Picture Play Magazine (Oct-Nov 1915)

18 PICTURE-PLAY WEEKLY situation on which the prosperity of the theater, as conducted along older lines is at stake, that the showman will have to reckon with, and this phase represents unquestionably the more vital issue, namely: "Is the present-day tendency to present pictorial adaptations of more or less successful plays of other days the best use to which the motionpicture art may be utilized?" Is the theatrical movement which already comprehends a complete presentation on the screen of past stage productivity a realization of the highest aims and greatest possibilities of a new art, which is just beginning to attract the attention of the world's greatest scientists and mechanics, and which is also inducing the investment of enormous capital by hard-headed men of the world • of finance, to whom the theater as it was never appealed? The first two screen productions to achieve a world-wide vogue, after being released by American manufacturers, were so nearly actualities, at least such was the impression created, that one may hear more to-day about "The Life of a Fireman," and "The Great Train Robbery" than will be heard as many years hence of the greatest film achievements of 1914. Yet, these were not "actualities"; but the realism depicted even in that primitive period caused more than one film producer to specialize in productions wholly beyond the scope of a four-walled playhouse. If the records were published, it would be found that Paul Rainey's "An African Hunt" has attracted the public to a greater extent, at higher prices of admission and for a more prolonged consecutive period, than any fictional theatrical or semitheatrical release that came later. I may find few to indorse my views, nevertheless, I hold that it is such productivity of the camera man — and here the term is used advisedly — that will eventually prolong the amazing prosperity in filmdom. The realities of life not only proye the most compelling attractions with the public, but enable one to point to the influence of the motion picture in the national ' life. The pictures of Captain Scott's unfortunate expedition to the south pole illustrate as nothing else can the possibilities of a heaven-born new art, and when the final results are achieved from many expeditions of intrepid men and women in this year of 1914 — some of which are con ducted secretly, others requiring as much as two years of research and untold hardships for all concerned — then will be -witnessed, perhaps, the spectacle of the motion-picture production, without an actor, without even a director, and without scenic or stage accessories. There is no assumption that such productions can be evolved with the frequency requisite for exclusive use. No one dreams that in this century the photo play, speaking literally, is to be wholly replaced by real-life films ; but there is much to justify the belief that the greatest productions of the screen will be due to the unparalleled daring and persistent research of men and women bent upon revealing to mankind that which has never been seen save by the few explorers and scientists themselves. Men to whom the theater is wholly without appeal, men emboldened by divine incentive, are now on their way to lands where a civilized human being never ventured before, and it is these Henry M. Stanleys of the second decade of the twentieth century who will perpetuate the vogue of motion pictures, and when the public is invited to gaze on such productions, the impression created will be somewhat similar to that which one might have in seeing "The Birth of a Nation" to-day, if the spectator had not entered a photo-playhouse since the days of "The Chase." Toward the end of 191 3, the influence of the motion picture in shaping and revealing public sentiment was aptly illustrated through the experience of Hal Reid, erstwhile apostle of melodrama, author of a score of thrillers, and present-day all-round film promoter. Air. Reid had been with various producing concerns, in the capacity of director and scenario editor, without achieving the unusual. Evidently Mr. Reid believed that the vicissitudes of one Harry Thaw would make a compelling film subject, and as Mr. Reid once wrote and produced a play in which the slayer of Stanford White was sympathetically pictured, he was able to obtain the aid and cooperation of Thaw himself. Proceeding to Sherbrooke, Canada, and other Canadian and New Hampshire cities, Mr. Reid secured less than five hundred feet of film, yet in half a dozen of New York's vaudeville theaters of the first grade, for an entire week, the audiences were limited by the capacity, and twice daily in each the spectacle of th< crowds cheering the alleged madma! was1 on view. It was at this time tha several of the big city dailies reversec their attitude toward Thaw, and it isl generally conceded that these Thaw films and the manner they were received convinced and converted others into the belief that Thaw had been punished enough. Another phase of the Thaw pictures, interesting by itself, w-as the demonstrated fact that, provided copies enough were printed, half the hundreds of millions of the world's picture patrons could see the exhibit inside of sixty days. Thomas H. Ince told the writer that he got his best points for his work from the newspapers, and I sincerely believe that, as the present vogue of stage plays reaches an end, there will come on the scene an entirely new group of determined men and women who will write solely for the screen. These will come forward only when the producers realize that such talent and genius as they possess must be accorded financial recognition. This day of recognition for the author should come within a year ; but the first producer to grant a royalty on all income the producer himself receives will start an era of screen achievement as yet inconceivable, and then the photo-play author will be the envied of the entire literary calling, for his earnings will be prodigious. George Broadhurst has admitted he earns one hundred thousand dollars a year. I expect to see far greater annual earnings than this recorded in filmdom in 1916, but I am not sure the big reward will go to writers who ignore the significance of Mr. Ince's admission as to where he gets his best points. Speaking of Ince, it is worthy of note that he, as well as the two other famous directors who control the artistic destiny of the Triangle Film Corporation which is to provide the productions of photo plays in the two-dollar-a-seat theaters, are utterly opposed to adapting stage plays to the screen. Ince, Griffith, and Sennett are in absolute accord in a policy which will mean eventually the advent into filmdom of the greatest living authors, who, instead of merely releasing their one-time stage success to the screen, will write henceforth with the screen alone in mind.