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

December 22, 1917 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1829
A new two million dollar corporation to
be known as Tom Moore's Theatrical Enterprises,
Inc., is to be formed to handle
the proposition. It will take over the
old Tom Moore's Amusement Enterprises
Corporation.
New Branches for Wolfberg Attractions.
Pittsburgh, Pa.—The Harris P. Wolfberg
Attractions, Lyceum building, Pittsburgh,
has announced that branches will
be opened soon in Maryland and Delaware.
H. E. Stahler, manager of the
Pittsburgh office, is now in that territory
working out an organization. During
Mr. Stahler's absence, J. L, Ellman,
head of the publicity department, will be
in charge of the local office. The first
production to be distributed by the Wolfberg
Attractions in Maryland and Delaware
will be "The Crisis," which is in line
with the precedent established when the
new Cleveland and Cincinnati branches
were opened. This will be followed by
"The Mad Lover," "Today," "The Deemster,"
"Persuasive Peggy," and other features
now controlled by the company in
Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Recently the Harris P. Wolfberg Attractions
has made three additions to its
sales force. J. M. Duskin has been appointed
traveling representative in the
western Pennsylvania territory, Walter
Blaney will handle the West Virginia
territory, and C. Burchfield Kennedy will
divide his time between Ohio and western
Pennsylvania.
"As good as gold." "As white as
snow." "As fine as silk." Why do
other papers in this field invariably
try to compete with the standard of
the MOVING PICTURE WORLD?
There's a reason.
Rialto at Toronto Has Interesting Front.
Toronto, Ont.—Manager Stuart, of the
Rialto theater, Toronto, has had several
very attractive fronts recently for big
releases shown at this house. One particularly
fine lobby display was arranged
for the "Jockey of Death." Practically
the whole front was made to resemble a
circus, with tent top, sawdust, circus animal
wagon and special ticket office. The
latter bore the price of admission with
the printed announcement that the price
"Takes you all the way through." The
tent section had all the usual circus statements
about the number of performers
and sensations and slogans such as "The
Greatest Show on Earth," "Six Shows in
One," "Astounding Feats of Daring," etc.
During open hours a clown performed
tricks in front of the entrance while the
ticket-taker was garbed as a circus attendant.
Political Campaign Too Warm for Theaters
Exhibitors Began by Lending Houses for Meetings, but Found It Too Dangerous
Mob Wrecks a Theater in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
MONTREAL, QUE.—The political campaign
in Canada before the Federal
elections on December 17 has reached such
a fevered stafee that alleged partisans
were resorting to violence in some sections.
The result was that managers of
moving picture theaters became reluctant
to permit the use of their houses for the
holding of political rallies, particularly
after one large picture theater in Sherbrooke,
Quebec, had been wrecked by
gangsters on November 30 during the
course of a meeting at which two cabinet
ministers were among the speakers. The
riot lasted for several hours, during which
time the gangsters made repeated attacks
upon the theater. It was a series of
pitched battles which resulted in the
breaking of every window, the smashing
of doors and the destruction of equipment
both inside and out. The mob was only
prevented from tearing the stage scenery
and screen to pieces by the liberal use
of the fire hose, but the water from the
latter destroyed the mural decorations.
The seats were broken up by those in the
meeting to provide weapons with which to
repel the attackers, who were armed with
stones, clubs and revolvers.
At the close of the meeting 800 people
in the theater, including some 400 women
voters, made a brave sortie under the direction
of several returned officers, and
after a fight the besieged reached places
of safety. The theater looked as if it had
been struck by a cyclone.
It was necessary to close the theater
for repairs and it was found that the
whole place would have to be redecorated
and refitted. In addition to the material
loss, it was pointed out locally that the
house would suffer in future business as
a result of the outbreak.
Montreal Orpheum Opens with "20,000
Leagues."
Montreal, Que.—With the opening of
the New Princess vaudeville theater in
Montreal on December 17, the City of
Montreal gained still another first-run picture
theater, namely the Orpheum, which
opens on Monday, December 24, with a big
feature picture policy. The first release
to be presented in the Orpheum is "20,000
Leagues Under the Sea," distributed in
Canada by Superfeatures, Ltd. This is
the first booking of the special production
in the Dominion.
Regal Films Has New Montreal Office.
Montreal, Que.—The Montreal office of
the Regal Films, Ltd., who lately took
over the Triangle in Canada, had been
One of Manager Stuart's Fronts at the Rialto, Toronto.
moved to the former headquarters of the
Triangle In Montreal, the new address beiiiK
31 McGill College avenue, These
premises are large and include a screen
room.
Censor's Condemnations Cause Waste of
Money.
Toronto, Ontario.—The Board of Censors
for the Province of Manitoba condemned
"The Auction Block." the first of
the Rex Beach features to be released in
the Dominion by Regal Films, Ltd.
The picture had been booked by the
Lyceum theater, Winnipeg, for the week
of December 3 and considerable advertising
had been done by the theater. As a
result of this rejection, the Lyceum was
the first house in Canada to show "For the
Freedom of the World," the eight-reel special,
released by the Regal, this being
substituted at the last moment for "The
Auction Block." "For the Freedom of the
World" followed "The Fall of the Romanoffs"
at the Lyceum, which is also controlled
in Canada by the Regal.
The Manitoba Provincial Government
has decided to reorganize its Board of
Censors and to make a number of important
changes in the system of censorship in
that province.
"The Auction Block" was presented in
the Regent theater. Toronto, during the
week of December 3 without a cut by the
Ontario Censor Board, while the same feature
was also shown at the St. Denis,
Montreal, during the same week without
question.
The Board of Censors for Quebec condemned
"Bought and Paid For," in which
Alice Brady is starred. This had been
booked by the New Grand theater, Montreal,
and all advance advertising had
been done when the feature was rejected
by the censors. Two features were substituted
for "Bought and Paid For," which
had been scheduled for a whole week.
These were "The Mark of Cain," with
Mrs. Vernon Castle, during the first half
of the week, and "The Queen of Spades,"
the first Russian Art feature, during the
last half.
Nine Hundred Picture Theaters in
Canada.
Toronto, Ont.—Harry Kaufman, general
sales manager of Globe Films. Ltd., has
compiled statistics to show that there are
nine hundred active moving picture theaters
in the Dominion. He has started a
campaign of circularizing Canadian theaters
with regard to Paralta Plavs, the
control of which for Canada has been secured
by the Globe companv.
Interesting Montreal Notes.
Montreal, Que.—Manager Maurice West,
of the Montreal Fox office, has received
word from Manager A. Richardson of the
Olympia theater, Grand Mere, Quebec, to
the effect that "Patsy." starring June
Caprice, had attracted an attendance of
2,300 people in a run of two days. The
population of Grand Mere is 4.500.
"The Daughter of the Gods" had its first
run in Montreal on a rental basis at the
St. Denis theater during the week of December
10. The picture had previously
been shown as a road show.
A. Fisher, general sales m.iiwccr of the
Independent Film Supply Company, left
Montreal recently for his "home in Pennsylvania,
to attend to National military
duties as an American citizen. During
his absence, Dave Mendelsohn, formerly
salesman for the Famous Players, has
been looking after his duties.
The American Thankserivincr Day. November
20. was celebrated by Montreal
moving picture men with a banquet at
the Commercial restaurant and a theater
pnrty. The master of ceremonies was
Charles Berman.