Show World (May 1909)

THE SHOW WORLD May 15 , 1909, A TIMELY TALK ON POWER By J. J. MURDOCK. vaudeville association, which OVERPRODUCTION irmpH nirif* vpar? atrn. risen _ the very weight of the power which it failed to intelligently direct. His¬ tory will repeat itself. The same fate must befall the present moving pic¬ ture Trust. Profiting by the faults and failings of the original vaudeville association I believe it will be readily conceded the creation of this mighty power, with its misapplicatoin of power the by every fair minded individual, were ruthlessly eliminated from the new vaudeville association, identified with the moving picture in- field of action and had it not been for was formed nine years ago, has dustry in the independent movement inaugur- to its present dignity and supremacy _ Am erica, ated by the International Projecting in the field of American amusements. that the and Producing company all their ef- Never Abused His Power pl j c ~ tssre The levying of a license upon the direction of the destinies of the pres- exhibitors and the lopping off the ex- ent association has never been abused, changes was but a beginning of a The association is not held together on crusade which happily was halted by today by force but rather through co- • the formation of the International operative action and the. power of fhe'^motion com P an y- Had it not been for the profitable results. Show me the actor ‘ ■ 'ure advent of the International move- who will not take my word for a con- p ment, the Trust would today have tract; show me the artist who has not Inat i ev ; e d ;^ s toll upon exhibitors and ex- confidence that the power invested in wields (.Ranges by claiming a portion of the me will be justly applied; show me powerful exhibitors’ business and eliminating the manager who has ever suffered power of results, l --- „ alln . increase except in territorial strAgth and as in the branch of vaudeville ] represent, results must now and al¬ ways be the one great power, and re¬ sults depend upon the power of unitv By Harry Rush Raver. (General Manager Consolidated Ami.s. . Company, Baltimore). rjJ n a t i onal Projectin g and Pro- Co. has be- field. influence i re - shaping the destiny of the trade Power is a mag- cannot be denied. _ - — — _ —„ nificent thing; it turns the wheels of progress and without it, nothing is accomplished. Power of itself means little. To be beneficial, power must have intelligent direction. The bab¬ bling brook, in which the child pad¬ dles its tiny feet, is innocent in itself, as it flows along without apparent utility, but that same quantity of water, harnessed by man, will turn the wheels of a mill, or condensed in¬ to steam, propel the mighty machin¬ ery of industry. Think for a moment if you please, of the billions upon bil¬ lions of gallons of water that flowed unharnessed over the falls of Niagara —a magnificent waste of power, until man found a means to control and direct it into practical channels. Think of the wild waste of the elecr trical force in the elements unheeded and unutilized until Franklin solved a part of the problem of its service for the benefit of mankind, and Thomas Edison perfected and put that power into practical uses. Power placed in proper hands is a good thing, but power placed in the hands of those who do not know how to use it becomes a dangerous weap¬ on to the interests of the industry at which it may be aimed. The Power of the “Trust.” This leads me to dwell upon the power, which, last January was placed in the hands of the moving picture Trust a power that bade fair to absolutely control the destiny of this most important field of amusement in America. Let us see how that power was applied. Was it used for the general uplift of the moving picture industry or for the aggrandizement of a set of individuals, banded togeth¬ er for mutual gain—the furtherance of their own selfish ends? The history of the trade which has been made for the past four months furnishes a conclusive answer. Had this power not been dissipated and had it been judiciously applied for the general welfare of the army of men who depend upon the moving picture business as means of liveli¬ hood, there would have been no ne¬ cessity for an independent movement. __ The very moment that the Trust fancied itself armed with an impreg- the exchanges. Thus it I believe in the peraanencypfmov ing pictures, the only destructive ele¬ ment we have to fear being overpro¬ duction, with attendant disregard for detail and photographic perfection. This state of 'affairs is bound to fol¬ low if the exhibitor insists on using 12 to 15 reels of film every week,— in many cases 14 to 21 reels, thereby compelling the exchange to buy, in many cases, subjects not up to the standard and forcing the manufacturer to rush out productions on .'short notice regardless of quality. As a matter of fact and 1 there is no sense or reason in showing more than three changes of film per week, providing the service is high class, and there are countless houses still maintaining this policy success¬ fully, in spite of the-feHow next doc who runs a big program, change films daily and thinks he can keep 1 up on cheap service. In this wild scramble for the Big¬ gest Show, the public is rarely taken into consideration seriously, jealousy among exhibitors stirs up a desire to out-do each other without a thought of public opinion. I say, if you prove to the public how easy it is to throw twenty-one thousand feet of film a screen in a single week, at 5 ce..„ admission, does it not follow the pro¬ fession of moving picture entertain¬ ment begins to lose its dignity and become cheap? The “Biggest Show.”. Take the fellow using licensed film-, for example. Out of the output weekly, take six reels from the lot and how many of the remainder art worth eleven cents per foot? Not E. Damen, cartoonist for the St. Louis section of THE SHOW WORLD, working under full steam on new ideas for the St. Louis page. _s shown how through misapplication of my power; nable'power and the exhibitors* and power misapplied wrecks havoc and show me one who has not benefited exchanges in its clutches, it proceed- creates discontent, and brings into through his association with me. ed, vampire-like, to suck the life- being a re-generating influence. I have learneid this one great les- blood from the industry. Believing As I look back upon my vaudeville son in power—that the greater the its position to be unassailable it be- experience I can draw a parallel in power imposed in a man, the greater gan by levying an obnoxious weekly the misapplied power of the first is the necessity for meekness, gentle- royalty upon the very men who made vaudeville association as compared to ness, kindness and consideration of its power and existence possible. So the motion picture Trust of today, his fellow men. Oppression is a conscious was it of its own strength, Twelve years ago when a number of boomerang that weakens the power it did not even wait to find the effect vaudeville men formed the first of the oppressor. The victim of mis- of this added burden, but began at vaudeville association, certain of directed power often becomes the once in an endeavor to centralize its the members of that association were very master of the situation, power by lopping off exchanges and so flushed with their fancied power, I would not have the moving pic- exhibitors without regard to the sac- and so misled by a warped judgment ture men of America believe that I rifice of investment involved or the that they tried to put into effect am seeking more power either for consequences entailed. Without warn- measures similar to those which the myself or for my company. I know ing, men who had spent thousands of moving picture Trust has been en- that our company possesses today the dollars building up their business, deavoring to foist upon its adherents, greatest power that it can ever have, pioneers who had blazed the way for That original association fell beneath the power of quality of goods, the the balance count on for Jrakes The Biggest Show fellow,—certainly not the quality seeker. Licensed exhibitors will tell you,, without reserve, that these statements] are true, and they are insisting, every change day, on products of the threel manufacturers referred to and willj have nothing else,—if they I know exhibitors, in the hot-bed] of competition, who are using three, changes a week, of two reels each, one reel of first run and one under six days old, who are packing their houses daily, their patrons invariably returning a second time with numer¬ ous friends on the following day. Competitive houses are running change daily, using old stuff, their theaters fitted up elegantly and oper¬ ating at additional expense for light¬ ings, signs, etc., yet their business is actually far below the man who banks| on quality. The Wild Cat Exchange. At the present time, it is hardly possible for manufacturers to turn out 21 reels of perfect film weekly, where¬ as six or seven can be selected veryj easily. Licensed manufacturers 1 ' not meet the demand and keep it as has been proven, past and pres The real independent makers bringing out subjects that play havoc! with the licensed trade, although the wild cat variety does much to weaker the genuine independent movemen and will continue to do so until ex¬ hibitors and the public are educate to insist on films bearing trade-mark distinguishing them from the infer' 0 Facts should be circulated and »°] so much uncertain and inco^KP' 1 Page 27) (continued 01