COST OF MOVIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1916, Page 6

COST OF MOVIES.

A'HAT TRIANGLES COST. Items tlmt will 'appear in tlie balance sheet of the Triangle Film Company after the. first year of existence would be staggering to any concern which did not have a capital of a million pounds behind It. In the first, place the. salaries of the three chief producers, T>. W. firiffith, Muck Sennetl and Thomas If. luce, will each he £20,000. Sii Herbert Kecrbohni Tree receives a similar sum for a thirty weeks' engagement, and Clii.flflll will fall ?dary Anderson de Navarro n< a result of hei work for the eompanv. The weekly salaries of stars engaged at just one of the Triangle studios. Inceville. "totals Clfi.OnO, while Billie Burke receives ;C.SOOf) for appearing in just one picture. But the results justify such expenses. With -he aid of these players and producers, the Triangle has achieved what is known in America as the twodollar movie, for that was the price ptiid by the 100,000 people just during the first week of the run of the pictures in Xew York. Of course, in dealing with stick a gigantic concern as the Triangle Company, big figures are only to be expected. The company, under the guidance of Griffith, Kciinelt and Inee, has set out to (stablish a new era in motion pictures, to bring the film definitely on an equal basis with the drama, and to produce not merely feature pictures, but whole programmes, consisting of a comedy, a tense dramatic live-reeler, and then a two-reel Keystone comedy, for which absolutely the pick of American talent has been engaged. This idea of presenting varied programmes at each entertainment is one which has been lost sight of during recent years, hut its rejuvenation in the Triangles should prove as popular in Australia as it has done in America. ''The Lamb," "The Coward,'' "The Golden Claw," "Jordan is : i Hard Road," "Alohe Oe," "The Edge of the Abyss," "The Corner," and "The Winged Idol" are among the early dramatic production* featuring »ud»,

players as Frank Keenan, Frank Campeau, Bessie Barriscale, Douglas Fairbanks, George Fawcett, Willard Mack, Katherine Kaelred and Mary Boland. The Keystone comedies also come under the Triangle organisation, each with a minimum length of 200t)ft. Raymond Hitchcock, Eddie Fin, Weber and Fields, Sam Bernard. Wiliie Collie and Mabel iVormand arc the principal comedians who will be seen in these, supported by the vast organisation which have made Keystones the best known comedies in the world. The first Triangle will be shown at the Theatre Royal, New Plymouth, next Monday.