Jeannette Rutland (1915) 🇺🇸
Imp releases of the past few weeks, in which Mary Fuller has been starred, have been made considerably more attractive than they might otherwise have been because of the work of Jeannette Rutland, a charming little ingénue, for whom there is predicted a happy future in the photoplay world.
Miss Rutland is a dyed-in-the-wool performer, possessed of all of the qualifications which make for success. Her parents were both active in theatrical life in England a little more than twenty years ago, when she was born in the British Isles; and the atmosphere of the show shop has been the atmosphere in which she has been reared. Her first stage appearance was made when she was eleven years old, the part introducing her in an important role on the legitimate stage.
With the Imp Company, Miss Rutland has been fortunate in working with some of the most able of the big Universal concern’s artists — both photoplayers and directors — and her development as a motion picture actress has already excited the favorable comment of many of those who have been in a position to observe it carefully during the past few months. In a number of the Mary Fuller pictures she has been entrusted with roles which are a lot more important than are those usually given to ingénues, and in which she has acquitted herself with credit.
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Film Tax Hurts Australia.
Harry G. Musgrove, of Australasian Films, Ltd., induces American and English producers to lower prices.
After a brief stay in New York, Harry G. Musgrove, secretary of Australasian Films, Ltd., and Roland J. Fisher, London buyer for the same concern, sailed for England on the “Philadelphia” on April 11. Mr. Musgrove plans to return to this city in about three weeks to complete arrangements with American producers that will ease the difficulties of Australian picture men, now saddled with a duty of four cents a foot on imported film.
Mr. Musgrove told a representative of the Moving Picture World that the tax, which went into effect a few months ago, has necessitated important changes in booking and showing films in Australia, where about seventy per cent, of the subjects are of American origin. Pictures from the Continent are taxed according to the same schedule, whereas those from England are allowed a preferential rebate of one cent a foot. It is a permanent measure, not subject to the duration of the war, and Mr. Musgrove believes that the prosperity of Australian film interests depends upon contracts quite different from those that have answered the needs of the past. Australasian Films, Ltd., represents an amalgamation of West, Ltd., Spencer’s, Ltd., the Greater J. D. Williams Amusement Company, Amalgamated Pictures and Pathé Frères.
A number of American and English manufacturers, to whom the case has been presented, have been convinced of the justice of lowering prices for Australian buyers. Before returning home, Mr. Musgrove hopes that he will have made others realize the wisdom of the concession.
There are eight hundred picture houses in Australia, and most of them are well patronized; but paying the tax by raising admission prices is said to be out of the question. The problem is being met in two ways: by securing lower rentals, as already mentioned, and by discouraging the craze for first run pictures, thereby diminishing the number of prints in circulation and giving longer life to those on which the duty has been paid. Nominally, the tax was imposed with the intention of increasing production in Australia; but actually, Mr. Musgrove declares, it cannot bring that result, for the good and sufficient reason that there is no possible market to make production profitable.
The eight hundred theaters are insufficient, even providing some manufacturer made pictures good enough to compete with the American output, and there would be no possibility of selling elsewhere. Australasian Films, Ltd., has a studio and a complete laboratory for developing and printing film, but the production is confined to a topical weekly.
Mr. Musgrove said that Australians are looking more and more to America for the bulk of their photoplays. The gigantic industry, however, with its thoroughly developed system of distribution, carrying poor pictures along with good ones, because an exhibitor takes the program, has its drawbacks, as viewed by an outside buyer. He cannot, for example, see the advantage of contracting for four disappointing films m order to get one that would please his patrons; yet with many producers it must be five or none. And most American manufacturers, he finds, have but three classifications for their wares — good, better and best. To admit the possibility of turning out a poor picture is not ethical.
While in New York, Mr. Musgrove visited the Strand and concluded that it is the most thoroughly enjoyable photoplay house in the world. It is probable that new theaters contemplated for Sydney and Melbourne will be modelled along much the same lines.
In commenting on producing conditions in England, Mr. Fisher said that the London Film Company seemed to be making the greatest progress, but he, like Mr. Musgrove. regards America as the natural home for big producing companies. We have a suitable climate, which England lacks, and we can afford large investments, because of the tremendous market both at home and abroad.
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De Croteau Buys Auditorium Theater.
W. E. De Croteau has purchased the Auditorium theater, Taunton, Mass., from James E. Mavrakos, who opened the house in October last. Owing to the illness of his wife, Mr. Mavrokos was compelled to sell the Auditorium and move to another place. The new owner has had a number of years of experience in various branches of the theatrical business and is confident that he will make the investment a paying venture for him. Mr. De Croteau is not a stranger to the public of Taunton, having visited that city during his previous theatrical connections.
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Metro Under Full Steam.
New feature agency has a long list of noted stars in coming production.
The Metro Pictures Corporation, now under full steam and going at a fast clip, startled the trade this week with an offer of twenty-five thousand dollars to Geraldine Farrar, the noted opera singer, for her appearance in a gigantic spectacle of the great historical play, “Barbara Fritchie.” Metro expects to secure Barbara Fritchie this week.
The offer was made through Richard Herndon, a theatrical broker, and was communicated to Miss Farrar after she had practically signified her willingness to listen to reason. Mr. Herndon had already spoken to the famous singer and then approached the Metro directors, asking them if they would be interested.
Speaking for the Metro Corporation, Mr. Rowland [Richard A. Rowland], president of that concern, said: “We are in the market for the world’s greatest stars and our flexible distributing policy permits us, I presume, to go farther than any other firm, to make bids for noted stars and plays. We were instrumental in securing Mr. Faversham [William Faversham] for fifteen thousand dollars and have offered another, almost unapproachable star, twenty thousand dollars for one picture. And now when Farrar’s name came to us from a most substantial source, we were quick to see the commercial value of the great singer’s name and if we are successful it will be a regular Metro release, as will the Faversham and Petrova pictures.”
Anyone who knows “Dick” Rowland, as he is familiarily known throughout the trade, will tell you that he seldom talks. The above is a long speech. It is all meat, too.
Olga Petrova, whose screen production The Heart of a Painted Woman, will be released next Monday, and is now a regular star on the Metro roster, she having contracted with the Popular Plays and Players Company for a period of two years and to appear in sixteen plays. The biggest and best emotional plays will be furnished her.
In addition to Faversham, Petrova and Farrar, if that artist accepts the Metro offer, Orrin Johnson, Jane Grey, Olive Wyndham, Thomas Jefferson, Adelaide Thurston, Emily Stevens, S. Miller Kent, Lionel Barrymore and Edmund Breese will characterize the various Metro releases for the forthcoming three months.
Collection: Moving Picture World, April 1915