Moving Picture World (Dec 1917)

1932 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 29, 1917 Harold Edel. How It Is Done at the Strand A Discussion of Methods Which Have Actually Been Worked Out Successfully. By Harold Edel, Managing Director. A WELL KNOWN motion picture critic commented upon the beautiful tint of one of my educational subjects recently which caused me to smile. Little did even this film critic suspect that we were showing a straight black and white film, but through a little trick in projection were showing on the screen a film of various beautiful tints. The idea is so simple and yet so wonderfully effective that it readily warranted my smiling. The Strand Theater very often receives black and white educational pictures and without touching the film itself we project the same film in beautiful tints. An assortment of inexpensive color gelatine plates, such as used in the ordinary colored spot light, does the trick. These plates are placed over the square opening in the projection booth through which the light is projected from the machine to the screen. We have had a set of these color gelatines made up into little windows which fit a frame surrounding the square opening through which light is projected. When a black and white picture, which we desire to tint, is thrown on the screen we drop a little colored window in the frame, causing the light to shine through the gelatine and giving a beautiful tint. A change in the color of the tint is made by the operator at a time when a title is on the screen. Recently we projected an entire feature photoplay which could not be tinted at the laboratory in time for our show, in this way. As mentioned in my last article, the Strand endeavors to give, each week, a novelty bearing on the patriotic. My latest patriotic "bit" was presented right in the middle of the news weekly, when the audience least expected it, thus getting the always-desirable surprise element among the spectators. Immediately following the announcement in the newspapers that the "Rainbow" regiment had reached France, I obtained a news weekly of several months ago from the Strand Library, showing this contingent on parade in New York. Linking up those pictures with timely titles concerning the boys who had just arrived in France resulted in inciting wild applause among the audience. Just as the newspaper has a morgue and will tie up a news story with an old photograph, so has the Strand a Library of News Pictures, completely indexed. This "Library" does not mean that we carry a cellar full of film on hand all the time, but merely represents a card index, which is kept by one of our stenographers, telling just where pictures of every public event can be obtained, when they were first issued, etc. Thus, when the extra appeared on the streets that the Rainbow Division had just landed in France, which was the first news concerning this regiment for a number of weeks, we referred to our file, found out when and by whom the latest news pictures of this regiment were issued and with the aid of a few titles were able to show a timely news subject in less than an hour after the news appeared in the papers. I have never seen a news picture receive such wildly enthusiastic applause as was displayed in the case of this film. In the middle of the news pictures showing the Rainbow boys in camp the house was dimmed, the screen raised and there on the stage in a night scene gathered around a campfire were four Sammies dressed exactly like the soldiers on the screen. Immediately a hush came over the house as the audience gazed at the camp scene with its twinkling lights in the distance. For these soldiers I engaged a splendid quartette who sung "Tenting To-Night," "There's a Long Long Trail," "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and "Smile! Smile! Smile!" With the second chorus of the last song there appeared in the dark blue sky immense paintings of Lincoln and Washington and then with the last line of the song, between the two highly illuminated paintings, appeared one of President Wilson which brought the house to its feet. Immediately upon conclusion of the last song the screen was lowered and the pictures of the soldiers in camp were continued on the screen. Another effective bit which drew much applause was the rendition of "The End of a Perfect Day," by Herbert Waterous, basso. Before a lake-drop the song was commenced with stage lighting to represent twilight which faded gradually with the singing of the song until at the end of the second chorus the moonlight played upon the lake. Educational pictures at their best seldom receive more than a mere ripple, of applause. This is not due to the fact that they are not appreciated, but merely because such pictures seldom contain scenes that would extract spontaneous applause. On a series of pictures showing camping life I experimented with the scissors in an effort to obtain the unusual. Beautiful scenes showing camping life on a mountain lake presented views of exceptional artistic merit, but in order to sustain the interest the same views, showing such acts as the announcement of dinner with the campers preparing for the feast offered nothing unusual. By cutting out every third picture in the film itself the action of the scene was quickened so that when dinner was announced the figure just flew around in feverish haste. Hands and faces were washed in a flash, dishes were thrown in front of the campers and the food was consumed in record time. Several other scenes were speeded up and for the first time in the history of the Strand we were able to show a scenic picture which at every performance was accorded a riot of applause. In scenes of unusual beauty and actual educational value, we left the film as it was. Thus we had an educational film that was amusing as well as interesting. Other numbers on the program were Jack Pickford in "Tom Sawyer," Violin Solos by Mery Zentay, natural color educational pictures, a Victor Moore comedy, "Toothaches and Heartaches," an organ solo and the orchestral opening number under the direction of Cal Edouarde, "Irish Rhapsody.'" CAVALIERI WILL BE HERE. While Mme. Lina Cavalieri is being shown on the screen in New York in the role of "The Eternal Temptress," she is enacting a very different part in Chicago, Illinois. Among opera devotees and music lovers of that city it is well known that Mme. Cavalieri is a most devoted wife to Lucien Muratore, tenor of the Chicago Opera Company, and one of the finest artists who has ever appeared in that city, according to the critics. At the beginning of the war, M. Muratore braved the Cavalieri and Muratore. dangers of submarine warfare, which was then at its height, and returned to France, his native land, enlisting in his old regiment. There he served a year, was honorably discharged, and returned to America to rejoin the Chicago opera forces. When the Chicago opera forces arrive in New York on January 22 to begin their season here, Mme. Cavalieri will be with them.