Moving Picture World (Jan-Jun 1909)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD. 673 A SOUTHERN RENTER. Mr. R. A. Boone, of the Theater Film Service, Birmingham, Ala., visited us this week and in the course of a long and interesting interview, gave us some idea of the status of the moving picture in the South. The Theater Film Service does a large business in licensed pictures. The demand chiefly existing amongst exhibitors is for American productions and especially Biograph subjects, which are very popular in Alabama. Films dealing with foreign subjects are not very highly appreciated. There is, indeed, a strong demand for pictures with American themes. Mr. Boone says he finds no difficulty at all in regard to the license question. Like other bright men engaged in the film business, his outlook is distinctly an optimistic one. He. sees no diminution in public interest in the moving picture. Store shows abound in Birmingham and vicinity and the song slide is popular. We were glad to meet Mr. Boone and to have evidence of the very intelligent way in which he handles his business. Many more such as he would contribute towards the prosperity of the industry. CARL LAEMMLE TALKS TO US. Interview with the Greatest Film Renter in the World. "Carlsbad in a month and the London Crystal Palace Moving Picture Exhibition in July," said Mr. Laemmle to us as he took a seat in our office one morning this week, "that is my programme." "Well," we rejoined, "tell us, Mr. Laemmle, your opinion of the outlook from your standpoint." And before our victim had time to reply we took occasion to compliment him upon the extreme pungency and cleverness of his advertisements, which elicited an appreciative smile on his well-advertised countenance. "The business of Carl Laemmle," said the owner of it, "has increased 70 per cent. I find that my customers are very well pleased indeed with the International films, which are of very high quality. Foreign humor, however, is not quite understood by American audiences, and it would be a good thing if the plots and scenarios were furnished from this side of the Atlantic and made into moving picture by English film manufacturers. "No; I am not going into the song slide business myself, but the music business I have recently undertaken has turned out far more successfully than I had expected. Indeed, my sales astonish even those who have been in the business much longer than myself. I am very well satisfied indeed with my relations with Mr. Murdock, who, in a wonderfully short space of time, has mastered many of the technical details of this business." "What about your Summer business, Mr.. Laemmle?" we asked. In reply Mr. Laemmle supplied us with figures which show that in the present month he is doing far more business than he was doing this time last year, and, moreover, that the normal decrease of business in June, July and August of last year, as compared with the other months of the year, is so slight as hardly to be worth notice. From all this, and from what else passed at this interview, we gathered that the outlook of Mr. Laemmle in the moving picture business is distinctly hopeful. Nay. more. We drew from him an impression which we find to be general, and is confirmatory of our own views, that the future of the moving picture is one we might say of almost limitless possibilities. Mr. Laemmle should know. He has his hand on the pulse of the business more tightly probably than any other man in the world. He foreshadowed to us several plans which we are not at liberty to mention, which, when they are made public, will cause as much surprise as his recent public announcements. Moreover, they make, in our opinion, for his own success and the betterment of the moving picture. There is no more alert mind in the moving picture field to-day than that of Carl Laemmle, upon whom we recommend all interested — and there are many thousands— to keep an eye. For Mr. Laemmle is very much alive, indeed, and has a keenness and breadth of mind which are valuable factors in the moving picture situation, and in themselves supply the best possible refutation of the rather absurd attacks of which he has recently been made the object. ON THE SCREEN. By Lux Graphicus. Readers of the criticism on last week's notable film of the week will observe that a point was made of the originality of the story, "The Hunter's Grief." Originality in this connection, of course, is a comparative and not an absolute term. Absolute originality in anything to-day is hard to find. A wise man, named Solomon, a few thousand year ago said that there was nothing new under the sun. Solomon knew a thing or two. He solved the affinity question for a time, as we all know. But that is another story. Originality, or rather freshness, of subject is one of the features of Pathe's films. Seldom do you see one of their pictures which may be fairly classed as having a hackneyed story. If the story itself is not actually new, it is handled in a fresh manner. In short, it has originality of treatment. Consequently it is not necessary for a moving picture story to be absolutely new in order that its effect upon the minds of the audience may be that of freshness and originality. The whole question, in short, is one of clever dramatic treatment. * * * Many recently introduced films deal, I perceive, with very hackneyed themes. The writers of the stories are quite unfamiliar with the literature of fiction, and their work shows the prentice hand of the aspirant for literary fame. The people who choose these stories for moving picture film treatment are also incompetent critics. The result of all this is that just now the market is stocked with subjects of a certain kind, which, judged from a reasonably high standard, are foredoomed to failure. Then again, 'even amongst the older firms, I perceive a tendency to plagiarism. It is apparently easier to convey than to invent. This is a pity. For if you cannot always invent, you, at least, can vary. There are only 56 notes of music on an ordinary piano, out of which a duffer can get a certain number of tunes. Consider, however, how tremendously the trained musician can improvise on one theme alone! So it is with painting, poetry, black and white work and other branches of art. The mind of the trained worker can always produce new fruit. In every instance it may not be of a masterly kind, but it is at least good and finished. In short, it is artistic. Don't you think that all this applies to the writing of moving picture plays? Of course it does. Several weeks ago I pointed out that ten or twenty dollars would not buy a moving picture play. Some moving picture workers doubt my word, and have bought the good so-called stories at those prices or less. The results are being shown in moving picture theaters at this moment and their audiences are being disappointed. The demon of cheapness has started in to kill the early efforts of some of the new entrants into the moving picture field. The work is slobbed and slurred over, and money has been wasted on the one hand and stinted on the other. * * * Thomas Constable, the noted English landscape painter, once said that a good picture could be seen at a glance. Much the same applies to a good story on the moving picture screen. Come to think of it, good moving picture stories are scarce. Not that they are not written or offered for sale, but that those who set themselves up as picture story editors are not qualified to make the selection. This is a real evil, as any intelligent friend of the moving picture industry knows, and the sooner some of the new entrants into the moving picture field recognize it, the sooner will their films stand a chance of success in the open market. A SHIPPING BOX. Wm. H. Swanson & Co. have engaged as their special representative in the States of Virginia, West Virginia and the Carolinas that prominent film man, Chas. L. Young. Mr. Young left for Richmond recently and will start immediately an extensive campaign in the Swanson interest. Mr. Young is a "jolly good fellow" as well as being a prominent Mason, Elk and Eagle. While in Philadelphia we saw at the Eagle Film Exchange a very ingenious shipping box. The box is made of solid galvanized tin with a solid metal handle, and the inside is divided into two compartments : one for two or three reels and the other for slides. The advantage of this box is to insure perfect" safety in the transmission of films. No more reasons for damaged films or slides, and at the same time is a great saver of time to the shipping clerks. As these boxes are made to last, their moderate cost is soon repaid in the saving of packing paper, twine, etc. Messrs. Jonas & Kane, two enterprising young men, of 1237 W. Columbia avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., are the manufacturers of this very convenient shipping box.