Moving Picture World (Dec 1917) - Learn About Movie Posters

December 22, 1917 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1791
Ambassador Gerard's Story in Pictures
"My Four Years in Germany" to Be Transferred to the
Screen by Mark M. Dintenfass.
FOR
Mr. Dintenfass was a prime mover in this merger, as well
as in the organization of the Universal Exchange, of which
he became secretary and treasurer, and managing director.
He has since parted with the majority of his interests in
the Universal, and except for financial participation in a
comedy producing company, has been in virtual retirement.
Mr. Dintenfass was a Single Tax candidate for Mayor of
New York City in 1912.
the first time in history, History is being visualized
for the generations to come by the motion picture. I
wanted to contribute something to this important
reccd. I did not want to reproduce war, for while Americans
of the future might appreciate war scenes, I believed
other scenes would be better liked by the audiences of today.
About the most important single contribution to the
literature of the war by an American is Ambassador Gerard's
"My Four Years in Germany." This we are filming. It exactly
fits my idea of wha a big motion picture suited to the
times ought to be."
So said Mark M.
Dintenfass, president
of the Mark M. Dintenfass
Productions,
Inc., 220 West 42d
street, New York City,
who will shortly present
"My Four Years
in Germany," in the
company's first official
statement to the press
and industry. Old
timers in the trade recall
that Dintenfass,
who is a film pioneer,
was one of the earliest
makers of patriotic
pictures, and to such
his tackling of the
Gerard picture, based
on the most patriotic
book of the day, is no
surprise.
"Yes, I suppose I can
be classed with the
early producers of patriotic
films," said Mr.
Dintenfass to the Moving
Picture World. "I
Mark M. Dintenfass. made Civil War photoplays
almost ten years
ago at the Dintenfass-Champion Studios at Coytesville,
New Jersey—the oldest moving picture studio in that state,
with the exception of Mr. Edison's original one at Orange.
Coytesville is on the edge of Fort Lee, famous today as the
greatest home of studios in the East. And to think that
such a comparatively short time ago I was all alone there!
"I am spending more money on the smallest studio scene
of the Gerard picture than an entire play cost when I went
into the business. Director William Nigh has not spared
expense, and when you know the entire foreign localities
had to be built for the majority of the scenes, you will appreciate
what that means. For instance, we are taking just
five times as much footage as we expect to actually use.
That will give you an idea of the scale on which we are
producing. We are going at it as though we expected the
finished production to be the most important film of a
decade and that is what we absolutely expect."
Mr. Dintenfass entered the business as all the. pioneers
did, via the exhibitors route. He opened the first motion
picture house on Market street, Philadelphia— Market, which
now has a dozen of 'em. That was back in 1905. The startling
change in exhibiting conditions is manifest in the admission,
by Mr. Dintenfass, that he operated the projecting
machine as well as bossed the place. The elaborate
"topical weeklies" of local events that are a program feature
of the best theaters today were not in use at that
time, but Mr. Dintenfass somehow sensed their value, and
though he did not show such views as a regular weekly
thing at his Market street house he did project them whenever
he found time to photograph any. This limited venture
as a producer made him sigh for the big producing
field—then New York—where he became interested in the
Cameraphone Company.
Next he launched the Actophone Company, which was
his own, and what he can tell about trailing by Patents
Company detectives would seem like a chaprer out of the
Gerard reminiscences. Finally, though, the independent
producers won the day. bringing the reader to the birth of
Mr. Dintenfass' Champion Film Company, which, free from
the menace of patent litigation, had a most successful career
until purchased by the Universal Film Manufacturing Com-
Tucker Finishes "Cinderella Man"
American Director With Wide English Experience Now One
of the Goldwyn Fixtures.
GEORGE LOANE TUCKER is by no means a recent
acquisition to the Goldwyn force of directors, but he
remains a cause for congratulation. His artistry is
again made manifest in Mae Marsh's production of "The
Cinderella Man" and bids fair to bring him additional honors
in the new Mabel Normand drarna. In the first mentioned
play his opportunities began when the script of
the stage version was handed to him and did not end
till the picture had been assembled, cut and titled. Mr.
Tucker's continuity of the Mae Marsh story might well
serve as an example to
every writer who aims
adaptation of another's
play or book. Not
only was every point
in the Carpenter play
brought out by means
of visualized action,
but scores of contributory
causes, focusing
around the high lights
in the story, were
translated into action,
surely and steadily,
with a minimum of
"spoken" titles. As a
result, the finished film
takes on the completeness
of a novel in its
opportunities for character
portrayal.
Mr. Tucker's past
achievements equipped
him for his work at
the Goldwyn Studio,
George Loane Tucker. and when it is recalled
that he produced the
widely discussed "Traffic in Souls" before transferring his
activities to England for a long period, it will be seen that
handling difficult subjects is nothing new to the young director.
His capital direction of Albert Chevalier in "The
Middleman" has not been forgotten by those who study
the screen, nor have his other pictures passed out of mind.
The English version of "The Prisoner of Zenda," "Rupert of
Hentzau," the sequel; "Called Back," the great Wilkie
Collins drama, and the W. W. Jacobs stories all were given
life on the screen by George Loane Tucker, to say nothing
of the big patriotic spectacle produced for the British
Government, "England Expects."
It was Mr. Tucker who convinced Hall Caine that of all
the great novelist's stories. "The Manxman" was the one
he alone should produce. The result is seen today in his
memorable conception of "The Manxman," and to those
who know the circumstances it is a milestone in his character
development as well.
After a long period of English work, Mr. Tucker returned
to America last spring, with a number of productions, including
"The Manxman," in his baggage. The director took
deliberate time to get his bearings, market the films he had
brought, and make many inquiries and personal investigations
of the various producing companies in the field before
allying himself with any. Ultimately he came to Goldwyn
to make "The Cinderella Man" for Mae Marsh. The result
of the mutual acquaintance gained by the director and
Goldwyn was so satisfactory to both sides that Mr. Tucker
is now engaged on a new vehicle for Mabel Normand,
"Dodging a Million."
EMPIRE ALL STAR MOVES OFFICES.
The offices of the Empire All Star Corporation have been
moved from the Glendale Studios to the Empire Theater
Building. Broadway, New York. The telephone connection
is Bryant 7761. It is announced that the company has abandoned
the Glendale (L. I.) studio and will make future propany
in the merger of the "Independent" interests in 1912. ductions in California.