Evening star., 1928-11-18
FLASHES !I.!;551!!I-l+!II!1 @ zz9M ne SCREEN
BY c. E. NELSON.
7 OLLYWOOD considers-and
! Hollywood claims to know
all about such matters
. the present vogue of tho

all about such matters
the present vogue of the
sound picture can be blamed upor
two pictures. One man was the
star of both of these film stories
He was practically a newcomer tc
the screen world, although he hao
travelled to the West Coast after d
varied stage career. His work III
the first picture was more or less
of an experiment, but when The
jazz Singer" reached the exhibitor
the whole world of the motion
picture was turned upside down.
Yes, the star is Al JolSon. His
f1rst picture was The Jazz Singer"
and his second The Singing
Fool" Both of these will be big
box Office attractions for many
months to come, and they have
already broken many records.
So Hollywood considers that Al
JolSon and two pictures have
changed the face Of things where
the silent drama" is concerned.
The success of Jolson and his two
pictureS-whether you liked them
or not-waS bonbshell in the
studio, in every studio in the land.
Movie producers, watching the
straWS in the wind, saw the drift
of things; they went to work with
q rush, spending millions in the
equipment of new sound fac
tories, and about all we hear now
is the sound picture. Up to the
present, no SYnchronized pictures
have eQualed 1.-The Jazz Singer
ond The Singing Fool" Dialogue
has not played its part in such q
p1anner that it has overshadoWed
The picture itself. We do not know
what the future holds in store.
We will read Of many persons
who claim the invention and per-
fection of the talking picture. We
will read Of others who "put it on
the map" but Hollywood goes on
record with a statement that A!
JolSon and his hackers really
brought about the sound picture
and, from this angle, it looks very
much as though Hollywood is
right. It remained for a stage
star, a man who had no movie
experience, to show the pictures in
which direction thev were headed.
The pioneers of the game were
left far behind.
x x * x
JUDGE BEN LINDSEY is on the
warpath with a big stick i'll
each hand for any one who dares
to make a motion picture and
mention that it has TO do with
"Companionate Marriage" The
Tiffany-Stahl Co. is the latest to
arouse the ire of the Judge, for the
company has a picture called
Marriage by Contract" The
Judge sent the following telegram
to the company officials: your
picture, Marriage by Contract
has no relation to companionate
marriage, and where so adver-
tised by you or your exhibitor is
infringement on my copyrighted
book and a serious libel against
me. I am asking YOU not to per-
nit such unfair exDloitation Of nv
writing on this subject. and am
trusting to your sense of honesty
to stop referring to your picture as
on the subject of companionafe
marriage. which is absolutely
false end libelous and SlanderouS
against me. l am withholding
legal action, believing you will as.
sure me by wire that your adver-
tiSing will omit reference to COM
panionate marriage or to me. and
that you will SO notify YOUR eX-
hibitorS at once. NV attorney is
Clarence Darrow of Chicago"
To which the Tiffany -Stahl Co.
replied that it was not "advertiS-
ing Marriage by Contract as a
picture on the judges theory Of
companionate marriage, but that
it was based upon a theory dia-
metrically opposed to the judges
idea" Also the producers stated
that the Judge could rest assured
that the company would not, un-
der any circumstances, permit
misleading advertising of their
picture.
IT was probably all arranged by
a press agent, but the exploit
of Clarence Red" Terhune. the
lad who slowed away aboard the
Graf Zeppelin, will turn itself into
a movie. The Universal Studios
will make the picture, and THE
Stowaway" will be its title. Harry
Reichenbach, who is well known
for his preSS-agentry for New
York theaterS and road COM
panies. has arranged the picture
but it is only rumored that he had
ANYTHING to do with the Shipping
of Red to GERMANY as "Stow-
away" on the dirigible.
PIG things are to be expected
IL from the new Max Reinhardt'
Lillian Gish picture, which re-
mains in a scenario state. Tht
star spent the entire Summer be-
tween Salzburg end Berlin, work
ing on the script of the picture
with Prof. Reinhardt and Hugo
Won HofmannSthal. She left Havrt
November 7 and will go to Holly
wood. where she becomes a United
Artists star. Reinhardt will leave
Germany for America in three
weeks, and production Of the pic
ture will begin on the West Coas
January /.
X X
PONALD COLMAN will probabl!
Az be missed as the co-Star with
Wilma Banky, but a good SubSti
tute has been selected. Rober
Montgomery, now appearing il
Possession" at the Henry Mile
Theater, New York, will play op