Wid's weekly (1923)

W^eekly Vol. I. No. 24 Saturday, November 10, 1923 Price 25c Editor - - - Wid Gunning Subscription $10.00 one year in United States. Foreign $15.00. Subscribers should remit with order. Editorial and Business Offices: 6411 Hollywood Blvd., (Hollywood) Los Angeles, Calif. Phone Holly. 1062. Entered as second class matter September 29th, 1923, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. New York Representative: Merrit Crawford Room 1503, 25 West 45th St. Phone Bryant 4174. You will be interested in talking with Mr. Crawford regarding the combined circulation of Wid’s Weekly and Wid’s Quarterly. Have You Checked It ? It sure caused conversation. Have you had your argument about “The Unit Method” of distribution? Certainly no announcement made in this industry has created quite as much stir as the announcement of the method of distribution of independent films presented last week by the Guaranty Sales Corporation. For several years now independent pro¬ ducers have been running around in circles trying to figure a way out. Many of these independent factors have been equipped to de¬ liver decidedly high grade quality product. There has always been the stumbling block of getting the right sort of distribution. Scores of the best directors, writers, and play¬ ers in the industry have been saving up pet ideas for the day when they might produce independently. Scores of financial men and bankers have looked longingly at this game, and have spent much time checking it over, only to find themselves up against a brick wall when it came to getting what they wanted in the way of individual selling. The feature of “The Unit Method” of the Guaranty Sales Corporation which attracted more attention than any other, was the fact that each film will receive the concentrated exploitation and selling services of one group of men, who will have nothing else to sell, ex¬ ploit, or think about. The direct payment of rental moneys, the simultaneous booking while the film is hot, and the automatic elimination of the first run bug bear where necessary, were also points which called forth an unusual amount of commenda¬ tion. I don’t remember when, in this industry, an announcement, was made at a more timely moment. Just as Mr. Hayes, speaking for the big producing companies, steps forth with an announcement that all of the creative forces are to be handled as the big bosses see fit, along comes the Guaranty Sales Corporation with a method of selling worth while product that points a clear road to success for every capable writer, player, or director in the industry. I started by asking yon if you had had your argument about “The Unit Method.” If you haven’t sat down for an hour’s discussion of this plan you are the better part of a week behind most everyone else in Hollywood, and I would suggest that you sit down and try to kick holes in it. By golly, I think I’m about as good a hole kicker as there is in this indus¬ try, and I haven’t been able to find a loophole in this method of selling big enough to stick a needle through. Folks, it’s a big thing. Reviews This Week THE DRAMATIC LIFE OF ABRA¬ HAM LINCOLN . . . . Rockett -Lincoln W'OMAN PROOF . Paramount THE GOLD DIGGERS . Warner Brothers SOFT BOILED . Fox THE ISLE OF VANISHING MEN . W. F. Alder