Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1921)

MOVING PICTURE AGE February. 1921 Using Movies in the Parochial School From an Interview by Moving Picture Age FIVE years of showing moving pictures in his parochial school on Loyola and Lakewood avenues, in Chicago, places Rev. D. M. Johnson among the pioneers in the educational him movement. During all this time from three to five reels have been used weekly, and several showings given in the course of each week. Saint Ignatius School has a fairly large attendance, having 600 pupils, and the system employed for showing pictures is to have classes arrange for viewing them in the assembly hall at such times as will conform to their class periods. Father Johnson first purchased a Victor projector and has since added a Pathescope and an American Projectiscope. All of these projectors have proved satisfactory. The machines operating with safety devices have been found so simple that the projection of film is taken care of by some of the older boys and no trouble has ever been experienced. The films for showing are selected and inspected by Father Johnson. He states that he has found good material at several of the exchanges. "We are using the Ford Educational Weekly and find it excellent," says he, "and we have also found the Pathescope pictures good. "We use great care in selecting our programs, usually including a scenic and an educational with a little clean comedy if we can get it. There are several good colored films illustrating well-known fairy tales, distributed by the General Film Company, that are especially pleasing to the children. "We seldom use pictures for amusement purposes for the adult members of our parish, because we do not have the facilities. However, we hope soon to have a parish hall in which we plan to build a regulation projection booth. "I am a firm believer in the future of moving pictures as a factor in education. O course it must be realized that the educational phase of moving pictures is still in its infancy, and that the industry as a whole, drawing as it does the greater part of its revenue from the theaters, considers the educational use of its film as a secondary matter. This explains the difficulty of obtaining suitable film, since most of that offered for use in the school was originally used in the theater. Having used film in quantity for such a long period it is naturally becoming difficult for us to find suitable material. In this connection we find the lists published monthly in Moving Picture Age a great aid. These lists are also a help in that they designate what cuts are necessary before the film may be shown. How Film Breakage Is Eliminated "One of the complaints frequently made by users of non-theatrical film is that the film furnished by the agencies is often old and brittle. Exhibitors have at times been discouraged by having the film break three or four times in the course of a single showing. We had the same experience but a little investigation proved that a good deal of this breakage could be eliminated by watching the spools. Distributors frequently send out their film wound upon spools that are off center, bent, or the sides of which are loose. The consequence is that when the reel is clamped into the projector and the mechanism started, the film will catch and tear. "We have solved this problem to a great extent by securing a supply of spools of our own. We always wind the film on these perfect spools before showing and find breakage almost entirely done away with." Fr. Johnson has also a good collection of slides. Two of these sets illustrate Macbeth and King Lear and are accompanied by lectures. Another set illustrates "The Ancient Mariner," and is used in school as the poem is read. The best thing he has in this line, however, is a set of 70 colored French slides illustrating the Catechism. The children like this set very much and the slides are truly artistic. Films and slides have become so much a part of the school life at Saint Ignatius that to part with these two popular mediums for education would be a great hardship. Listing Exceptional Photoplays THE National Board of Review of Motion Pictures has made the initial selections for its list of "exceptional photoplays." These are to include only pictures of outstanding dramatic, artistic, pictorial and instructive entertainment quality. Pictures are recommended for such classification by the review committee of the Board which originally sees them. They are then submitted to and discussed with the Committee on Critique which renders the final decision. The pictures thus far chosen by them, with a digest of their critique on each, are : Godless Men. Produced and directed by Reginald Barker from an adaptation of Ben Ames Williams' story, "Black Pawl." Released by the Goldwyn Company. "Godless Men" is a sea picture which deals with the tragedy of human hatred. Passion. Directed by Ernest Lubitch. Star — Pola Negri. Released by Associated First National Pictures, Inc. The greatest fault of this extraordinary picture lies in its title. "Passion" is an entirely misleading name for an historical picture dealing with the life of Du Barry and the French court of her time. Except for this one reservation, the picture deserves almost unqualified praise. The Sin That Was His. Directed by Hobart Henly. Story by Frank L. Packard. Star — William Faversham. Released by Selznick. "The Sin That Was His" is a gambler's melodrama with a difference. Raymond Chapelle becomes involved in a situation which stands on its own merits as a dramatic problem and at the same time presents an ethical dilemma capable of engaging our serious interest. The Devil's Garden. Produced and supervised by Whitman Bennett. Directed by Kenneth Webb. Adapted from W. B. Maxwell's novel by Whitman Bennett and Kenneth Webb. Released by Associated First National Pictures, Inc. "The Devil's Garden" is a photodrama that is faithful to the spirit and treatment of the novel it piclurizes. It is the tragedy of a man after facts; determined to render and to receive justice, but who can do neither of these things dispassionately, and so in the end is beset by the demons of conscience. It is a notable piece of acting by Mr. Lionel Barrymore. The Last of the Mohicans, adapted by Robert A. Dillon from the novel of Tames Fenimore Cooper. Directed by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence L. Brown. Produced by Associated Producers. The story of "The Last of the Mohicans" is too well known to need resketching. The Mark of Zorro, adapted from Johnston McCulley's "The Curse of Capistrano." Directed by Fred Niblo. Produced by United Artists Corporation. In this Douglas Fairbanks takes the dual role of Senor Zorro, a fearless bandit and that of Don Diego Vega — weak, bloodless, and almost an imbecile. The two diametrically opposed types of character are well handled. Way Down East. By Lottie Blair Parker. Scenario by Anthony Paul Kelly. Directed by D. W. Griffith. Produced by D. W. Griffith's Productions. The story of "Way Down East" is too familiar to need retelling. Lillian Gish takes the leading part. A local office for the War Department Theaters of the U. S. Army Motion Picture Service has been established at 461 Eighth Avenue, New York City. This branch of the War Department has for its purpose the supplying of army posts with motion picture entertainment. The National Community Center, Washington, D. C, has urged that pictures be used at the five local high schools as part of the regular curriculum. If successful, it is planned to start a campaign to install machines in the 17,000 high schools of the country.