Motion Picture Theater Management (1927)

CHAPTER II The Industry and the Theater HE history of the motion picture as an entertainment covers a period of thirty years. The early stage of the industry is similar in many respects to that of the story of oil, the automobile, and the railroad. The industry prospered only after a period of strife and fierce competition, and after several chaotic, climactic situations. Those who persevered some twenty-five years ago saw in the motion picture the foundation of a great business. Without precedent or experience, these men felt their way along, conquered great difficulties, overcame great obstacles, and from a crude beginning, and after many random experiments, the business gradually prospered, attracting to it men of youth and imagination. In the same short span of thirty years, the motion picture developed an art, peculiarly its own. Despite its youth, it is compared favorably with the older arts, the drama and the newspaper, both of which required centuries of development. Mistakes have been made, but no industry could have achieved what the motion picture has, unless it was fundamentally sound. Without background, those who developed a novelty into an industry that has reached a high plane have earned the respect and regard of people throughout the world. Even during the earlier, chaotic period, the record reveals a high proportion of progress. The pioneers were true builders, creators in the best sense. And those who are guiding the industry to-day have a clear realization of their responsibilities, both moral and educational, as apart from the financial consideration. If we can judge the future from the past, we may expect the same relative progress during the next thirty years as during the three decades that lie behind. No criticism can be brought against motion pictures which 21