Business screen magazine (1938)

at work plowing the ground. The grain is being cut and bound without the hardships of hand labor. And a gasoline engine drives an electricgenerator, furnishing current to operate a cream separator and churn. Perhaps strangest of all an "auto wagon" with high wheels necessary to navigate muddy farm roads, is busily hauling people and produce here and there. (Indeed many of the sights on the farm are stranger to us than they were to George.) Following this pleasant introduction to farming "the modern way " the lovers lose no time, and in a moonlight scene whose romantic atmosphere is enhanced with sepia tinted film, they decide to elope. The next day the mailman (appropriately driving an International truck) delivers a letter to the master and mistress of the "old farm". "Uncle Jim," it reads, "you said the auto wagon was good for anything — it's good for midnight elopements. George". And so with the proper degree of surprise from Uncle Jim, the first "commercial" movie with a plot comes to its dramatic conclusion. Not only was Back To The Old Farm to make film history, but several of those who helped produce it were beginning careers of importance. The script was written by E. L. Barker later known for his work on Birth oj a .Vaf;o7i. Supervision of the production was the first assignment given Frank AV. Heiskell just come to the advertising department of the International Harvester Company as assistant manager. Later Mr. Heiskell, as advertising manager, became known for his effective use of the medium he had pioneered. Under his guidance a motion picture department was set up where many reels of educational and industrial films on every subject from Diesel engines to farm comedies have since been made. It is noteworthy that this first dramatic sales film, while definitely designed to show the advantages of farming with machines, did not plug the product to the exclusion of dramatic interest — a fact well worth remembering. THE FIRST ADVERTISING FILM? ♦ The business movie has a historical edge on the entertainment product. Somewhere between 1896 and 1900 Kuhn and Webster produce a picture Deicar's Its Scotch which was projected by Edwin Porter (famed pioneer of the early movies who later directed and photographed The Great Train Robbery, first movie with a plot). Porter projected the film on a screen billboard facing Broadway at 34th Street in New York City. In the 40-foot length of the subject four men dressed to represent Scotchmen do a crude Highland Fling before a painted backdrop of Dewar's Scotch Whiskey. Unfortunately, "the cameraman did not aim his camera properly," says Terry Ramsaye of it in his "Million and One Nights', "for the fourth man and the word "Dewar's' are only partially visible at the left." FILMS IN THE DEPARTMENT STORE A Sequel to the Business Screen Survey by Zenn Kaufman, .Author of 'Showmanship in Business" • "All Gaul", it was once said, "is divided into three parts." To divide this subject into its natural parts — of which there are two — we find that films have two prime uses in the store field: 1. Training. 2. Selling. The first, and, for the minute, the widest niche for films is in sales training work. Otho Hicks, of The National Retail Dry Goods Association, says that the big hmitation of the training film is the general quality of the film, and Edward Weiss of the Grey Advertising Agency puts his finger on the sore spot when he points out that most of these films have been paeans of self-praise for the manufacturer, rather than sources of merchandise information for the girl behind the counter to use in her everyday selling. What she wants is basic merchandising facts and not a short history of every molecule that goes into the product, together with a series of glorified perspective shots of the manufacturer's plant. As an example of a practical film he mentions the one presented some while back by Kenwood Blankets. This film gives the girl definite phrases and bits of showmanship to use selling blankets. A recent survey made by Retailing confirms Hicks" point of view. Retailing interviewed a group of store personnel directors in New York, and found the opinion almost unanimous. The stores reported an average of from 4 to 6 showings per year. It might be pointed out, however, that New York stores are quite large and can afford to do their training in their own way. Whereas, the smaller out of town .shops need ready-made training services. But, in further confirmation, a resident buying office reports the same feeling among out of town stores— that the films are too "selfish" — and not helpful enough. One problem, of course, that bothers the retailer is the scarcity of projection equipment. Probably only a hundred stores — from coast to coast, own 16mm. sound projectors. To meet this problem, Kenwood Mills handle all showings themselves. Burton Pfeiffer, of Kenwood !Mills, goes from city to city with his film and equipment and personally puts on each show. He introduces the film, briefly, and then follows it with another short talk. The largest stores in the country have been glad to have him as a visitor and many of the stores have unhesitatingly said that Ken 17