Wid's weekly (1923)

Lookin’ Out the Window in Hollywood The big boss of Universal, Carl Laemmle, is here. Probably no one man in the industry is better liked personally than Mr. Laemmle. There has always been a certain amount of po¬ litical friction in a big organization like Uni¬ versal City, but when it comes to the big boss himself, everyone is for him. Carl has been on a very interesting trip to Europe. Paramount has announced 21 new films “to be shown after November 1st.” “The Ten Commandments” was not included, al¬ though DeMille’s present production, “Tri¬ umph,” was listed. Apparently the big C. B. spectacle doesn’t fit into the regular list. Maybe that means exclusive road shows. The retirement of A1 Lichtman from the business as a distributor was an important piece of news. Ben Shulberg announces that he will place all the product that has been made on the straight state right franchise plan, immediately discontinuing all of the of¬ fices that have been conducted by Preferred pictures as their own exchanges. Harry Weber, the real king of personal representatives in the vaudeville game, is back in California again. Harry sorta likes our cli¬ mate out here. Recently Harry has arranged vaudeville bookings for some of our wellknown screen folks. If you haven’t investigated carefully the possibilities of reserved seats and advanced prices for big special attractions, you are mak¬ ing the mistake of your life. It’s just plain insanity to offer fine films at the same price you ask for mediocre stuff, and you’re losing an awful lot of fine trade if you ’re not making it possible for them to be sure of a seat when you have a fine film. Jake Wells of Norfolk, Va., and Harry Crandall of Washington, D. C., are launching a new national theatre owners’ organization to be free of all politics and to have salaried executives. Boys, we sure need it, and Jake and Harry are two regular fellows who are capable of putting it across. I have sat in on many a session with these men and they are right. It will sure be a wonderful thing for the industry if a sure ’nuff theatre owners’ organization, free from petty politics, can be started to functioning. It can be done. All the real theatre owners are crying for it. All that is really needed is for some few men to devote the necessary time to bringing the thinking theatre owners together. Those fellows who are wondering how the picture business will be able to “absorb” the million-dollar product this year should stop to check up on the fact that “The Covered Wagon” has been at the Criterion in New York and at Grauman’s in Hollywood for over six months. It might also be interesting for them to figure on the fact that Grauman’s Holly¬ wood Egyptian had its first birthday this week. When the house was announced as a two-a-day reserved seat house out here in the “small town community” of Hollywood, most of these same “heavy thinkers” said that it was a joke and couldn’t possibly last. Well, they’ve only had two films in a year and “Cov¬ ered Wagon” is still going strong. In a year’s time more than a million people have paid ad¬ mission. We only claim 100,000 here in Holly¬ wood, so they surely have had to come from somewhere. Tell that to the guy who says a reserved seat house can’t be made to pay. And don’t forget that Hollywood lias a dozen small houses that haven’t been hurt a bit by the big Grauman house. As a matter of fact, they have been helped now and then by Grau¬ man’s overflow. Down in New York they are having lots of arguments about whether producers are making films that are too costly because they are promised fictitious gross returns and also regarding distributors who steal stars from one another. They seem to overlook the one im¬ portant fact. It isn’t money that makes great pictures, it’s brains. Most of the money can be saved beautifully once the distributors really learn who the brainy production folks are and make them partners instead of keep¬ ing them on salaries and thereby encouraging them to “shoot the wad” to be sure they get recognition. When brains start spending their own money or money they have an interest in, then you’ll find real efficiency, real economy and wonderful achievement. Maybe the New York crowd will learn that lesson this year.