Tweet 1923 Paramount booklet (large # of images)

I just got this booklet apparently handed out by a movie theatre to promote its program of Paramount's upcoming releases and hope others will find it as interesting as I have.

The lower resolution 2-page images link to images of the same resolution as the 1-page images.





































The following were loose but look like they came with the above based on the style.

Wonderful find!
How ever, I just have to say: Gloria, that is a Hair-DON'T![/i]

Interesting, Nita is not in the final cast list, at least not according to the ever-reliable imdb.

I got a few calenders from Fox that they handed out to theater owners that are similar to this. They are cool because they have ads for movies that either never happened or the cast was changed or they were released under other titles. I have just a few that I scanned but here is one everyone should be interested in from the 1927 book:

Wow these photos look terrific. Now I wonder how many of these exist. I know The Covered Wagon and Adam's Rib definitely exist. I think Adam and Eva and The Ninth Commandment exist incomplete. Prodigal Daughters and The Trail of The Lonsome Pine are gone. As well as the much sought after Hollywood. And Only 38 is lost.

Do any of these other titles exist?

(Re Children of Jazz): Interesting, Nita is not in the final cast list, at least not according to the ever-reliable imdb.

Looking at the Variety review as well it appears that the director and all of the announced actors except Robert Cain were changed.

As another example from the above, Contraband didn't appear until 1925 by which time Lois Wilson had replaced Agnes Ayres as the star.

Thanks a lot for those, some Paramount season indeed.

Love that stylish (and doubtless non TSA approved) way to carry a dagger in your neckband, and boy does Bebe look hot.

Derek, this looks fantastic. Are you saying that all of this is from one booklet? They'd seem to be a great source of information.

Derek, this looks fantastic. Are you saying that all of this is from one booklet? They'd seem to be a great source of information.

Yes, it is all from one 40 page booklet, stapled, about 5.5" by 9" (13.5 x 22.5 cm) plus 3 separate folded sheets that I got with it that appear to be original to the booklet. As implied by the discussion above, it gives information both on finished or nearly finished films and films in various stages of production or pre-production. So for the latter some of the information is no longer correct for the films as eventually released.

So glad you shared this--EXCELLENT material!! The sad thing is that most if not all of the titles listed in the 1923 Paramount brochure above are LOST films!

I have an interesting anecdote--back in 1990 I bought a historic small town theatre in Morenci, Michigan. Upon going through the basement and attic I found boxes of contracts, brochures, old letters on studio and distributor letterhead from the early 1930s--most of which I still have.

The topper was what I found in the attic, and by some miracle this large brown envelope survived a leaking roof for 80 years--about 5 Morgan litho one-sheet posters from the 1920s and two complete sets of lobby cards from the same time period. Those I sold to a poster dealer to generate funds to restore the theatre. I sold the place several years later, but it is still operating...

All the studios produced promotional books on the years upcoming films, but I have never seen one printed or reprinted for a specific theatre before. It's interesting to see what films actually got made and which were retitled by the time of their release. I have the 1926 Paramount annual which feature Metropolis with completely different artwork. Apparently the Paramount publicity department had not yet seen the film, as it was a pickup from Germany, and their artwork made it look to be a gangster drama. The same annual has artwork from Glorifying The American Girl, with completely different artwork and cast from the film they finally made in 1929. The 1940 RKO annual announces a film called John Citizen, USA with Orson Wells. We all know the film as Citizen Kane.

Derek,

Wow, what a great post. This is wonderful stuff, but leaves one with an awful sinking feeling. Besides James Cruze THE COVERED WAGON, I am not sure that any of the others movies highlighted in the entire publication still survive today? Do they? If so, what are they?:?

Check that, I believe that THE NTH COMMANDMENT is in-complete, correct? Or does some archive have the entire film in a good print? I'd love to find out that's affirmative This title is of particular interest to me. It has Colleen Moore, and was directed by Frank Borzage.

MY AMERICAN WIFE is a curiosity. although it is a forgotten film: the story takes place in my native Argentina.

Paramount wanted to have an authentic recreation of the Nation for the cameras and they hired Harry D'Arrast, who was born in Buenos Aires, as technical adviser. But the studio went even further and contacted Argentine consul in LA, Santos Goñi, for assistance.

Goñi was brought into the set and he appeared in several stills on the set including one in which he and Antonio Moreno and drinking milk.

The consul didn't like the film and try to complain to Paramount, even though it was in vain. In this respect, D'Arrast (who became a close friend) wrote a letter him in English and Spanish, which he recreated or reproduced in an article in the "Todo es Historia" magazine, telling him to forget everything that movies are to make money and not to faithfully represent a place.

That article is fascinating and I regret to have lost it several years ago. However, according to the magazine website, the title is "La Argentina en Hollywood del cine mudo" (Argentina in the silent film Hollywood) and it was published in the 293th edition.

Goñi reveals other aspects of Hollywood in those years and even feature a collection of stills of personalities which they are dedicated to him with affection. Erich Von Stroheim appears in one of them and Goñi said that he was a very good friend; that may be the reason why the imaginary country of THE MERRY WIDOW is "Castellano" (which is the way we describe our Spanish in Argentina) and that it even features a bandoneon.

Looking at the "Todo es Historia" site (http://www.todoeshistoria.com.ar), there are other articles dealing with silent films that they published.

SERGIO PUJOL; Los porteños y el cine mudo: un amor a primera vista (Buenos Aires residents and silent films: love at first site)... 259th edition (January 1983)

HORACIO DE DIOS: El cine mudo, nuestro cine contemporáneo (Silent films, our contemporary films)... 293th edition (November 1991)

JORGE COUSELO: El capitán Alvarez, un viejo filme norteamericano (Captain Alvarez, an old American film)... 166th edition (March 1981)

VICENTE GESUALDO: Los salones de «vistas ópticas», antepasados del cine en Buenos Aires y el interior (Saloons featuring "optical views", forerunners of the movie theater in Buenos Aires and the rest of the country)... 248th edition (February 1988)

JUAN BAUTISTA MAGALDI: Pablo Ducrós Hicken, inspirador del Museo Municipal del Cine (Pablo Ducrós Hicken, the inspiration of the Municipal Film Museum)... 267th edition (September 1989)

DIEGO DEL PINO: La primera película argentina filmada en las Orcadas (The first Argentine film shot in the Orcadas island)... 349th edition (August 1996)

Jorge,

More interesting research that I probably wold not hear from anyone else. Does any portion of this film survive at all?

(Re Children of Jazz): Interesting, Nita is not in the final cast list, at least not according to the ever-reliable imdb.

On the other hand, Nita is not in the cast list for "You Can't Fool your Wife" and she was definitely in that. I think that's her in the picture as well, under Leatrice Joy? I looked at some pics of Jacqueline Logan, it could be her I guess.

"You Can't Fool Your Wife" for some reason is one of my top 10 lost movies - it probably was no great shakes really, but a few reviews I read of it made it sound pretty entertaining, the pic of Leatrice from this film in "Classics of the Silent Screen" shows her looking particularly fine. The tiny little bit I know about it is enough to pique my curiosity. It would make my day/week/month or even year in the uinlikely event of a copy showing up.

These are some great scans, I've got to say.

Actually, that's got to be Nita Naldi in that image, the eyebrows are the giveaway.

I just got this booklet apparently handed out by a movie theatre to promote its program of Paramount's upcoming releases and hope others will find it as interesting as I have.

Wonderful stuff! Am I right in assuming that you scanned everything?

I'm desperate for promotional material for The Heart Raider (Agnes Ayres), Zaza (Swanson) and Lawful Larceny (Nita Naldi) - also from Paramount in 1923.