Page 16

LAEMMLE HOME FROM
LONG EUROPEAN TRIP
Finds Germany Leader in Moving Picture Business With
Russia a Close Second-Imp Films Growing in Favor.
Carl Laemmle returned to Chicago
last week aftor a four months' sojourn
in Eulrope, d uring whicl t,1ime he not
only  inspected  the   theatoriums  of
Europe, hut gave considerable attention
to the moving picture trade in general.
When soon at lets offices in Lake
street, Mr. Laenmmle said: "Despite the
fact that my health has been good and
I am glad to be backc agai n u nder the
Stars and Stripes, I have had a mnost
pleasantmvacation. I landed at Bremen,
and from there went to my home at
Lampheim where I spent several days.
From thereI wentto Carlshadwhere I
enjoy ed th e famous 'waters' for one
month. From there I went to Nuerem-
berg, thence to Stuttgar t, BerlinFrank-
fort, \1unich and to other points.
Germany Leads.
"I found that conditions in the mov-
ing pi cture  usiness in Germany have
been thtter for the past season tian
ever before, despite the fact that they
have had very hdt weather. Germany
is considered tihe best market in Eu-
rope for moving pictures andI am not
at all surprised at this in view of the
interest taken in them by the general
publi  The priceof admissionisseven
and a halfcents and twelve and ahalf
cent  i      nn our  money and the highest
price is about twenty cents. In Berlin
and otherlargecities, drinks andsand-
wiches may be bought in the houses,
buttheseare served in   dignified man-
ner.  T he, shows are usually continu-
ous, beginning early in the afternoon.
"Rssia, strange to say, is the sec-
ond bes t market in Europe for moving
pictures. France offers asmall rnarket
for any m ake ou tside of Pathe Freres
whoown most ofthe houses.
nI visiited Friederichhofen where I
saw   Zeppelin  in  Iis  airship.  The
Reichstag was there in a body on this
particular day.  The airship continued
in the airforsixhours and soailedver
Lake Constance and back. It made all
kinds of evoluti ns;down andup again.
It is notable that the noise of the pro-
pellors could be heard for half a mile.
Negotiates for Airship.
"I struck Frankfort during the avia-
tor week, when Bleriot and other well-
known aviators were there. At Frank-
fort,b theway,Ibecameso fascinated
with the airship proposition that I ne-
gotiated for one of them.
"In Stuttgart I saw  the German Em-
perorand Empress, the KingandQueen
of N1,uremburg, the King of Saxony,
Count Zeppelin and other German not-
ables.  The Emperor reviewed 120,000
soldiers belonging to the armies of Ba-
varia, Wurtemberg, and Baden, the
manoenvers   lasting  four  hours. At
Marienbad, which is but one hour from
Carlsbad, I saw King Edward.
"I left Germany for Paris at the be-
ginning of October and stayed there
several days.  I was most fortunate
in meeting J. J. Murdockn there as well
as Mr. Magerstadt, treasurer of the In-
ternational company and Senator Lori-
mer who was there o n business con-
nieted w ith the Water Ways Commis-
sion.
"Paris is thriving in amusensents.
F rom Paris I went toLondon. In Lon-
don   the  independent  and   s o-called
'trust' mnanufacturers  are  having  an
even break. I was much surprised to
see a numb~er of good moving picture
houses in London, whereas, two years
ago there were practically none. They
charge six and twelve cents for admis-
sion. I was informed on good authority
tha t o ne of those London houses did a
business amounting to five hundred
dollars in one wveek. Will G. Barker
was most courteous to me there, while
in Paris , Charles Heifer showed me
every c ourtesy.  In Berlin I was es-
corted everywhere by Jules Kleenbaum.
Has Stormy Voyage.
"Referring again to London. It might
be well to add for thebenefit of Ameri-
can exhsibitors, that their English cou-
sins are particularly fortunate in tha t
all kinds of amusements are closcid in
that city on Sunday, except the moving
picture shows.
'We had a most stormy trip back
across the ocean, as you probably have
heard. The boat,Kaiser Wilhelma1en-
countered the stormiest sea it had met
in twenty years. I wa one of eleven
passengers who partook of all the
meals served on the boat.
"I received a wireless message from
all my managers while still four hun-
dred miles out attsea.
"I saw the first release of the IMP
films when I landed and to say the
least I am tickled to death. The first
production is far better than I ex-
pected; in fact I am sure that the first
IMP release is far and away ahead of
the first releases of the 'trust' film fac-
tories; indeed some of those factories
have notarrivedat aostagerofecompeti-
tion with it after two years' effort.
"The IMP    productions will he the
best of their kind in the country. We
will stop at nothing to assure this.
They sill be sold throughout the civil-
ized world.  We will shortly open a
main European distributing office in
Berlin, with branches in London, Paris,
Rome, Vienna and St. Petersburg.
"Regarding our music business I am
much pleased. It has done exceedingly
well. Ourson gs arenow on sale in all
the leading departmentstores throughe-
out the United States. Our hitsong is
being  featured this week at Hammel-
stein's New York, following a success-
fulfeature weekatthe Colonialin Ne
York.  The Keith and Proctor house-
are advertisingthe fact, also, that they
are using, exclusively  the  Laemmle
Film Service, which ought to help some.
They say it is 'the greatest in the
frorld.' This, I believe is thefirst tit,
int he historyoftheindependent moves-
meat that such a thing uas been done.
"I am   glad to note that the Nana-
tional Independent Moving Picture Al-
liance of America has been formed. It
will bring te renters closer together
and do away with a great deal of un-
certainty  which  has existed  in the
p ast."
Mr.pL emmle was accompanied on his
European  trip by his wife and Jullus
Lae~mmle, his son, and Rosabel. Isis
dana11Cter.
PICTURE MEN OBJECT
TO A NEW ORDINANCE.
William H. Swanson Writes An Open
Letter Concerning Proposed Law
That Would Work Hardship.
The new os'dinance governing moveea
picttere theaters a's introduced in ther
city council, is meeting with objection
from  many    managers,   because   it
changes   the  classification  of  these
places of amusement. The following
letter has been sent out by William
1-1. Swanson, secretary of the National
Independent M\oving Pictture alliance:
"Dear Sir: The moving picture theater
ordinance came tsp before the council
committee last F~riday and after dis-
cussion was continued until next Fri-
day, October129. Your particular atten-
tion is called to the fact that the the-
aters- are classified and that theaters
"eying exhibitions consisting of movinLg
ictteres solely ai'e in tise fourth las
with a license fee of $200. After a
argument by the writer, the council
committee agi'eed to include an illus-
trated song singer.
"If vautdeville is used it wotuld put a
movin  piture thaater in first class.
This wtouild ptice it under tie buiiilding
laws for that class of theater andwtoul
necessitate remodeling to comply withs
such laws, which are very stringent.
lWile, of course the license fee is
t~ aised, tieat in itself is not so
seeeons as tise classification of thle-
;tters Tue Alliance is wvatching tiss
nseatte r clos e ls for the insterest of all
tceeteed aes    asks for your support
t~t thi's dheeection.
' At the last meeting, the question of
tpermasest exhibitors' or'gansizations
was brought up, and the majority of
those present were in fevor of it.'
"Two Merry Tramps" Prosper.
'Two Mlerry Traimps," whticha begn
its elevent seasoniti Beoit,Wis.,early
in August, has been meeting with much
success this season, aecording to all
reports.  The roster of this company
includes the following: Bessie Bennett,
Margaret McDonald, Corinne McDonald,
Dolls  Fielding, Dorothy Howard. June
Floodas, Adilene Lahey, Ada Adair, Min-
nie Allyn, J. A. Weaner, Lou Peterson,
Ben Heater, Eskel Eifford, Gay E. Don-
nelly, Harry Vaugn, Roy Floodas, R. A.
.Tnkson. Shermants Mc\enn, -Mgr. J. K.
\<u,       us-s ISlgr.
Gondron to See Opening.
Paul Goudron, agent for the Intul
na tional Theatricalcompany,onegofSl,
livan & Considine's best known agents,
wilt go to Desloines, Ia next SundaY
to attend the opetinugofthenew Pri
cess theater, which takes place  Ml
dary.  The  ouse wilt play stookn.nJ
wilt be under the management O
Messrs. Elbert &Getchel, wealso.hae
the Unique theater under their 1ai
Des Moines. TheUniue plays Sllan
& Considine acts and is bookedby  r
Goudron.
Keenpf Makes Statement.
Fred S. Kempf, builderlandnanact
of  ste Kenpf Model Cit, a   rornivl
attraction, writes to say that Charles
Ellsweorti, is not manager ofthe _oldel
City, a, was intimated in arecent cat,
loon of tise Patterson show.
Muckenfuss Gets In Line.
B. S. 2tnckenfuss is elim5inating the
esasteelsitieta elatese in all hsis ceatati
i    c j) pj-Iting of the new fott
16
THE SHOW WORLD
Oct
Ober 30, 190,
Third Rees 0of 0"Inp" Films
"DESTINY!."
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8th.,
A splendid, high-class drama that will grip the
humaninterestfromthe jump and hold it until
the last foot is reeled off! The kind of stuff you
and I have wanted for years but had a darned
hard time getting. Length 850 feet and no cheat-
ing on measurements! Ask for it. And by the
way, is your name on my regular weekly mailing
list, Mr. Exhibitor? If not, send it in. I want you
to get all the bulletins I'm firing out every week.
Isn't This a Dandy Letter?
It'sfromtheNATIONALBOARDOFCENSORSHIP! Andyouknowwhatthat
means. Readit: "Gentlemen-We wish to congratulate you upon the choice
of subject and the interesting presentation of the film entitled "Hiawatha,"
the first product of your company.  It is an auspicious beginning for a new
company and one that will no doubt help in many ways to dignify the motion
picture theatre. Wishing you continued success, we remain, very truly yours,
NATIONAL BOARD OF CENSORSHIP, by Walter Storey,Censorship Secretary."
Have you had "Hiawatha" yet? And "Love's Stratagem"?
Yes? Then you'll insist on getting "Destinm
OVING             CARL LAEMMLE, Presiden
. Independent Moving
1          YPictures Co. of America
111 East 14th Street
MRIn                 New York City
F.:
Os, --
F',
f.
IR
Bennett's Dramatic Exchange
Suite 405-59DEARBORN STREET-Cor. Randoph
HOldest Established Exchange in Chicago
E
FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE UPON OUR BOOKS, INCLUDINC THE BEST
The " STARBUCHS" by Opie Read, now released from litigation.
Is filled with quaint humor, homely sayings, epigrams, and is one of the great
plays of the last twenty years. There is a fortune in it for some bright
manager. SEND FOR TERMS. For stock or otherwise.
Sole Agent for 100 Plays     Western Agent for 500
Have recentlypurchased "REAPING THE HARVEST," with printing, "STATES ATTORNEY"
and "A MAD MARRIAGE." Strong plays for repcrtoire or stock. Terms exceedingly low.
Also have a full line Book Plays.
ADDRESS A. MILO               BENNETT              MANACER
IMP