The Moving Picture World (1907)

706 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD. served at 7:45 and is to be followed by 3 vaudeville entertain- ment by professionals. The special feature of the occasion, however, will be the mov- ing picture exhibition' which will follow the vaudeville. The pictures are calculated to greatly interest the members of the dub. They are made from negatives which were taken at the § club during last Summer. They show club members and visitors 'on the- golf links, the tennis courts and croquet lawns. There is little doubt that the pictures will be well worth seeing, and that the thanks of the members will be given to George Dupont •Pratt, who took them, and made the exhibition possible. * * * Bayonne, N. J.—Glass Bros., and., the Bayonne Amusement Company have been granted licenses tb operate moving picture machines upon payment of the regular fee of $50 a year. * * * ;■ London, December 14.—F. Martin Duncan, lecturing before the Royal Photographic Society last night, said that before long it might be possible to secure cinematograph records of the changes undergone by the parasites in the malarial, typhoid and other fevers. Such records would be of the utmost importance from the scientific point of view. * * * The managements of iso five-cent theaters in Chicago were notified by Building Commissioner Downey to begin at once to place their theaters in a semi-fireproof condition. Mr. Downey said many of the theaters were in unsafe buildings. "Five-cent theaters located in brick buildings will be required to -have fireproof ceilings constructed of steel and asbestos; those in frame buildings will be obliged to have both fireproof ceilings and walls," said Mr. Downey. "The boxes inclosing the machines must also be fireproof." Mr. Downey said that beginning January 1 he would close all five-cent theaters in which his order had not been obeyed. * * * • A display most offensive both to good taste_ and to the rev- erence and respect due to the most sacred traditions of Christian- ity is given at a moving picture show adjacent to the Imperial restaurant on Broadway. It is called "The Life of Christ, and purports to show in moving pictures the birth, childhood, con- demnation, death on the cross, resurrection and ascension of the Savior. t Whatever may be said for or against the Oberammergau pas- sion play, or even "Parsifal," the display in question-is nothing but atrocious vulgarity, which arrives at such a ridiculous stage as to make absurd the sacred situations depicted. The angels brought into the picture are evidently girls who would be appropriate to an Amazon march in a burlesque, and the centurions and populace are composed of what are known to theater managers as "extra people," the men and women who for fifty cents a night carry a spear, or vacillate between Maxc Antony and Brutus in their regards. The central figure of this travesty of the greatest tragedy of the world is depicted by a low^browed man who deals in the most approved delsartean gestures, and who can easily be imag- ined after having been photographed, taking off his make-up and spending his wage on beer and cigarettes. The most offensive and inexcusable of the pictures are those showing the crucifixion and the Agony. The procession to Calvary is wretched in its details. Christ is made to indulge in all manner of commonplace theatrical poses and gestures, while the Roman soldiers and the Hebrews would be discreditable to the stage of the lowest class theater. All the details are inexpressibly shocking and repellent. An extreme almost-beyond endurance is reached where Heaven itself is pictured with the tawdry stage women posing as tri- umphant angels blowing the trumpets of praise. The only detail of any worth is shown by the sheep guarded by the shepherds. The sheep, in their ignorance of the fool parts they are made to play, show some little dignity and de- cency. Even to the irreligious the show must be disagreeable, while to those of reverent inclination it is sacrilegious in the extreme. — Los Angeles Examiner. * * • ; Indianapolis, Ind.—An ordinance to give the city building in- spector control over the five-cent theater buildings, which Judge Whallon, of the Police Court, has said he does not now have, is under consideration and will be presented at the meeting of the City Council. Building Inspector Thomas A. Winterrowd knows what he desires, but wishes to leave the actual form of the ordinance to the legal department of the city. • • The ordinance proposed will provide, primarily, that the build- ing inspector shall have control over the structure of all build- ings or rooms used for moving picture exhibits, and that no room may be used for such shows that has not been approved by the inspector. The outer walls of such a building or room, the ordinance will provide, must be of incombustible material and the floors fireproof, or, if of joist construction, then of fire- proof material between joists. ON GROUND FLOOR- All moving picture shows must be given on the ground floor, according to the proposed ordinance, and may not be run in connection with any other business or in a room opening into a room devoted to another business. This provision will prevent the operation of moving picture shows by saloons, a matter that has given the city much trouble. There must be ample exits on a main street, with at least an emergency exit opening into an alley or a court leading directly to a thoroughfare, and all exits must be marked by illuminated signs, with letters at least six inches high. Precautions for fire safety will be rigidly enforced if Mr. Winterrowd's ordinance is enacted. It will require that all the electrical wiring shall be .in conformity to the existing national code of fire underwriters, and that the picture machines shall be set in a fireproof booth. It is proposed further to lessen the danger from explosion or mishap from the picture machines by providing that the machine operators must be licensed by the city, on the payment of a fee, probably $5'a year, but only after passing an examination to be given by a board consisting of the ,rity building inspector, the electrical inspector and the chairman of the City Council committee on public safety and comfort. TO MEET NEW CONDITIONS. The ordinance with which Mr. Winterrowd proposes to han- dle the five-cent theater problem is only one of several which he will seek to have passed to meet conditions that have arisen or ooints that have been raised since the passage of city's general building ordinance, nearly four years ago. Another ordinance will provide that all buildings of more than two stories in height shall be provided with fire escapes, as well as exit stairways, and , that both stairway exits and fire escape entrances on each floor shall be plainly marked bv illuminated red signs. *A third and minor ordinance will require that all hot air, steam or hot water pipes shall be cohered with standard fire- resisting covering, either of magnesium carbonite or calcium car- bonite, with binders of asbestos fiber, or asbestos fiber and metal sheeting. * * ♦ A breath of Chicago still lingers with us, and each time we hear the bass drum it reminds us of the little play time we had between 1 and 2 a. m. Sunday morning. The business of the admission of members was over, and a little relaxation of nerves was necessary. Like a troop of schoolboys, led by Wm. Steiner, a party of us rushed to the ballroom; one was seated at the piano and ^began to strum out some music, Alfred Weiss took hold of the bass drum, cymbals, and kettle drum and kept good time. Steiner caught hold ofrthe Editor, but we were too rusty, so he- had to be a wall flower. Then Bachman. Cohen, Kohl, Schwalbe, Calnhuff, Cline and several others trod the light fantastic toe until the head waiter said: "Sunday law rules here, gentlemen, and turned out the lights. * * * The threatened invasion of Richmond HilL in Queens_ Borough, Brooklyn, N. Y., by a moving picture and slot machine estab- lishment has been put down by the landlord of the store in which the show was to be run, who alleges that the premises were sublet to the moving picture man without permission. The matter has now resolved itself into a possible lawsuit. Frank Libschik, a Richmond Hill business man, was to have been the proprietor of the show, which was to have been con- ducted at 3202 Jamaica avenue. The building is owned by Flushing parties, who are represented by a local real estate dealer. It appears that the store in question was originally leased for three years to a baker, who later sublet it to C M. Griffin, a realty dealer, who in turn subleased it to another real estate man, who turned it over to Libschik. The latter oaid a months rent, and spent, he says, fully $1,500 in getting the place ready for his show. All this time, it is said, the owner knew nothing of the matter. As soon as he found out, he promptly objected to the operating of the show on the ground that he had given no authority for subletting the store. Apparently the owner is unwilling to lease the place to a moving picture concern. The matter has been placed in the hands of a lawyer by Mr. Libschik, who is considering a suit to recover the money spent in fixing up the place. It is said that he is seeking another lo- cation for his show. * * * Charlottetown, P. E. Island, •has another moving picture house which is known as the Nickel.\ They opened on December 4 with a bumper, house! and are still keeping it up. The hall is a cosy one, being in the upper part of a building known as' the