The suns of Summer are cooling fast, and the browns of Fall are
appearing. A new year is about to begin in the motion picture business.
For, be it known to the lay reader, the picture year like the stage year
has September for the first page of its calendar.
What better time to check up and tabulate on what has happened to the
year’s best stock sellers?
This sombre thought is brought to our mind by the fact that we have just
met the director of “Determination,” which many class as the
record-breaker of the year’s six best stock sellers.
“Determination,” we learn, has sunk for the third time. It may come up
again; it is said that they do once in a million years. But for the
time, at least, “Determination” is wallowing in the mire at the bottom
of the river.
“Company’s disbanded. All is off,” fumes the director. “And I’m going to
sue for ’steen hundred thousand dollars.”
“Determination,” we take it on our own authority to decide, is
temporarily strapped for money. It’s a habit that stock-selling picture
propositions have. There is no reason to believe that “Determination” is
an exception to the rule.
Captain Frederick Stoll, the genial promoter of “Determination,” is sure
there, with the quality denoted by his picture’s title, if he has no
other abilities to recommend him. It must be well over a year ago that
we first heard of his proposition. Then he was working Cleveland. A
wealthy “queen of the manicure shops” if our memory serves us, became
very much interested in the “captain’s” plans to make such a
super-special picture as would shame all previous efforts.
Ohio was good territory for a time, other states followed. But some six
months ago the genial promoter pulled his master-stroke by moving
headquarters to Washington, D. C. You see, the name of the company was
U. S. Photoplay Somethin’ or Other, and the combination of U. S. with a
Washington, D. C., address was quite the class.
While in Washington the Captain was guilty of some very wonderful
advertising. Full page advertisements in the Washington papers told the
story of the Captain’s life, and his reasons for believing that he had
the makings of “the world’s greatest picture.”
From the ad we also learned that the Captain acquired his title with the
1st Illinois National Guard Regiment. A funny thing was that the ad gave
over several inches of its space to tell about the history of the First
Illinois, in ’98 at Cuba and so on, but nowhere did we find a mention of
the fact that the Captain himself was not present when its various
heroic feats were accomplished.
A few months ago a company of players longer than a boarding house
mailing list was announced for “Determination.” Announcements flew thick
and fast for a few weeks, work was started at Fort Lee--and then the
shut-down.
Glory be, we’ve used up all the space the editor gave us and devoted it
all to “Determination.” We’ll have to wait another month or two for a
discussion of the records of “Democracy,” “Crusader Films,” Johnson and
Hopkins, and others of the year’s best stock sellers.
Meanwhile, as you read the ads and the beautiful literature, please take
the tip that we have given you so often: 4% in bank is better than “ad”
promises of 400%.