Variety (August 1924)

Wednesday, August tO, 1984 PICTURES VARIETY 19 "SIDE SHOW" AND 10 ACTS GOT CHICAGO $49^14 LAST WEEK f'Beaucaire" Did $25,672 Second Week at Roosevelt —''Merton" to $25,790 at McVicker»—All Para- ' mounts—Christie Comedy at Orpheum 3 Weeks Chicago, Aug. 19. Cool weather continues fn Chicago, with another exceptional good week's business maintained. Paramount has the "loop" tied up. For the flrst time ■In the history of the three leading theatres they are all showing Para- mount features. "The Side Show of Xlfe" at the Chicago "Merton of the *,Movle8" at McVickers and "Mon- sieur Beaucalre" at the Roosevelt. Inside from these there are two Others in the "loop" housing Para- mount products: the State-I^ke, a combination house, has "Changing Siisbands," and the Castle, a minor eatre, "Lily of the Dust" (second (tun). V Valentino, in his second week at fbe Roosevelt, still drew them, get- •fing close to $26,000, another record f»r a holdover feature. The Chicago offered a tremendous circus in con- Junction with the feature, which proved a considerable draw, getting close to $50,000 on the week. "Mer- ton of the Movies" held up at Mc- Vickers, getting close to $26,000. r It was another one of those weeks for the theatres, with the matinee business tremendous. Some of the houses grossed more on their matl- ness than the night performances. The four smaller houses maintained the usual business, with the Orpheum taking the lead. ^ Ksttmates for last week: . .' Chicaoo—"Side Show of Life" '(Paramoune) (4,500; 60-75). An- other great week. Supplanted by huge presentation involving 10 nov- elty vaudeville turns, grossed $49,814. MoVickera — "Merton of the Movies" (Paramount) (2,400: 50-76). Olenn Hunter having played here for three months helped feature consid- erably, getting $26,790. Monroe — "The French Lady" (Fok). Opened weak but grew Atronger toward flntsh, showing fair- ly good week's receipts, $1,170. Orchestra Hall—"Cornered" (War- ner Bros.) (1,650; 50). Despite ad- verse criticisms in dailies, picture held up, considering location, $7,450. Orpheum — "Hold Your Breath," Christie comedy, featuring Dorothy De Vore. In for three weeks, but tSoubt if It will remain longer, though Arst week's business looks promis- ing; $8,600. Randolph—"Family Secret" (Uni- versal) (685; 50). Baby Peggy did iDOt carry much weight, though sev- laral publicity stunts were pulled awhile child star was In town; $4,670. Roosevelt — "Monsieur Beaucalre" ((Paramount) (1,400; 50-65-76). Val- Isntino, second week, fell off only $3,- JMO; remarkable in comparison with J^ther features that have played this house for run; $25,672. MANHANDLED'' HELD OVER; 1ST IN MONTHS Did $14,000 at Columbia Last Week—Negri and Daniels' Films Not So Well Washington. Aug. 19. It took "Manhandled" to break the "drought." At Loew's Columbia business Jumped with such a healthy spurt that the film is being held over, tbe tlrst to accomplish this since early last April. Some strong opposition played against this Swanson nim. Pola Negri in "Lily of the Dust' was one while Bebe Daniels In "Unguarded Women" was another. Nagri should have done better, while the Daniels film got Just about what It deserved. A couple of foreign aims by Negri shown here may have cut in some- what on this latest of hers. "The Wise Virgin" forced things up somewhat at the Rlalto. Patsy Ruth Miller, its star, is liked locally; this may have been the cause. Estimates for last week: Columbia — Gloria Swanson In "Manhandled" (Paramount). (1,233; 21-31-50.) Steady business day and night. Good $14,000. Metropolitan — Bebe Daniels In "Unguarded Women" (Paramount). (1,542; 25-35-50.) Crandall in fea- turing Miss Daniels evidently played the name up because of the pub- licity incident to Valentino's come- back, wherein Miss Daniels is much featured. Thin story to about $8,600. Palace—Pola Negri In "Lily of the Dust" (Paramount). (2.432; 21- 31-50.) Excellently done and should have attracted on par with Swan- son. At that seems to have reached around $11,000. Rialto—"The Wise Virgin." (1,876; 25-50.) Boosted things somewhat. Around $6,500. Tlvoli—"Desire." (1,952; 25-60.) Still hitting- "in low." Got about usual $3,600 to $4,000. PIIILLY TOOK TURN, CORKING LAST WEEK ANITA STEWABT'S PICTUSE Los Angeles, Aug. 19. Anita Stewart, with her mother, arrived here yesterday. Miss Stewart will at once com- mence to make "Never the Twain Shall Meet,'" the Peter Kyne story. Cosmopolitan will I>roduce. f ATSY RUTH MILLER IN TOOLS" AND TRAVEL LED WITH BM -Girl's Personal Popularity Given Severest Test in Disliked Picture—"Beaucalre/' $20,000—Colleen : Moore's "Flirting With Love," Also $20,000 * Last Week San Francisco, Aug. 19. "Monsieur Beaucalre," which opened last week at the Imperial, made things interesting among the downtown picture houses by setting up an attendance record and brings Ing out the biggest crowd of any film In recent seasons. The Imperial in- stalled two box offices to take care of the rush for nine shows dally. At the Warfield another Colleen Moore feature, "Flirting With Love," 4td a typical Colleen Moore week in this house, which means a smashing . Mig opening and a heavy weekday "Ttltcndance. The Granada had "Fools in the Dark." with Patsy Ruth Miller, which would have been a flop except for the stage act, a burlesque on the .Duncan Sisters' trial in Cicero. ■Week Just fair, at best. Estimates for last week: California—"The Butterfly" (2,400; BS-90). Drew average opcnlnp, with '.balance of week fair. No names of any particular pull. Special stage |«ct. "Venetian Nights." with Max iJoIin and California Orchestra given almost equal billing. $18,000. Granada—"Fools in the Dark," Patsy Ruth Miller. (2,840; 55-90.) Business light. Opened below nor- mal and hit but fair stride. $21,000. Imperial — "Monsieur Beaucalre," Rudolph Valentino (1,400; 55-90). Smash of week. Nine shows a day. with capacity. Looked like every woman in town at Imperial. Week probably record for this house, $20,- 000. Warfield — "Flirting With Love." Colleen Moore (2.800; 55-90). First two days unusually heavy, with bal ance of week holding up. Colleen Moore as good as money in bank here Despite feature not so good as some of her others, fans liked it. This house ran neck and neck with Val- entino at Imperial. $20,000. Strand—"Poisoned Paradise" (1.- 700; 20-30). House hardly in running any more as picture theatre. Busi- ness light throuKhout week. $5,000. Cameo—"The Lure of the Yukon," Kva NQvak (900; 35-50). Snow stuff held lure at this time, and picture contained sensational features. Opened satisfactory and kept up proQtable pace. $4,600. Stanley Jumped to $25,000 with "The Arab"—"Man- handled" on Holdover Week, Gained $1,500 Philadelphia, Aug. 19. Better weather — better pictures! The result was the best week of business in the downtown picture houses since early June. The Stanley and the Stanton se- cured the cream of the increased "biz," but most of the other houses joined the procession, even the Karlton coming in for some profit. Probably the most striking feature of the week was the record of "Man- handled" during a blazing hot week with $11,000 gross, and boosted that by at least $1,600 last week with the help of a strong word-of-moutb and cooler nights. It looks like an excellent hunch of the Stanley com- pany, holding this one In for an added week, even though It meant, putting off "Beaucalre." The latter is considered a sure draw at any time, and it would have been a pity to break In on the run of the Gloria Swanson feature. The Stanley, after a couple of weeks of rather questionable draw- ing cards, came back with a bang with Rex Ingram's "The Arab." Young Novarro Is sure-fire here with the feminine portion and they snapped up the "sheik" suggestion in this one where they'd remained cold to all other recent desert yarns which tried to cash in on the "Sheik's" rep. However, it was the personality of Novarro that did the trick. A couple of good side attrac- tions may have helped some. Orchestra Helped Fox The Fox, on the other hand^ un- doubtedly got far less help from its main picture. "The Plunderer," than it did from the presence on the bill (return engagement) of Al Moore and his U. S. orchestra, which, next to the Six Brown Brothers and the Pennsylvanians, has proved the most popular of the many Jazz organizations that have floated into town. With Ray- mond Fagan and his dance^orches- tra at Keith's, Harry Yerkes and his Flotilla orchestra at the Earle, Charlie Kerr and his bunch at the Strand and Sid Hall and his or- chestra at the Nixon, the city was pretty jammed up with syncopation experts. The Fox. though setting no sensational figure, made a clean gain of almost $1,000. Grand Rush Next Week Next week thd grand rush starts with a lot of choice pictures. On Monday "The Side Show of Life" opens at the Stanley, "Monsieur Beaucalre" begins a run at the Stanton, and "How to Educate a Wife" is to be seen at the Karlton. On Saturday of the same week, "The Sea Hawk" starts a much- heralded engagement at the Aldlne (reopening for the summer) and "The Covered Wagon," following Its sensational business at the Forrest (legit) last winter, comes into the Globe (formerly vaude house) for a run. Estimates of the week: Stanley—"The Arab (Metro, one week only). Novarro goes big here and the picture didn't have to be much, nor was a big surrounding bill very necessary. Matinee trade especially big. Went above $25,000. gain of $5,000 over preceding week. (4,000; 35-50-75.) Stanton — "Manhandled" (Para- mount, 2d week). With weather better, this corking box-offlce draw went according to form and regis- tered $1,500 gain over previous week; $13,000. (1,700; 35-60-76.) Fox — "The Plundered" (Fox). Main picture didn't amount to much in way of business pulling, but Al Moore and his U. S. Orchestra (re- turn) kept gross to about $11,750. (3,000; 99.) Karlton — "The Woman on the Jury" (First National). Good draw and helped slumping house. Close to $3,000. (1,100; 50.) BALTIMORE'S $12,000 TOP DUE TO WEATHER Autumn Temperature Brought People Back to Theatres— Good Attractions in Town Baltimore, Aug. 19. With autumnal temperatures pre- vailing business at the local picture houses rebounded sharply from the lows of the previous weeks. General Manager Soriero of the Whitehurst group states that all offers for the purchase of the big Century theatre have been definitely turned down. A prominent but un- named producing corporation was reported negotiating for this theatre earlier In the summer. According to local managerial gossip, the early fall lists of big feature releases are rather meagre. This would seem to indicate holding back by producers and distributors to gauge the fall market. The local summer bookings, however, have been generally satisfactory. With "The Thief scheduled to go into the legitimate Ford's on Sept. 1 and the uptown legitimate Lyceum more than likely tQ open with pic- tures on or before Labor Day, the early autumn supply of local screen offerings will be plentiful. ' Estimates for last week: Rivoli (2.250; 26-76) — "Single Wives." Business maintained even tenor, another way of saying it was big. Century (3,300; 26-75)—"The Un- guarded Woman." New symphony orchestra at this, largest of local screen houses, won critical praise, but weather largely responsible for brisk rise of box office gross to $12,500. New (1,800; 25-60)—"Wanderer of the Wasteland." This, best of color photography films, was approved and public responded; $10,000. Hippodrome (3.200; 26-76)—"The Way of a Man" and vaudeville. Box office completely recovered from heat prostration and turned In $10,500. Garden (3,100) — "The Heart Buster'' and vaudeville. With weather this house got back into normal and clicked at $10,000. Parkway—"Why Get Married?" Not sort of film to get excited about. Wmle business picked up from previous week this house is In an uptown vacation zone and doesn't reflect fluctuating temperature as AGNES AYERS ENGAGED Marryini in Fall S. Manwal R«*eM, •f Mexieo Los Angeles, Aug. 19. Agnes Ayers. after reported to some day become the bride of Rob- ert Agnew, plctta-e actor, sur- prised her friends with the an- nouncement that some time In tb* fall she will raarrr 8. ManiMl Roachl. an attache of the oflflce of the consul general of Mexico at San rranclsco. Mlaa Ayers of late had been seen about the Hollywood cafes In the oonpany of Reacbl. When return- ing from the east about a month ago, Roachl was again her constant escort The couple met at the home of Kathlyn Williams, who U the wife of Charles Eyton, manager of the Laaky-Famous Players Studio, last October. o'lRcr m\ DIES Los Angeles, Aug. 19, A baby bom to Yvonne D'Arcy, film actress, of which Granville P. Sully is alleged to be the father, died three days after birth Satur- day in a local liospltal. The mother Is In a serious condition. The second trial in her case against Sully, who la a brother'ln- law of Mary Pickford, Is scheduled for Sept. S. She charged Sully attacked and mistreated her. much as downtown houses. About $3,000. MetropoliUn (1,500)—"Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model."' Owen Davis wrote corking movie meller, although at time no movies to use It. Now that they have Anally got- ten around to it, the result Is most entertaining. Business responded to better weather conditions. This Week Century. "Changing Htisbands"; Rivoli, "Never Bay Die""; New, "The Man Who Fights Alone"; Hippo- drome, "Broken Hearts of Broad- way"; Garden, "Yankee Madness"; Metropolitan. "Recoil"; Parkway, "The Fool's Awakening." SERIAL AT MORNING SHOW ONLY; READERS ON DAILirS FRONT PAGE Kansas City Had Good Business Last Week—ksris Line-up for New Season—$8,500 for ''Never Say Die" at Small Royal TIVOLI, FEISCO, FIRST BUHS San Francisco, Aug. 19. After months of darkness the Tivoli is once again to join the ranks of first run picture houses. It opens this week under the management of "Doc" Leahy with "The Man Who Came Back," featuring Georife O'Brien, son of Dan O'Brien, local chief of police. The price scale has been set At. Matincea 30 and night performances 40-50. A full sized orchestra has been Installed under the leadership of BrambitiiL Kansas City, Aug, If. It was comedy against drama In pictures here last week, with the light and frothy having the best of it. The little Royal, with "Never Say Die," put over a lot of extra publicity and some stunt advertis- ing. It brought dollars to the box- offlce, the picture drawing close to $S,500, going s6me at 35 cents in an 890-seafer. The Malnstreet had the other comedy, "Galloping Fish," which with its Ave acts of vaudeville drew 'em for capacity at many of the performances. The Newman with Pola Negri in "Lily of the Dust' fared well, but the fans did not care so much for "Behold Thl» Woman" at the Liberty. In addition to its feature the Newman iias started something new by showing the Pathe serial, "Into the Net." at its 11 o'clock morning performances only. The serial will run for 10 weeks. To introduce the picture children were admitted free for a couple of mornings. Business in the residential dis- tricts has held up remarkably well during the past few weeks and the managers are not overlooking any- thing to keep up the interest. A number of the bigger theatres have been featuring bathing beauty con- tests, with some 25 girls in the line- up. The same bunch of "beauties" appear at each house. Business Battles The next few weeks promiHes some inte-esiing business baltle.i between the four Uaders In the downtown district. The Royal steps out this week with ".Monsieur Beaucalre" for a two-wcelc or longer run and is going in for a lot of ex- pen.aivc publicity. One o( the new .■itunts I.H the u.«e of two uml three- line reader.'! on the f^ont phJRes of the papers at $5 a line. Tlie same house will also give "The Covered Wagon" a run soon after the Valen- • .*;«w.: tino picture, and will hold It as Idriji as the customers keep coming. The Malnstreet will play up the Norma Talmadge "Secrets," start- ing Aug. 31, and will follow with "The Sea Hawk." The Liberty will use "America" for Its big feature during September, and ''The Ten Commandments" will have its flrst Kansas City showing at the Sbu- bort, starting a several weeks' en- gagement Aug. 31. The house made a remarkable showing last fall with "The Covered Wagon" and expects to repeat with the "Command- ments." Last week's estimates: Royal—"Never Say Die" (PatheV (890; 35-50.) Douglas MacLean. "Our Defenders," West Point pic- ture, and Royal Syncopators com- pleted best entertainment on street, according to critics. Close to $8,500. Newman — "Lily of the Dust" (Paramount). (1,980; 40-50.) "Old Heidelberg," prolog by Newman male quartet, and "Moments of Music," >vlth Lota Jahn and Meryyne Agnew, musical units. Pola Negri featured name In film. Paid critics liked story, star and commended "artistic" direction of Dlmltri Buchowetzki. Business could havi been better with ca- pacity house, but management was satisfied with close to $12,000. Liberty — "Behold This Woman" (Universal). (1,000; 88-80.) Irene Rich featured In "Woman" film, which divided honors with Will Rogers comedy "Big Moments from Little Pictures." Business not so good; $4,000. Mainstreet — "Galloping Fish" (Mrst National). (5,400; 2o-50.) Wright Dancers headed vaudeville, with Oillva and seals. Colncidencf .spals on bill with "Fish" picture, which also features trained seal. UuRlnpAs riffht up to that of past ft\P week.'^, clicking near $12,500. Pantage.s had "Women Who Wfilf and the Globe, "The Spit- fire." ^