Motion Picture Story Magazine (Feb-Jul 1912)

MUSINGS OF "THE PHOTOPLAY PHILOSOPHER" 129 I do not agree with Mr. Epes Winthrop Sargent in his criticism of the book that has just been published by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, "Moving Pictures, How They Are Made and Worked." While nobody would pay this book the compliment that Omar paid to the Koran, "Burn the libraries, for their value is in this book," Mr. Talbot, the author, will hardly need to exclaim, as did Kepler, the German astronomer, "My book may well wait a hundred years for a reader, since God himself has been content to wait six thousand years for an observer like myself." Mr. Talbot will not wait long for readers. The book is handsomely gotten up, is full of illustrations, and is well worth the $1.50 charged for it. There are apparently a few inaccuracies in it — it would be unusual if there were not, covering, as it does, such a large field, and one in which there are many points in dispute — but on the whole it is, in my judgment, the best book of its kind ever published. Mr. Sargent is one of the best informed men in the Motion Picture business, perhaps the very best, and he is a good critic. But, at the same time, he is often a hypercritic, and a captious censor of everything he criticises. I predict for Mr. Talbot's able work a large sale, as it deserves. Not only should it be read by every person interested in Motion Pictures, but it will prove very entertaining and instructive to those who are not. While "trick pictures" may be exceedingly interesting and funny, it is a question if it is wise to make too lavish use of them. It will never do to give the impression that most pictures are false, else, when some real phenomena are shown, people will not believe they are real. If a film is shown, for example, where a man is run over, and his arms and legs severed, and then the limbs are suddenly made to jump back in place, and the man walks on as if nothing had happened; or where an automobile is made to run at an impossible rate of speed; or where a comedian is made to fall from a twenty-story building, unharmed: when a real feat of strength, endurance or speed is shown, such as the quick and daring action of our firemen, or the marvelous speed of aeroplanes and motor boats, or the grandeur of lofty mountains, waterfalls, storms, oceans, and the various wonders of nature, the average onlooker is inclined to believe that it is exaggerated. I read a recent editorial in The Moving Picture World which I must heartily indorse. It said, among other things, "It sickens us every time to look at the huge banners displayed on the streets of New York, wherever the traffic is heaviest, announcing Motion Pictures of 'famous bandits' and 'terrible crimes.' Millions of people pass these places, see these awful banners (and posters), and not unreasonably conclude that the Motion Picture is little better than a pictorial Police Gazette in motion. Thus, for the sake of a few wretched nickels, incalculable harm is done to this great industry. ' ' There are plenty of high-class films to feature without resorting to the worst for advertising purposes; and if crime pictures must be shown, it is poor policy to feature them. The time has passed when the exhibitor must appeal to the small boy and to the ruffian to increase attendance. We must all work together to uplift the Motion Picture business and to attract the better element.