Variety (Dec 1927)

VARIETY PICTURES Wednesday, Dec«iiil>«r 7» Ut7 $32 SEPARATES STATE AND MET; Ctutney and LynuOk mi State» Beery and Halloii on Met'i Screen and Stage Around $33,500—'! ablesV Out in 2d WMk^'Pecky/ $7#600 Loa Angeles, Dec. 6. (Dfiwing P#M««i*ii» 1^.000) ^ Two downtown theatres seemed to corral moat oi the money ia siKht durinff the first week of Christmas shopping. Loew's State had Abe layman In person and managed to take Uie lead away from the Metro- politan by a little more than $32. Lyman and band are in here for two weeks prior to KOinK eaot. The screen attraction was Lon Chuncy's "London After Midnight," with Ly- man doing nve^aiwva dAllp lteough- out the week. The Metropolitan, playing "We're In the Air," started off tremendously, the Thanksgiving Day opening do- ing $8,300 on the day. But Sunday trade dropped, with the house get- Ung around 12,500 Monday against Zioew** iKate's IS.700. , "Sunrise" lipened Tuesday night to $5 at the Carthay Circle ddtng $4,74S. Opfhloa «n iho plotore was divided, with the lntal<e for six days, Including the opening Ogurea. better than |14,0M. 8M Orauttian <tlll had them coming to tlie Chi- nese for "The Gaucho," while "The Gorilla," in its second week at the Million Dollar, skidded about one- third on intake. Thla was rather surprising t« an Intmlve •z- ploitatlon campaign. ••Les Miserables," In Its third and final week at the Criterion, dropped below $6,000. "Old San Ftancisco" and Vitaphone followed In the middle of the week. The Bgyptian, plus a Hearst newspaper eampaign for "Becky," did not ac- complish much, falling short ef |8.- 000. Lynn Cowan, m. of can bo depaadcd upon for about 25 per •tel. ee me «raw ' SOUSA-ARBUCKLE TIE UP mM IN Pin. Band $47,000 at Penn—Com- edian Does $16,200 for Al- dine—Despite We^er iforgan returned to the Boulevard as master of ceremonies with a SO cent top. Screen attrac- mpa was *'A Man's Past* and bust- dropped about $4,000. Broad- wmf Palace managed to get hold of aie UnlTeraal's Clara Bow •n¥liie" and did Just a little better than it lias been doing the past three ■Mnths. ^ Eetlmatee for Last Week Qrauman's Chinese (U. A.)— •^aucha* <l.tBt; BO-llJf). Conean- trating on exploitation. Qratunaa manages to keep film mhow $10,000; in fifth week, out of town trade Quite heavy; did $22,900. Carthsy Circle (Fred Miller)-- •Sunrise" (Pox) (1,600: B0-$1.60). Murnau product got divided opinion oil opening; film wiceacres call It mechanically perfect; Including $5 openliKL on «lx days took $14,500. _ U» w ^ ttata (W. C.-Loew)— •London After Midnight" (M-G) (2.100:.2(-$li. Abe Lyman one of blggMt box office draws town has had; better daily average business •with Lon Chaney,picture than any other stage ktfrftMloif hause has had since Duncan Sinters; $38,500. Metropolitan (P u b 11 x) — "Now We re In the AW (Par) (S,S95; M 65). With ppory and Hntton mak Ing personal appearances In good stage show, House did tremendous business first foiir rtnys; slipped on balance of week, flnislilng to $33,468 Million Dollsr (Puhllx) — "The Gorilla" (F. N.) (2.200; 25-85) Though getting favorable public re- action. In werond woak mjrttery opus skidded to (12.200. aoiifovard (W. O—"A Man* Past" (U> C2.164: 25-60). With re iJ»rn of Gene Morgan and Conrad .Vildl 6n ticl^tn business hit $6,900; Considered fair. O) (l,m; M«08). Hearst publicity doesn t menn much la HoUywiod- $7,600: not good. Criterion (W. C.)~**Les Mlser- able.s" (TT) (1.B00: 25-:r.). In final . week trudged along and bowed put to $5,800. ^Brosdwsy Raises (Orphoum)- •Wine" (U) (1.600; 16-40). Clara > Bow reissue aroused edi|«lderable I'J*;?!^*^ ^ Wdf»wftjr iHNiioi gcmd 14,000. U. S. Health Films, he. Washington. Dec. 6. The statement Is authorized by the Treasury Department's Bureau ot tlM PttWe Rottltli Mrttoi that the U. P. Health Films. Inc., S. 8. Millard Productions, has no connec- tion whatsoever with the U. 8. Pub- Her Kinllk 0Ofvfoo« Thto announcement la deemed fiecessary by the Surgeon-General through the advertisement in Va- flety of Nor. St. teat. sigM* a Health Films, toe., a A Pittsburgh, Dec. 1. (Drawing Population, 600^000) Having its first taste of concert standby playing a picture house, and Fatty Arbuckle at Loew's Al- dine appearing after a protest as front page stories, both the Penn and Aldine broke records. Sousa >iled up $47,000, about $300 over the )ouse record. Weather was bad art of the week, but there were double lines waiting with newspa- pers over hats. Publicity on the and leader was unprecedented. He went to high schools every morn- ng, conducted a combination of iands numbering 260 boys in a pa- rade Saturday to welcome Santa Glaus (commercial proposition) had a band meet him at station, talked over the radio and was on page one an wook. Arbuckle didn't do oo bud Estimates for Last Week Aldine (Loew) (2,000; 25-35-50). Fatty" Arbuckle. with foui* other acts, all doing afterpiece; picture, •Isle of Forgotten Women." didn't count; $16,200 looks as if il wuuld stand as mark for some time. ■ Cameo (U.) (1.100; 35-50). "Les Miserables" (U.). Not bad for this tiouse and held over. Davis (Stanley) (2.i00; 35-50-7."^). "Paid to Love" (Par.). Vaudeville good; picture change; $8,700. Grand (Stanley) (2^00; 95-50). "Rose of <3olden West" (F. N.). Business. Mllg tbO Stg^o Aour* iMr; $11,760. Harris (Harris) (2,200; 25-40). With average vaude, public paid $7,100; house has steady clientele. Olympic (Stanley) (1,400; 25-50). •H^ity Gone Wild" fourth Paramount here in a row; business dropped after good showing previous week. Penn (T^w) (3.600; 25-25-60). Sousa and "Topay and Eva" (U. A ) Only did $47,000, aa house couldn t hold Miy snoroi St Louis AmbaMidoff Big, $32,126; State, .$22,818 St. Louis, Dec. 6. (Drawing Population. 900,000) Ed Lowry is still packing 'em in at the Ambassador. He was ably assisted last week by Charlotte WoodruflT. last season's star of the Municipal Opera. Miss Woodruff was fofttorod la tlio atago p r e^e n ta- tion. The fact that the American, legit house, was dark and "The Ram- blers" the only high priced attrac- tion in town, helped business at the picture houses. Estimates for Last Week Ambassador (Skouras) — "Get Your Man" (Par.) (2.000; 26-65). Clara Bow outflaps her previous flapping; fans seemed to like It as well, if not a bit better, than some of her past attempts; got $22,126. Leew^s State (3,300; 25-35-65) — "Two Arabian Knights" (U. A ). On the »ta^c Confrey and his Vic- tor Recording Orchestra; did $22,- 818. Missouri (Skouras)—"Figures Dofi*t UtT (Par.) (Moor l8«tS). Esther Ralston and Richard Arlen give a sincere portrayal, ably as- sisted by PM StMling; brought in $U^7. CHiarlaa Rogers. , John C. Fllnn. May McAvoy Clifford Hawley. Riehard A. Rowland. Sidney Kent. Abe Sablosky. W. R Fraaoh Sally Long. Maria Corda. THE BREAKFRS Frolicking on the beaches, the balmy zephyrs of Southern Florida -Mtie worM of ffMhlon and fabulous wealth erver before you—hootelries of magniflcenoa tiiat aflr* the Potentate. In this setting a Meyer Davis Or- chestra will ent^^in the elite of the fashionable world at the Justly famous BREAKERS, tho Vltra a«xK)ng Paten Beacb hotels. Darryl Francis SSannuck. Victor VarooBl, StdMsr Oiootl N. Y. tip t. A, Harry K. Thaw. Harry Forshay« Xaok Dempeey « Constanca Talmadgt. $17,500 GRANADA LOW; Clara Bow at Warfierd, $25,- 500—Vita Holds Up, $15,000 ^mporial, $8|0Q0 San Francisco. Dec. 6. (Drawing Population, 615.000) Healthy business along Market street last week, and some that ivi'asn't so healthy. In fa9;t^ in spots it was downright bad. The big surprise was the total flop of the (Iranada. Nora Bayea was a total loss, and If tho house didn't go "red" It came near it. Soiae performaiicef woro pitiful, Maii mt mi attm^m of euatomera out front. Clara Bow and a good Fanchon and Marco stage show rolled a good week for the Warfleld, which virtually had the .street to itself. Strength was also displayed by Em- bassy, where Vitaphone was in its fourth week. There was an entire new bill for the week, including Al Jolson. and holdouts were common At the Colmnblli "King of Kings'* was building strong, though there is still a lack of demand for the higher prleed Mtta. Tho Oornia** tailed to hold up at the California and was yanked Thursday, after two weeks, to OMko ffooai tor *HMm11 and Son.** ft. Francis got by nicely on Its third week with "Now We're in the Air," and program coatteuaa for a fourth and final week. Imperial had Buster Keaton. and rolled up one of Its best grosses since adopting its newest policy. West Coast Theatre relinquishes the thoatDft «tttf thla weak. Estimaltg for Last Week Warfield—"Get Tour Man" (Par) (2,660; 35-60-65-90). Had difllculty handling crowds first four days; in- take of $25^00 hJghaot lA • long time. Gransda — "Figures Don't Lie" (Par) (2,726: 16-60-06-20). Added presence of Ifora Bayes didn't mean a thing; 40 per cent of regulars seemed to have remained away; screen feature nothing out of ordi- nary and buslneig w«t "lligr Off; figured at $17,600. Embassy —"Slightly Used" and Vitaphone (W. B.) (1.367; 85-50-65- 85). Al Jolson gets credit for big draw, and hoMOTOr OB VtIgS VNMiied $15,000. Columbia—"King of Kings" (P. D. C.) (1.700; 50-75-$l-$1.60). Word- of-mouth advertising and plenty of plugging from ^ergy overcame de- nunciation by Jewish Rabbis Asso- ciation; business held strong; sec- ond ireok'a $12,000 highly satisfac- tory; now In final week. wl^| %mo weeks In Oakland to follow. Cslifornis—"The Gorilla" (F. N.) (2.200; 86-65-90). Somewhat disap- pointing on second week; $11,500 a profit all around. 8t. Francis—"Now We're in the Air" (Rar.) (1,875; 35-65-90). Week started off with sufficient strength to warrant fourth weak;, triflo batter than $9,000; good. Imperial—"The General" (IT. A.) (1.400; 26-40-50). With pictures like this one West Coast might have been able to avoid selling house; without any special endeavor Kea- ton comedy drew close to $8,000; after this wolll tiMMrV «$■!•« for second..runa. ' . ■/ Hank's Auto Sales Loa Angeles, Dec. $. Tho IfeNmto a» Ilk Malib CMvMi Swanson's husband, recently gave a dinner to some Hollywood no- tables and sold to Pevifbt autos to member* of the film 9&IOBf, Km took the orders for $1,100 delivered in Ajnerioa wltk llio carg to gfrive te Jaauanr. GRfllCS BOX SCORE U XCtaiitliMiod IMi iPiflt pictures as to their boz-offlce strength through the various sales and booking departmenis. along with Itg owa ro^orta'on tkooo tMu. In those sjMts where big stage at- tractions have swollen the grosses titf^ Mwe^ to/r thooo particular wmlKa IMTO toeen ignorod* Less No-Opiniont Since Variety'a first recording of the fltan OHtic% Bopt 14, thoro hiui been a mar d curtailment in the number of nd-opinion decisions, with exceptions of WiUella'Waldorf (N. T. "Post**), Harriett Undarfaill (N. Y. "Herald Tribune") and Joseph McElliott (N. Y. "Mirror"). Another aldelight is that the Los Angeles revlawara practically give no bad notlcea. On a basis that 75 per cent, of the i gram features rango from Idiora to to big busi- ness, this Is » 4irect break In fkvor of those scribes who can't r..y "No." New York reviewers, with- out oseoptloB, > f# |Mt ii4 idULff from the ^hMi tritfl fwvltant lower scores. On the trade paper end, ' Harrl- 1 a basis of sevaa ao oplaloiia out 12 chances. TiM CMoNPO croup ham generally higher averages with Genevle^d^ Harris ("Post") now second and Mae Tinee ("Tribune") jumpUtc fk'om last tO^ildHI MM MM .147. The highest number of no opla. ions for the daily critics Is credited to Irene Thlrer (N. Y. "News") with 22, while naglna CaiiiiOii (N. T. "American"), who has been con- spicuous for her clear-cut r)rrdic- tlons on whether a picture is good or bad on 100 revlewa, haa the largest number of rights. 58. This number leada the list on the touu of fltana Tlofwad by any one critic. The highoot total of wrongs % split three ways between Mli« Cannon, Mordaunt Hall (N. Y.^ "Times*') *ild Harrlatt UnderhiulR Pans . Variety leads the trade papers with a percentage of .820 for 132 opinions expressed* This means 2| wrongs, or 19 por cent, too many for a trade paper. "Harrison's Re- ports" and "Movinn; Picture VVorld' TRADE PAPERS' OPINIONS fbMNoating opIliioMa as Oxpressed without percentages) No Bad. opinion. Variety "Film OaHy^. k ••«••••,••*•«, "M. P. News" c... P. World". , , "Harrison's" m 1% Today* ...I... .«•••*....«.,,a* ..................a* Total. W tr 85 62 22 Good. •1 n 47 SO SS ' 42 II S 12 2 S son's Reports." added to the list since the last summary, ranks sec- ond with .760 on 22 pictures. It is the only trado ahoot Other than Variety which haa yet to dodge an opinion on a film. Not one of the critics on the dallies now carries thla OorfiaHk ii I* N. Ooorso OoflMHri C'mmtam Wofid") to aaothor addii ikairtor aia»0 tho first score and goes into second place In New York on the strength of .€68, although only having caught tS llbns. He has s tiomd i d Lang- don W. Post. Dorothy Herzog ("Mirror") has been dropped from the tabulation, as she is on the coast, mostly doing a news column for her paper. J. S. Cohen ("Sun") and Betty Colfax ("Graphic") have changed plaeei mar the top of the llat. while (Miss) Alison Smith C^ond") trails tha Hold at .tSS oa are all la the .700 class, while tlon Picture News," "Film Dall and "Motion Pictures Today," la that order, follow in the .600 classic flcatlon, On the trade paper end the most number of "pans" goes to Varie wfitefe betlered 4S pleturaa were ui der weight. Of 97 pictures, "FIIbi Daily" rejected 13 and the "World** spumed 12. "Film Daily" failed algaU^OBo way or other In cases and heads the no-oplnlon list; followed by the "News" with indecisions. Variety's two bmi seoMS or thf» film critics within five months have revealed that 75 per cent of th program pictures releaaed make money. Thla la In diraol contrast to the dramatic critics' score which, over a four-year period, has shown, that only opo m* sd vhtf thmi^ plays prodttssft Is k modsrats if Ms RADIO HURTS TOREKA "Parade" Disappoints at Itl Topeka. Kan., Dec. 0. (Drawing Population, 85,000) This was one week when radio had Its innings in Topeka. The first cold snap bringing better radio conditions conspired to make the picture fans stay homo with the dials. While the houses did not really suffer, there was a slump noticeable all week. No outstandlne: offerings, the sec- ond run of "The Parade" doing nowhere near what UrSs 0«psetod of It at pop. prices. Estimates for Last Week Jsyhswk (1,600; 4U) tJayhawk). "Road to Romance" (M.-G.). First three days of the week pleased and Novarro's name drew in spite of weather; "Chinese PsrroT' (U.) last half only so-so; Just over 23,600. Orpheum (1.200; 40) (National). "Big Parade" (M.-O.). here three months after road show, not as big as expected, though heavily adver- tised; $2,100. Cosy (400; 25) (Lawrence). "Turkish Delight." first half, got good play on title and exploitation; "Wild Beauty," last half. Just an- other horse picture; under normal at SStS. O'BriM Hurt in Find Shot of Last Scene Los Angeles. Dec. 0. Odorgo^ OWSB, st«ffi«S In "Sharpshooters." v^as severely in- jured on the final shot of the pic- ture. It happened during a scene whIA eallod for the wrecklnr d< * barroom at the Fox studios. A rough and tumble fight was to dnd Wflh OnSrltll OTaahlng through a floor with a mob falling on top of him. When O'Brien was pulled out from the debris, Dr. MdUrics Kaha, stodir lM»tsiNi» Itovii HM I* iMid sprained his left Mkli Mi flMfM several leg tendons. It happened tha night "0unris^' SH 1^ CORDA OUT ^ F. N. Balks at Salary Asked^ ,Wtitllba^d( SIsawdaa ■ as OlrsstsiP fk- Los Angeles, Dec. 6. Maria Corda, Hungarian actresi^ brought here about a year ago by First National to play the title roI« in "Private Life of Helen of Troy.*; is through with that organization, Mme. Corda had a oiio-plctadl|| contract which provided that shO. get $10,000 for her Initial film, thlT being based on a 10-week work^ ing period. It Is said that the saH ary Miss Corda is now asking tl' more than F. N. wants to pay. with her services now in the open mar*^ kst. ■ ■ ■ ■ Her husband, Alexander Kordi|- remains with First National as S director. ' ^' Bronx Goes Presentati Ust Wg HoiMes iit iJ»f Cko>» ^^ ftffc i t OliftMlt ^^ to^^ forced to Install stage attractions la;^ its Bronx picture houses in orderj to meet competitors, with the re-^ suit that all ptctoro houses ^ thU borough of any preten^^MIi pow ari^ offering that policy. lli«bo A Nobel's ValonUne the* atre gets the new feature this week,* with Us U. |hsa^ 20 <o^^o^ soon after. TOUHOSTERS' $500 MONTHLY Los Angeles, Poo. Report filed in Superior Court R. li* lIMs]^ i^ornoy for XJ? Grey C!ha{>Iin, showed that (Chaplin's two children have been receiving |600 monthly of the Averas ssttlsaMilt. The amounts accrue from t^" |200,0(H) truat fund established m.