Vintage original 8.5 x 8.5 in. correspondence on company letterhead pertaining to two teens WWI-themed silent films produced by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company and released in 1918.
 
Written from Universal Film Exchanges, Inc. excutive offices in New York and dated October 9, 1918, this letter was addressed to the Palace Theatre in Antigo, Wisconsin. Within they confirm for this theatre exhibitor that they have booked the feature-length war drama, The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (referred to as "The Kaiser") for November 13 [1918] and the documentary, Crashing Through to Berlin, for November 27 [1918]. It was signed in black ink by the Sales Manager of the Jewel Dept. ("Jewel" was the brand of Universal that would produce a small amount of big-budget prestige films each year).
 
Printed on an onion-skin stock, it is in fine+ condition.
 
*"The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (also known as The Beast of Berlin and The Kaiser) was a 1918 American silent war propaganda melodrama film produced and directed by, and starring, Rupert Julian. The screenplay was co-written by Rupert Julian and Elliott J. Clawson. The film's supporting cast included Elmo Lincoln, Nigel De Brulier, Harry Von Meter and Lon Chaney. No known prints of the film survive. The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin is one of the films included on the American Film Institute's list of the "Ten Most Wanted" lost films.
 
 A still exists showing Lon Chaney as "Herr Bethmann-Hollweg" standing directly behind the Kaiser (Rupert Julian). The film's program cover also exists. The germanophobic film contains a propagandist view of the First World War, showing the political greed of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, the resistance of some of his own soldiers, and fanciful prediction of the nature of the war's end. The film is now considered lost.
 
Although frequently listed as a Universal Studios production, the film was actually an independent production produced by Rupert Julian for Renowned Pictures. Julian licensed the distribution rights to Renowned, who in turn sold the rights to Universal Jewel for worldwide distribution right after the film's New York premiere. 
 
The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin was an enormous hit for Universal when it was released, and they spared no expense in advertising the film. Universal studio head Carl Laemmle pushed the film to the theater owners as hard as he sold it to the viewing public. "A whirlwind of Applause - A Landslide of Money," "Unparalleled Receipts," and "The Picture That Blocked Traffic on Broadway" were some of the headlines for ads that ran in trade publications in an attempt to get theater owners to book the picture. At one point, the film was playing simultaneously in two Broadway theaters owned by Marcus Loew and William Fox."
*(source: Wikipedia)

3RB