- Collection:
- The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s: Selections from the Records of Macon's Douglass Theatre
- Title:
- Letter: Atlanta, Georgia to William M. Smith, Macon, Georgia, 1925 July 17
- Creator:
- Bromberg, Arthur C.
- Date of Original:
- 1925-07-17
- Subject:
- African Americans in the motion picture industry
African Americans in motion pictures
Motion picture theaters--Georgia--Macon
Race in motion pictures
Race films--United States
Feature films--Georgia
Western films--Georgia
Film posters--Georgia
Advertising--Motion pictures--Georgia--Macon
Commercial agents--Southern States
Giant of his race (Motion picture : 1921)
His majesty the outlaw (Motion picture : 1924)
Two fisted justice (Motion picture : 1924)
Cowboy prince (Motion picture : 1924)
Douglass Theatre (Macon, Ga.)
Canutt, Yakima, 1895-
Progress Pictures, Inc.
Smith, William M., theater manager - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- letters (correspondence)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- image/jpeg
text/html - Description:
- Letter from Progress Pictures Inc. (possibly written by the president Arthur C. Bromberg), to William M. Smith, manager of the Douglass Theatre, dated July 17, 1925, reporting the availability of advertising material for the 1921 North State Film Corporation race movie, A Giant of His Race, and emphasizing the entertainment value of Western feature films. The letter relates that Heyward (possibly a representative of Progress Pictures Inc.) has communicated Smith's complaints of the lack of action in some of the Western feature films and assures Smith of the quality of films distributed by Progress Pictures Inc. Smith is advised to show the films on more dates so that his audience can become familiar with the stars. Smith is further assured that Western feature films are a "cash in" product. The letter appears to be incomplete, as the signature is missing.
Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2005, as part of Georgia HomePLACE. This project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. - Local Identifier:
- dbr014
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/dtrm/id:dbr014
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_dtrm_dbr014
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_dtrm_dbr014/presentation/manifest.json
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [title of item], Theater Records Series, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. Business Records, 1906-1967, Middle Georgia Archives, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.
- Extent:
- [1] p.
Manuscript held by the Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. business records, 1906-1967, box 19, folder 169, document 8. - Holding Institution:
- Washington Memorial Library, Middle Georgia Regional Library
- Rights:
-
Page: [1]
[Note: This document contains both typewritten and printed text.]
[printed text:
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. [OKLAHOMA] CHARLOTTE, N.C. [NORTH CAROLINA] DALLAS, TEXAS NEW ORLEANS, LA. [LOUISIANA]
[Note: The following words are arranged around a black silhouette of the Statue of Liberty and a sunburst emanating from the statue.]
PROGRESS PICTURES INC. [INCORPORATED]
INDEPENDENT
Arthur C. Bromberg, President
106-108 WALTON STREET
ATLANTA, GA. [GEORGIA]]
[Note: The following passages, which appear in the left margin of the letter, are printed in red ink and enclosed by a double lined red ink frame.]
Pictures
That enable an
Exhibitor to meet
any and all competition
Secure in the
knowledge that
his investment is
protected, not
menaced
-----
Move toward the
goal of liberty
and equality for
all by giving play
dates to this
Exchange
-----
There is nothing
haphazard about
our release
Schedule
[Note: The following text appears in the bottom margin, printed in red ink.]
COMING
12 BIG CALIBRE PICTURES 12
With ten to fifteen popular stars in each production -- hold twelve dates REGARDLESS]
[typewritten text: July 17, 19---25.
Mr. Wm. [William] M. Smith, Mgr. [Manager],
Douglas Theatre,
Macon, Ga. [Georgia]
Dear Smith:-
We thank you for the contract given our Mr. Heyward.
With reference to "A GIANT OF HIS RACE" please be advised that we have 24 sheets and heralds on this subject, having just this morning received a new shipment from the manufacturer.
Kindly let us know if you can use to advantage a 24 sheet which is very attractive, as well as heralds. This picture has met with phenomenal success wherever shown due to the unusual cast all of which are colored save and except three.
Mr. Heyward advises that you have been complaining with reference to the lack of action in the various westerns. I note from the booking sheet that you have BEN WILSON in "HIS MAJESTY THE OUTLAW", DICK HATTON and MARILYN MILLS in "TWO FISTED JUSTICE" and PINTO PETE in the "COWBOY PRINCE". All of these I have screened and know they are alright [all right].
You have under contract the six Ranchlands featuring YAKIMA CANUTT therefore we are eliminating these and the PINTO PETE series from the contract given our Mr. Heyward and substituting 6 - JACK MEEHANS and 8 - BILL BAILEYS, all of which are whirlwind, ripsnorting westerns.
The trouble is that you have not been giving us enough dates in order to familiarize your patrons with these various stars and if you will endeavor to arrange to give us some extra spot bookings and set in these western features, we feel sure that the change will be reflected in additional revenue at the box office. That's what you are in business for "cash" and these pictures are what we term our "cash in" product and many of the exhibitors throughout the territory, and I mean by that the eleven southern states, state to us that the days they run our product are the ones that they are assured of not only film rental but money with which to buy other product from some of the national, non-independent organizations]