The Moving Picture World (May 1908)

THE'MOVING PICTUBLE V^ORLD 39« managers;do'nof : etaploy.' such men; hot "even the most par-- simonipiis among them. They have too much- at stake- .in dollars and cents. The reels are entrusted to; them- under' a bond amply sufficient to cover any damage that occurs to them, and the loss or serious damage to a thousand foot film is an expensive matter, when it is considered'that they cost all the way from $50 to $150 each. Hence, the simplest of self-interest prompts the employment of thoroughly, com- petent and personally capable men to" operate the machine, as well as men of sobriety and general regular habits. So it has come about that the rule is to pay the good salaries such men command, because it is cheaper in the long run, and besides it is the operator that makes or spoils the show itself. But all these precautions are soon to be rendered unnecessary if the newly invented non-inflammable film ful- fills its promise, and it is believed it will. Danger Has Been Magnified. I have dwelt at length upon this feature because the danger from fire has been magnified without limit and the facts distorted when not invented, till thousands are abso- lutely afraid to enter a moving picture theater. Without question fire was a real danger in the early days of the business, when everything connected with it was crude and operators had little or no' knowledge of what was required. Undoubtedly a thousand abuses' crept into.it in men's over- anxiety ' to make money. But time and experience have educated managers and operators, and invention has sup- plied devices simple to do away with all the danger that once was associated with it. So that to-day no city admin- istration has any excuse for the existence within its borders of a moving picture theater not fully up to the standard, and being up to the standard,. they become by all- odds the safest of all places of amusement or instruction; safer than the average opera house, safer than the usual lecture halls or lodge rooms; safer even than the churches or schools. And accurate statistics of horrors from fire or panic bear out the statement. It is to be understood that. I refer especially to the past five or six years, since the introduction of the automatic shutter and the fireproof reel boxes. It is true that panic has occurred in these, little theaters much oftener than in any other place, and it also is true that fire has been some- what more frequent. But it is to be remembered that almost all these theaters are small affairs, seating less than. 200, though there are some that seat 500 or a thousand; but these are much the exception. Again, thev usually are lo- cated on the ground floor; store rooms that have a back door as well as one or two in front. Now, the facts are that in almost every case of actual fire or causeless panic, the audience has succeeded in get- ting out without any one being injured, and a death from it is scarcely to be found recorded. And these injuries and deaths have occurred in almost every case because there was lacking that indispensable cool-headed man to take com- mand and direct the exodus in something like order. Two terrible holocausts have long stood charged to the moving Picture show, one in Paris in 1895 or 1896, as I recall, and the one at Boyerstown, Pa., last Winter. But careful in- vestigation proved that one in Paris to have, had absolutely no connection with the moving picture feature of the enter- tainment, and that at Boyerstown last Winter, was caused by an oil lamp used as a footlight accidently^ overturned by the curiosity of some one behind the curtain peeping out to see what made.the little hissing when the rubber tube to the pas tank slipped off; the gas being used to create the lune-light for the stereopticon show that was to be one feature of the church affair that called the people together ma dense crowd in an opera house without any sort of exits beyond the front door. It was not a moving oicture theater at all. It was not a moving picture show in any sense, and the young fellow in charge of the stereopticon knew httle or nothing of the work before him beyond letting 0 %, e . Sas and changing the slides. Taking into consideration the hundreds of thousands who gather in these theaters every night, the tens of thousands who,were present when fire or panic, occurred to terrorize the crowds, the oercentage of injury Or death falls into utter '"significance when compared with like statistics of other places of assemblage. Press Is Hostile. And'so I repeat, of all places of public congregation, the standard moving picture, theater is by all odds the, safest trom danger of. panic or fire. The press of the country is responsible for the very general feeling to the contrary. Justly on unjustly, ;the moving picture world at large is con- vinced that the press is deliberately antagonistic to them; and,has sought with deliberate design to ruin the business. And when one examines- the sort of- reports that appear from time to time of "exploded" moving picture machines, of fires and panics, with scores of dead and injured,, and the maintenance of perpetual espionage to detect some excuse for reporting garbled accounts of crowded aisles -and ex- its; reports that any fair examination shows to be utterly false, when not- pure inventions, it does look as though the press was determined to kill the moving, picture business by engendering universal fear of them. Why is it that nothing is said of the lecture halls, the lodge rooms or even the churches? What would occur in any church in this city if, for any cause, panic were to seize its audience on some one of the occasions when they are filled to overflowing, and especially when chairs have been placed in the aisles? Or look at the lodge rooms, upstairs on a second, third or fourth floor, and the only mode of exit through a narrow stairway, winding and twist- ing. I have seen Masonic Temple crowded to suffocation. Suppose, on such an occasion, an alarm of fire was sounded, or suppose terror should seize such an audience m sucn a place! In any one of these cases it would be a miracle if scores or hundreds, even, were not killed' outright. For the means of exit from them, churches and all, are totally inadeauate to the requirements of safety in a time of panic, though they are on the ground floor. But though these things have been before us for years, and their inadequancy is notorious, not a word of it gets into the papers. For myself—and I know I am not the only one—I never go into any of these places without a careful examination of the possibilities of exit and stand at all times ready to avail myself of the one nearest to me should the occasion occur. This antagonistic attitude of the press, or the appear- ance of it, at all events, should be changed in the name of humanity. For, in spite of their fears, the people will gather in the moving picture theaters, but because of their mental tension they sit there on the hair-trigger of trepidation and ready to fly off in a panic on the occurrence of anything startling, and not immediately understood, however trifling it may be in itself. This is the explanation of nine out of every ten of .the panics that have occurred in these places, and in some cases death has been the consequence; death for which the press has made itself morally responsible. By all means.- let the public know all that pertains to these places. If aught occurs out of the ordinary, or if managers fail of their public duty, nut them on the rack for it, and The Moving Picture World will uphold the work and aid and assist in it. Let nothing be hidden. But be sure that the first report made is true: for that first report gets sent out under "scare heads" that everybody reads, while the after investigation that proves it false either is ignored wholly or else is hidden away in an obscure corner of the paper and in little tvpe that scarce any one ever reads. Every regulation looking toward intelligent and safe management of these places that city officers may seek to enact will be cheerfully accepted by all decent moving pic- ture . men, and they will unite with the police to see # them enforced. Such regulation ought to eliminate everything in the moving picture line except the strictly standard theater*. Has a Great Future. . There is a great future before the moving picture business. To-day it is in its infancy only. But it is here' to stay, and the moving picture theater has finally reached a status of as solid permanency as the regular drama. Nothing can exceed its educational value, and, as a means, of impressing deeply on the popular mind the need and the means of re- form, no matter in what direction, it easily discounts either the lecture platform or the press. There lies before it an enormous stretch of latitude wherein to progress. In vivid- ness of presentation, the ordinary drama does not compare with it. The most impressive temperance lecture I ever have known was a moving picture drama that laid the mon- ster of drunkenness bare; so bare that the audience was melted in tears.,and one man made the vow that never again would he touch , the stuff; a vow that he has kept to',this dav, and will keep the rest of his life. Yet he had "sworn off" a dozen times,before; ■ But this time, he ,saw himself as he really was, and as he never had seen till then, and the hate aroused was a. hate .that stands by him. . There is a general movement in the moving, picture world to elevate' the business upon -a. higher and yet higher plane, as a matter of pure business. The old questionable dramas