Motion Picture Story Magazine (Aug 1911-Jan 1912)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

MUSINGS OF A PHOTOPLAY PHILOSOPHER 147 Q^ The saloons have been complaining that the Motion Picture business is ruining theirs, and some saloons have been contemplating installing Motion Pictures to attract trade. The church has always looked on the saloon as its greatest enemy, and, now that the saloon recognizes the Picture Theater as its own great enemy, why does the church not lock arms with the Photoplay and make war on the saloon ? A good general does not desert the field because the enemy appears upon it, but he fights all the harder. And a good general is always quick to take advantage of opportunities. If, then, the Photoplay is such a powerful weapon for good or evil, why does the church not seize upon it and harness it before it becomes the accessory of the enemy? Every newspaper office seems to have a rubber stamp, "Blames Picture Shows for Downfall," which they delight to use on the slightest suspicion. Since fifteen million persons see the Motion Pictures every day, it would be strange indeed if occasion did not arise once in a while to warrant putting the familiar title at the head of a column, and every institution must have unfortunate experiences : but editors should exercise just a little judgment and not cry too often, ' 'Wolf, wolf ! ' ' when there is no wolf. Five years ago there were no Motion Picture theaters in England, while now there are no less than 2,000. England is progressing. Extremes meet. It is only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous. In the midst of life we are in death. Great wits are sure to madness near allied. The darkest hour is just before the dawn. Beauty unadorned is adorned the most. Discord is a harmony not understood. We may have pleasure-pain, and a thing may be bitter-sweet. Too far east is west. In fact, all wisdom and all wit consist in the meeting of extremes. The reconciliation of apparent irreconcilables is wisdom, and the apparent reconciliation of real irreconcilables is wit. Is it better to be good, do good, or make good ? I pause for an answer, as the speakers say when they expect none. There is no answer, because these three things all amount to about the same thing. Do not condemn alone that which pleases all, or nearly all. That which pleases many has merit, even if we cannot detect it; and to condemn it is but to display our ignorance or our incapacity. I am informed from reliable sources that there are more than 10,000 Motion Picture theaters in this country, and that the average daily attendance is over 4,500,000, which is five times that of the other theaters. It has been estimated that of these 4,500,000, only one-ninth are children between the ages of four and sixteen, and that only one-quarter belong to what is called the working class. It is a common occurrence now to see at the Photoplay, men and women in evening dress ; and Mr. Montgomery, who is perhaps the prince of Southern exhibitors, tells me that many of his Picture Theaters are attended by ' 'society" who drive up in carriages and automobiles.