D. W. Grltflth di- rected, which was the production that followed his "Birth of a Na- tion," is finally to be offered for general release. The picture will be marketed through the United Artists with the release date tQ be announced shortly after the first of tho year. It was originally planned that the three different periods which were represented in the production of "Intolerance" would be extracted from the super-feature and released as three individual productions, but the final decision is to present the picture to the public in the regular motion picture houses in the same form that It was origrnally given at the Liberty theatre several years ago. SLIGHT DnTERENCE IN TITLE Detroit, Doc. 20. An attempt to capitalize the play- ing "Shadows" at a pre-release house in Detroit, for the benefit of a leech production entitled "The Shadows," was nipped by Jess Fishman, manager of the Standard Film Service Co., which is dis- tributing the production in Michi- gan. With the first run of "Shadows' In Detroit, exhibitors in the terri- tory received cards saying: " 'Shad- ows* is now playing the Broadway- Strand, Detroit. You can book The Shadows' at your own terms from us." This was signed by a local film distributing organization. Fibhman got in touch with thr- Michigan M. I'. T. ().. which pasy..,i I resolution condemning th? trick. The local F. I. L. M. club is to take xction on the matter. Lazarus Moves to Coast Chicago, Dec. 20. .1. Lazarus, publicity manager for I'^irst National Pictures in Chicago, i» to go to the Graumans, Los An- geles, and will handle Its publicity. Turner & Dahnken, who control about two dozen picture theatres in San Francisco and vicinity and are part owners of the New York and Northern New Jersey First National Exchange, have withdrawn their properties frontv the market. Several months ago the firm was quoted as being in readiness to dispose of all of it»-theatre holdings and interest in the exchange business, but since the change In the executive aflfalra of First National the concern de- cided to remain with the organiza- tion. Ralph Clark, who represents the firm in the New York exchange, re- turned from a trip to the coast last Friday. When asked regarding the withdrawal from the market of the Turner & Dahnken holdings, he stated his principals, as far as he knew, were perfectly satisfied with the future prospects of First Na- tional and had decided to hold tlieir present interests. There Is a chance the New York First National exchange will shortly offer 10 reissues of feature subjects to exhibitors in the New York and Northern New Jersey territory. These are pictures which are the property of the exchange, having come to It from First National in the days prior to the formation of the Associated. The pictures that may be possibly reissued are "Daddy Long-Legs," "Back to God's Coun- try," "Rivers End,' "Heart of the Hills." "Daughter of Two Worlds," "The Woman Gives," "Yes or No," "Three Weeks." "The Virtuous Vamp" and "The Temperamental Wife." With the craze for double feature bills and the shortage in the present market of features that will meet the demand of the double programs, the exhibitors will probably wel- come these pictures, the majority of which were strong box office attrac- tions when first released. New prints and thoroughly re-edited pro- ductions will be part of the reissue program. FIRE IN TWO THEATRES WITH NO CASUALTIES Republic and Garden, Annapo- lis, Burned During Perform- ances—Loss $50,000 Annapolis, Md., Dec. 20. Between COO and 700 persons In two picture theatres were forced to run for safety last night, when fire destroyed the Republic and damaged the Garden theatres, on Main street, about 75 yards from the State Cap- itol. Mrs. Philip Miller, wife of the proprietor of the liepublic, and he- two small children were sleeping on the upper .floors of the burnin^r structure. Mrs. Miller on the second floor and the two children on the third. They were awakcnd and as- sisted to safety by Albert Parkinson, operator in the Republic, after he had helped In getting out the audi- ence. The Are startedl about 8.30 in the Republic. I'arkinson, while showing ;i film «aw smoke near tho stace. He tiirnnl on the litjht.M. went to the auditorium and asked tho crowd to leave nuielly. An alarm of fii o wa^ .«^ounded. soon followed by a general alarm. The Are spread throuRh the Republic and ignited the Clarden. The spectator.'-! in this theatre had left the bui'din;;: when the Are was first discovered. The damage is estimated at $50,- 000, largely covered by insurance. !Lo8 Angeles, Dec. 20. A committee of nine to settle all studio disputes arising between producers and players is one of the results of Will H. Hays' visit to the coast. The committee will have Thos. H. Patten, the western repre- sentative of the Hays organization, as its chairman and the members will include Thos. H. Ince, Irving Thalberg, Joe Engle, Louis B. Mayer, C. H. Christie, Abraham Lehr, Victor Clark, Hal Roach and W. J. Reynolds, secretaiy to the Produc?r.H' asscciation, a local or- ganization. 4 Hays has stated that he wnnts to make Hollywood a n»Odel artistic and industrial center, with ideal living conditions. Whether or not that last phrase means that he Is going to clean up the private lives of a numbei} of the screen players is a question. The real people "^r the picture colony here would ap- preciate it and be only to willing to help. The riff-raff of the world has seeped into llollyv.'ocd for sev- eral years past because of the em- ployment obtainable in the picture studios. There has been no way o. wecding out the wheat from the chaff in handing out the vork, with the result the bad ones as well as the good ones have been fed alike. Any cleaning up process that Hays might have in mind would be welcomed, but it is dc .btful if he or any one else can evolve any plan whereby the private lives of those ^ working in pictures or out of them , ,;| in Los Angeles can be regulated. It ' is only when a scandal breaks tlMt the heads of the Industry become aware just who 'is who in the fast set, but It is possible that if a startling example were made of one or two of the stars who are ring- leaders in the loose living coterie, and the rod utilized prior to the time that they became involved in any sensational story publicly, Iheji those here would wake up to the fact that they would have to change their mode of life If they cared t«... continue In films. ■> Hays is leaving here for Sullivan, Ind., where he Is to spend Christ- mas, after which he will return to New York. He denies that he is going to wage any war from this end on the dope ring reported exist- ing among the playing fraternity of fllmdom, but ho will undoubtedly use his Influence with the federal authorities engaged in the war on the naroctic peddlers and addicts to spur them on toward weeding ths hop beads out of the business. f? ACCOtJNTING ASKED Washington, Dec. 20. "Victims of the Knickerbocker the- atre disaster have asked the District Supreme court to set aside the transfer last June of the theatre properly to Harry M. Crandall and to comply an accounting by the company and Mr. Crandall, its for- mer president, of a loan of $150,000 made on the property by the Na- tional Savings and Trust Co. of this cUy. ,- ■■•-•• -'.- Those entering Into the suit al- lege they were cheated by the sale of the company's property and that because of the manner In which the sale was handled there is no pos- sible chance for damages to be paid as the company was left with insuf- ficient aseets to cover any damage suits that m'ght be won against them, following the disaster. ^ BROOKLYN CONTROL Al. l-'riedlander and Harry Drardt took over the active management of tho West End and the Carden the- ■itrrs in the Roronjih H;i]l section of Iti-.^ukl.vn. The West End will be"" elored for the time beinq: and |20,- 000 si)ert in remodeling the house. P.y closing for the.e two houses it gives the i>air a virtual eontrol of the territory as far as the rental of pictures are concerned, with their .sole opposition the lU.rough Park theatre, which only shows lllms on one split, playing tho Shubcrt units the last half. . ,