Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

20 MOVING PICTURE AGE February, 1922 attend motion-picture theatres because, having dropped in at some performance, they were bored with a collection of pictorial drivel that had no relationship to life as it is. They naturally have refused ever since to submit themselves to the possibility of a repetition of the experience. These are found among the best people of the community, in the majority of cases. They would go if they could know they were to see a production worthy of their intelligence — something that would give them real and lasting enjoyment. The first duty, therefore, of those interested in the betterment of motion pictures is to make known to the members of the community the presence at their local theatres of motion pictures worth seeing. For this reason it is suggested that at every club meeting five or ten minutes be devoted to the announcement of the current worthwhile motion pictures, with the names of locaL theatres where they are showing. Would not a local exhibitor be influenced in his choice of pictures if he knew that free publicity would be given to his pictures if he chose the right kind? Every good woman should feel it worth her while to spend a couple of hours in the motion-picture theatre, if by so doing she can help to bring better pictures to her community. This feeling of duty as regards the film theatre may well be cultivated among club members. Opinions Must Be Expressed But let them not be content with going to see the pictures. Every woman viewing a picture of which she approves should make her approval known, either by word of mouth or by postcard, to the local exhibitor. Words of commendation thus received will make him begin to look upon himself as a part of the community life, as one who may serve a vital need of the community and receive enjoyable recognition for that service. Unconciously he will begin to select his pictures for the purpose of calling forth further commendation, and its absence, when an undesirable picture is shown, will bring home to him most keenly the mistake that he is making in thus losing the active support of the most influential members of the cmmunity. It is also helpful to ask the local exhibitor to put on such certain pictures as the women feel would be desirable for their community. As a rule an exhibitor welcomes such suggestions, especially if he knows that an active campaign will be waged for the popularity of the approved productions. Demands for Lists of Approved Films Women all over the land have been doing this sort of work for many months and even years. Since accepting the chairmanship of the Committee of Community Service on Moving Pictures, requests for recommended lists of films have been coming in to the writer with increasing frequency. It has become increasingly apparent that one of the greatest services possible to render in this field would be the issuance of such a list of officially approved films. Much thought has been given to the question of method in preparing such lists. A plan has at last been found that is practical, and one that, it is believed, will inspire confidence in all the members of our great organization. New York City is the center for the distribution of theatrical motion pictures. Here they are given their initial exhibition, and here they may be reviewed before they are released to the public. In New York City, therefore, the work of preparing these lists must be carried on, and the first step in this direction has been the selection of a sub-committee whose duty it shall be to view for the Federation every film that is considered potential material for endorsement. The Reviewing Committee As chairman of this sub-committee for reviewing motion pictures, the chairman of the Committee of Community Service on Motion Pictures for the General Federation has chosen Mrs. Stanley Lyman Otis, first vice-president of the City Federation of Women's Clubs, and a woman who for years has been intensely interested in motion pictures and in close touch with them. Mrs. Otis has chosen for her committee women of strong personality, of varied interests, and of such prominence that their judgment will be considered of exceptional value. The lists of films finally approved by the reviewing committee and the writer will be published in the General Federation News and in this magazine. It is believed that this is one of the most practical steps ever taken by the Federation. It only remains for the women of the various communities to make effective use of the power that is in their hands. If they will but arouse ourselves to the great opportunity, the women of America can do much to make motion pictures a vital, and a positive rather than negative, power in the nation's life. COSTS and RESULTS J. F. Marsh Secretary, State Board of Education, Charleston, West Virginia " r ■ "*HAT was an awful picture we had at school this afternoon. I ! Let's go downtown tonight and see a real show," said one M schoolboy to another after seeing an old overhauled film shown by an out-of-date machine at the school hall. That is just the trouble with some of our efforts at visual education in the schools — we try to fool children with a poor quality of service. I can speak with knowledge and feeling on the need for good equipment. A few years ago, I undertook to provide a climax for a lecture on visual education before a state teachers' association, with a moving picture of Paul Revere's ride. The film was a poor one, and the machine poorer than the film. Paul whipped his slow horse, and the operator turned the crank rapidly — but alas ! something broke or caught ; and, so far as I know from that picture, the British passed Paul and took Lexington and Concord by surprise. The moving picture as an educational force received a setback that day because the poor demonstration did not give it a fair opportunity. Must Experience Be the only Teacher? School officials should apply to visual instruction the lessons learned by bitter experience in the development of other ideas in our schools. Schools formerly accepted all kinds of worn-out, cheap books and dead reports and called that a school library. Then, too, we were frequently handed advertising from seed catalogues, and horrible premium pictures, for school decoration. Later, you will remember, manual training was started in dark basements and with the poorest tools ; and nearby were the dingy and poorly equipped cooking and sewing rooms. But that is all changed now. The books, the decorations, the laboratory materials, are of the best. Manual training, cooking, and sewing have climbed the stairsteps to light, airy, well-equipped rooms. Now — why not take a short-cut based upon experience, and lace standard motion-picture machines in the proper rooms, and there, under conditions most conducive to the best results, screen good films for the instruction of critical but appreciative pupils? In watching the growth of visual education in our schools, the writer could not but realize that as a matter of investment a standard outfit is in the long run the better investment. If funds are needed, children are delighted to give their pennies and nickels to help the cause, but they will give "not one cent of tribute" for a flickering half-exhibition. The same holds true of a community : it will gladly raise money to maintain school or community film service that has real merit. Poor moving-picture service in a school defeats its own purpose. It does not give accurate and adequate impressions. Furthermore, it does not satisfy the modern instinct of the pupils for the best in mechanical service. A faint pull by the school will not offset a strong one by the outside world. The picture at school must be as good as the best, if it is to render highest service as a real factor in education. Yale University Becomes Producer WHEN ten volumes of the 50-volume Yale University Press history series entitled "The Chronicles of America" had come from the press, the suggestion was made that this series be perpetuated in motion pictures. This suggestion and the success of the printed series have culminated in the organization of a producing company to reproduce the material in film. Indications are that the production will be handled in such capable and critical style as to insure a high grade of product from both the instructional and human-interest points of view. Dr. Max Farrand, Professor of History at Yale University, and Dr. Frank Ellsworth Spaulding, Sterling Professor of School Administration and head of the Department of Education, in the same institution, have been chosen as editors-in-chief of the production, and none of the material will be released until passed upon by them. Research work upon the project has been in progress for a period of two years, and several thousand original and reproduced photographs have been gathered for guidance in this filming of the important stages in the development of America.