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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1920)
) THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 26, 1920 Jke $ILEN T DRAMA i ; .Aj; Frs-Mx w ; -Yl KvJ&J. . Irr: c ,3-' V v ' . .-lif - - 'vTafc. -t -rj .31 -ill. . :.i -:m,." J - ! r c j':?- y If tJvL r'-v1. a. x . "VJ . - ".W . . 1 . j - f j , t ;r 4fft TODAY'S HLM FEATURES. Peoples Elnlft Ferpuson, Lady Rose'i Daughter." Liberty Allan Dwan'a "The Splendid Hazard." Columbia Wsley Barry, "Don't Ever Marry." Rivoll E. K. Lincoln. "The . Inner Voice." Majestic Rex Beach's "Golna- Some." Star Edward Laemmle's "Ship wrecked Among Cannibals." Circle Eric Von Strohelm'e "The Devil's Passkey." Globe Clara Kimball Young:, "The Better Half." Todays Slaate Feature. Rivoll Orchestra concert under direction of Salvatore San- taella a-t 12 o'clock. Liberty Organ concert by Henri Keates at 12 o'clock. Majestic O r g a n concert by Cecil Teagrue at 1:30 P. M. HISTORY la being made this week at the- Columbia theater so all Us employes believer for its great super-Hope-Jones orchestral organ for which it has waited during long weeks of purchasing, ordering, building, transporting and installa tion, Is now ready for use. Marshall Nellan's first all comedy picture, "Don't Ever Marry," is the rilm chosen with which to "open" the organ. Ernest Nordstrom and Ralph Os borne will preside at the organ which represents an expenditure of $30,000 and a duplicate of the Liberty instru ment in many respects, although be cause of the smaller auditorium its tones are more modulated. Nord strom is a Portland boy who, after a study In other cities and a brief audevllle tour, returned to play in hie home town. Incidentally his mu sical career started under the fruid tng hand of his sister. Mrs. Edith Nordstrom Hobbs, one of the present organists at the Liberty theater. Os borne is a newcomer in this territory although motion picture fans and mu sic lovers of Denver and Butte know him well. He went from the Rialto theater In Butte to the largest theater In Denver and from there to Seattle where for a few weeks he played in Jensen and Von Herberg theaters untik he was transferred down here Ha substituted for Henri Keates at the Liberty and Cecil Teague at the Majestic during their vacations. "We are going to have real music tn the Columbia theater," asserts Manager ftaieign. with the accent on the real. "Tf the film depicts a rain storm in which thunder an lightning are - evidently playing a prominent part, we are still going to have real music and never any noise. I be lieve that music is a very essential part of the motion picture programme but It is a feature that should not be accentuated to attract attention to it self and away from the screen on which i showing a film. Music in a cinema should interpret. It does not exist for Itself hut for the picture. The more skillful the orgranists and we have spent months looking for the organists to take charge of our new instrument the less conspicuous the music will be during the feature photoplay. Twenty-two years cM. Salvatore Santaella, the new conductor at the Rlvoli theater, bails from Spain. He left his birthplace. Barcelona, lone be fore he was able to appreciate the mantilaed beauties for which that eity is famous and having begun the study of the 'cello at 6 and of the piano at 8. he went to St. Petersburg to continue his musical education under Sergi Rakamanninoff. He left St. Petersburg while it was still con sidered good form to call the Russian capital -by-that name. As conductor of the famous Russian ballet starring Pavlowa, net-went to Paris directing not only the ballet but also its or chestra of SO pieces. In 1914 he came to New York with the ballet. He was 16 years old then. Later he became accompanist for the famous student of the great Auer Max Rossen, and for two years traveled through this country with him. During these con cert tours with Rossen, Santaella played a solo number, usually a con certo. He memorized for these oc casions five concerts by the follow ing masters. MendelBSOhn. Tschai kowsky. Saint Saens, E. Lalo and Cesar Frak and, it must be remem bered, that concertos are seldom less than BOO pages in length. " In America it was that he first met Mrs. Salvatore Santaella. Sn was then Miss Billie Hansen, sister of the motion picture star, Juanita Hansen, and the pretty little toe dancer who was featured in the Passing Show which visited Port land last May. Portlanders will remember her In "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody," which was written specially for her. The Passing Show will close tomorrow night in Chicago and Mr. Santaella .will tell anyone to the day, the hour and the second just when his pretty wife will arrive here in Portland. Mr. Santaella is the composer of a number of piano selections, one of which is dedicated to his personal friend. Cecil Chaminade. His com positions, be admits slightly against his will, include a few popular songs. At the Rivoll he declares that each Sunday's programme will include various types of music In this way he hopes to please everyone, he Bays. symphony orchestra ior tt-s interpre tation of screen productions and the establishment and co-ordinating un der one roof of both elements and the diversified units which comprise their entirety. . No element of commercial lam will enter into the conduct of the academy, and tt will be devoted whol ly to the upbuilding and furtherance of motion pictures as an art. Mr., Eastman's gifts to the academy and school of music, and their endow ment, have totaled $4,520,000, and have made possible not only the opportu nity for artistic perfection, but the surety of ultimate realization. The structure Itself has been planned, with the purpose of housing the motion picture in a home that is worthy and representative not only of its new status and world-wide Im port as an art industry, but of Its future expansion and dignity as the most universal of the fine arts. The style of the building will be Italian renaissance, and was designed throughout by Mr. Eastman and Gor don & Kaelber, architects, in associ ation with McKim, Mead & White. The building containing the motion picture-symphony concert auditorium will have a street frontage of 248 feet and a depth of 187 feet. The In terior of the auditorium proper will be 134 feet wide and the distance from the rear wall to the stage 141 feet. The seating capacity will be 3300. as follows: Main floor, 1800; mezzanine balcony, 350; great bal cony, 1150. The balance of the floor space on each level will be utilized i to provide every known feature of convenience for the use of the oublic and managerial staff. One of the spe cial features will be a great foyer 200 feet Ions and 22 feet wide that will be located under the main bal cony, designed for i promenade and meetinc place as well as a waiting place for overflow crowds. There will be a smaller promenade and lounge foyer back of the mezzanine balcony. Both of these foyers will be provided with comfortable seats and the walls will be hung with paintings and photographs. There will be a large stage, 88x40 feet; 19 dressing rooms, orchestra quarters, a large projection room, school of music and hall, organ studios and practice rooms. 17 piano practice rooms. executive offices, faculty rooms, lounging room, etc The lighting scheme that is to be Installed Is the result of long scientific exper iment and is of such a nature that the visibility of th picture is not harmed in any way by illumination of such volume as to enable the reading of average newsprint. In addition, a separate system of Illumination has also been devised for the large lobby which will enable the patron to pass from the glare of the street to the darker auditorium without the usual visual shock caused by sudden change from extreme degrees of light. The pipe organ will be the first in point of qtonal excellence and mechanical perfection ever constructed in the L. C. Meers is the latest Portland film row acquisition. He is handl ing the publicity of the Peoples theater, of which A. A. Bruce is manager. Mr. Meers comes to Port land from Shreveport. La., where he was with the Sangec Amusement company. News of "Babe" Ruth's defiance to the motion motion-picture camera Is particularly interesting this week, be cause the Liberty theater is featuring a slow picture of how he does it. The application filed by " Babe Ruth, the star homerun hitter of the New York American League team and star in the Kassell A Bauman fea ture. "Headin" Home," to continue his temporary injunction restraining the exhibition of the films. "Over the Fence" and " 'Babe' Ruth, How He Makes His Home Runs," on the ground that they have been produced without his consent and that they diminish the box-office value of his name, was denied September 15 by Supreme Court Justice Guy, who also vacated the temporary writ Ruth ob tained. The Educational Film corporation, one of the defendants, sued Ruth re cently for $250,000 damages. Ruth contended that the films were being exhibited for the purpose of trade without his consent and based his action on the civil rights law, asking $1,000,000 damages. Justice Guy said that the appellate division has held that the civil rights law does not apply to the publication of a picture or name in a single set of films of actual events issued for dis tribution before different audience as a matter of , news. Justice Gay said: "Although It Is alleged as to some of the films that the pictures were taken some months ago. it also appears that during the continuing baseball season a large number of people are anxiously watching the contest for supremacy in the dlfierent leagues, and at least ai long as the season lasts the actlvl ties of the plaintiff In his profession as displayed by the pictures would seem to be a matter of current in terest. That the motion picture has already reached the stage where it has devel oped Its own traditions and stability is ably illustrated by the recent found ing at Rochester, N. Y, of the Nation ai Academy of Motion Pictures. Made possible by George Eastman's desire to promote motion pictures as an art rather than an industry, it marks the most important step In the establish ment of the motion picture as a rec ognized art form that has yet been made. The objectives of the national academy are the alliance of the high est type of motion picture with the best in music, the development of a SERIAL. QUEEN TO VISIT PORTLAND. y fir.--, HvHr .. -A L fj ; .ssr . II J -y,-V,, , . I & . ?? 1 ' ,s 1 - & - ' i . ' ' v , - ." J RUTH ROLAND. Star of "Ruth of the Rockies," a Pathe serial scheduled to open this week at the Hippodrome theater, Miss Ruth Roland will arrive In Port land today. Miss Roland is a San Francisco girl and she has been on the stage or before the camera since she was 3 years of age, first appearing in Edward Holden's "Cinderella" company at the Columbia theater in her home city. Her screen career started with Kalem. Among the serials in which she has been starred are "Hands Up." "The Tigers Trail." "Price of Folly, "Fringe of Society," "The Adventures of Ruth" and others. Reddish brown hair and violet eyes will give her a charm to those Portlanders who meet her in person today, to which tne screen has failed to pay homage. Her height is 5 feet 4 inches and her weight 122 pounds or so declare the all-knowing studio directories. United States and will represent the last word in console construction. In the auditorium, by regular weekly schedule, the very best of cur rent motion pictures will be present ed, and producers will have another Incentive for the production of ar tistic work, for a showing at the na tional academy will be in the nature of a seal of merit. Ground has al ready been broken and the building will be completed about October. 1921. That date will mark the first definite alliance of music and motion pictures working and experimenting toward the ultimate blending of the two forms into an art medium as Impor tant and far-reaching as the blending of music and drama Into opera. In the words of Dr. Rush Rhees, presi dent of the University of Rochester, in which the control of the enterprise has been vested. "Grand opera demon strates the value of music as an ally of dramatic art: the Eastman gift furnishes an opportunity to carry-to Its fullest development the alliance between music and motion pictures. the possibilities of which have been so clearly demonstrated by manarers who have had the courage to maintain orchestras for interpretation of their picture offerings. Just as music wedded to drama has made opera, which Is probably one of the drama's highest forms, the time may come when the alliance of music and the motion picture will carry In Us train compositions to accompany certain significant pictures, and pictures that are adapted to certain musical com positions. So there may come in the development of motion pictures some thing similar to the development of opera. The Eastman school and the ater would be the natural home for such a development. Since the insti tution will be ron-oommercial it may be practicable to make In it experi ments that a commercial theater oouldi hot and would not under take." As George Eastman. In a recent interview, said, "The great strides made in the motion picture industry In the past decade have sur prised beyond bounds its most opti mistic supporters. Today is the day of revelation for the motion picture. Today It is being realized more and more that the screen Is a better me dium for the transmission of ideas and thoughts than the printed book. One can easily forget what one reads in a book. A faulty imagination or memory may lose entirely for a read er the message conveyed by cold type. But this is not so withie photoplay. which, by appealing to the eye with artistic photography and the soul with music of the symphony or organ, drives home inescapably great truths and! ideas to an audience. People are beginning to expect big things from motion pictures. And they are not being aisapHoln ted." "The threatened strikes of musi cians and motion picture operators In various parts of the country have failed, to halt exhibitions," says the current issue or the Exhibitors' Trade Review. The strike of operators In the east ern metropolitan district did not ma terialize, settlement satisfactory to au concerned having been made. New England operators remained on tne job. but Chicaero musicians who have been at loggerheads with exhibitors and other theater men for eome time, enlisted the aid of etane hands. This move, however, hit only picture houses combining vaudeville ana wnen the strike became effec tive. the latter form of entertainment was eliminated. Lower admission prices are being charged at these houses. While the musicians have succeed ed In Inducing the stage hands out. tney nave not met with the same sue cess in their efforts to enlist the aid of the operators. Until Wednesday, September 8, the musicians had every hope that the operators would join them,, but on that night the men held a meeting and decided unanl mously to remafn layal to the theater owners and managers. A strike in Philadelphia wa also side-tracked by the consummation of an agreement satisfactory to the men and exhibitors. This agreement was arranged at a meeting of the Theatrical Managers' association of Philadelphia and local No. 807, I. A. T. S. E. M P. O.. in the Quaker City and the following scale of wages) for motion picture opera tors became effective September 1: -Vaudeville houses $40 per week, picture houses giving continuous per formances $40 per week; night house, one matinee. $30 per week; shtft house, first class, $40, and shift house, second class. $37.50. Reports circulated in New England from Providence. R. I.. that the threatened strike, if a higher wage rate were not agreed upon, would de velop ln-to a nation-wide strike against several prominent distribut ing companies If strikebreakers were employed In local theaters using their productions. New England la bor leaders contended that this pro cedure had been taken in a number of cities in that district, but the man agers denied that this was eo. However, the stoike was avoided as consequence of an agreement drawn up between managers and op erators representatives. "At a conference of members of the I. A. T. 8. E. M. P. O. from Providence, Boston, Springfield. Worcester, Pltts- field, Lynn. New Haven. Fall River, New Bedford and Haverhill, Mass.. In Boston formal notice was served on three distributing corporations having headquarters .In Boston, that strike breakers must not be employed. "Exhibitors In various cities in New England visited by a representative of Exhibitors' Trade Review on Sat urday, Sunday and Monday, Septem ber 4. 5 and 6, denied that they were employing strikebreakers and a care ful investigation by the present writer bore out these statements. "Tom Soriero, New England's lead ing exhibitor, was among the exhib itors who emphatically denied the labor men's charges. Other denials were made by Sol Braunlg of the Mod ern theater. Martin Tuohey of the Emery theater and William Mahoney of the Rialto theater. Providence s three leadlnr motion-picture theaters. "The union men said that the ex hibitors, anticipating a walkout of operators on Labor day In the event that their demands were not granted, had taken sHeps to employ strike breakers to fill - the places of the strike. While the strike did not ma terialize the exhibitors took excep tions to the charges of the labor men and lost no time in denying them. "So far as the national headquar ters of the operators' union had been Informed virtually every dispute be tween managers and operators had been settled. Several strikes of minor Importance were called, but they last ed for but a short while. The New York Telegraph evidently does not know Portland unions and exhibitors are at war, for in a recent issue it carries the following dispatch from Chicago: "Peace has been declared. The striking musicians and their sympa thizing stagehands and the theater men have settled their differences and harmony reigns once more tn melody and spirit insofar as the picture houses are concerned. The end of the battle came last Sunday night, after a series of stormy conferences in which participated business agents of every union in the theatrical Industry and representatives of the Allied Amusement association It was a tentative settlement only, despite the fact that all disagree ments were amicably adjusted. The disputants agreed upon a 40 per cent Increase and that all previous regula tions governing hours of - service, number of men employed In each the ater, etc., to remain in force. But this affected the outlying theaters only. The loop bouses, those devoted to the "legitimate" drama, vaudeville and burlesque, came to complete ac cord with the musicians when the latter threatened to leave them flat on their backs. It was early in July and the players demanded an increase of 75 per cent. After some dallying, the union officials agreed to accept a tentative settlement of 50 per cent, pending their negotiations with the neighborhood houses and it was stip ulated that the same terms agreed upon subsequently between the outly ing theaters and the union shall apply to the loop as well. So that, at the conclusion of the argument this week, the union heads, who had been fighting desperately for a 60 per cent increase and at one time were not sure thaa this raise was sufficient, were placed in the position of either forcing their men, who had been working In the loop houses, to return 10 per cent of their wages to their employers or to getting the the ater men to waive this portion of their agreement. Following several conferences the theater men, of audi ble entertainment, consented to con tinue the 50 per cent raise. And all Is peaceful once more. Without exception, the theater men of this vicinity have decided to raise the price of admission to meet the new condition. The musicians' In crease, the higher cost of films and the increased cost of general oper ating is making it necessary. Mrs. H. Goodfellow, owner and manager of the O. K. theater. Enter prise, Or., was a visitor last week. She will attend a luncheon of the Oregon Motion Picture league Thurs day as a special guest of honor. On this occasion there will also appear Miss Hawks, a violinist, who will give a number of selections. j. rs. Eparits oi onaon was in ino city during the weeic and announced that he had acquired the Lyric thea ter at Prineville. Or., and will add that to bis circuit. Manager M. G. Winstock of the local Pathe office received the film yesterday of Geraldine Farrar in "The Riddle Woman." "This Is the first picture," said Mr. Winstock, "pro duced by the associated exhibitors. "We also received this week Stuart Blackton's latest "Forbidden Valley," again introducing the co-stors, Bruce Gordon and May McAvoy. "Every effort Is being made to place either "The House of the Toll ing Bell" or "Forbidden Valley" at a first-run house in Portland, coex istent with the appearance here of Mr. Gordon, one of the stars in both of these pictures. He will be In Portland In person on October 13." Ruth Roland will make her appear ance today at the Hippodrome theater in the first episode of "Ruth of the Rockies," a serial. m m Tom Williams of the firm of Will iams & Donnellen. Liberty theater, Roseburg. Or., was In the city during the week and bought a number of features at the Pathe exchange. Mr. Williams reports entirely satisfactory business at his new theater. He also announced wh'le in the city that he was negotiating for other houses In southern Oregon, the Intent of the firm being to establish a circuit of motion picture theaters of Its own. "June Madness." a new unit of Rolin comedies, has been received and here after the Rolin comedies will consist of "Snub" Pollard and a Vanity Fair Maids on alternate weeks. NOTABLE STORY FOR RJTOLI One of Tear's Triumphs Is 'Tri Inner Toloe." To a woman. Elaine Sterne, goes the. honor of having written one of the most .notable photoplays of the year. In "The Inner Voice," which has as its star E. K. Lincoln. Miss Sterne has presented to the picture - loving public of America a dramatic study of a man who was crushed to destruc tion by his enemies, only to rise up again and vindicate himself before the eyes of the world. Miss Sterne, in the writing of "The Inner Voice," which will be presented for the first .time in Portland at the Rivoll theater, evidently received her Inspiration for the writing of this remarkable photoplay from careful observation of life. The technique which she employed in building up the dramatic situations of her story Is aid by some to be almost flawless. The story deals with what is per haps the most difficult" of all themes, that of a man's moral and spiritual regeneration. Many playwrights, both modern and those of the past years have attempted to write upon this theme and most'of them, with the ex ception of Shakespeare, Cornellle, the great French dramatist, and his con temporary, Racine, have failed. Among modern writers. It is appar ently reserved for Miss Sterne to write what is considered by the lead ing critics of New York and other large cities to bs the most successful photo-drama of this type that has ever been projected upon the screen. The Rivoll theater orchestra, under Salvatore Santaella, conductor, will give the following programme this noon : Overture, "Orpheua," J. Offenbach: Spanish Dances Nos. 1, 2, 3, P. Moss kowsky; selection from "The Spring Maid," H. Reinhardt; "Poem," Zdenko Fiblch: cello solo by Christian Pool; COME! SUNDAY and MONDAY "The Devil's Pass Key" 1 fc. f - :7: -s? - ERICH STROHEEU And LARRY SEMON "Solid Concrete" C1E Open from 9 o'clock In tlto noinJas until 4 o'clock tbe following morning. lltb and VVanhingrton GLOBE The Better Wife Clara Kimball Young i
