Cinema News and Property Gazette (1912)

July, 1912. THE CINEMA. 13 "A PERFECT JEWEL." BY LES. WALKER. Another, a good chap in HALLO ! Just the man I want to see." " What's the matter now, Mr. Newcomer ? " " I want a manager. Now, you've had some experience ? " " Yes, and varied ; takes a bit of thinking out." " So I believe." " My first manager was a kind of burnt offering to the altar of fashion. Hair arranged as if by a chart. Introduced by high influence. But his talent all lay in the gold-mounted walking-stick he carried." " No good ? " " Lasted 24 hours with me. his way, was blessed with a swelled head. Knew everything. I.D.T." "I.D.T. ?" " Yes ; I don't think ! Interfered with everything he knew nothing about. Got at loggerheads with my operator. Waited an opportunity for some slight mistake to happen, sacked the operator on a minute's notice. Said 'I'll run the "show" through and show you how to work a bioscope.' " " And the result ? " " Oh ! he broke down four times on the first spool, and set fire to 3,000 feet before half time." " Then he got sacked ? " " Well ! to tell the truth, he never waited to get it." " Hopped it! " ANOTHER THEATRE SOLD THROUGH "THE CINEMA." Dear Sir, — I am extremely pleased to be able to say that the article on the Penge Picturedrome, which appeared in the April issue of "The Cinema," resulted in a very satisfactory sale. I received quite a number of applications as a result of the article, and I think this speaks well for the influential circulation of your paper. Yours faithfully, D. A. THOMSON. when he got the public's favour, he intended joining himBut I tumbled. He left quick." "Rather! " He's "It." " I've got a chap now. He's 'it.' To say he's popular is small talk. He gets among the people, makes himself one of them. The very children call him by his Christian name, or ' Uncle.' He carries the babies upstairs for the mothers. That just reminds me, I told one of my other managers about this baby ' dodge.' So to be in the hunt he started the game. The first attempt, he dropped the child down a flight and a-half of stairs." "Great Scott!! " " Yes. I had to transfer him to another hall next day, or I believe the female inhabitants would have lynched him." " Poor chap ! " " Never mind. It's the other chap I'm talking about. He's had experience in every branch of the business. Had to rough it. Been through the mill. Can operate as well as the man in the box." " Is that so ? " 30, Hillside Gardens, Highgate, N The Full of Confidence Man. " Had one at my place in the North. Full of confidence. ' Work a week for nothing just to show -youmy -abilities ' kind of chap. Commenced by curtailing the printing, staff, and running sixmonths-old films. Mind ! severe opposition all around me, at that. " Receipts went down of course ? " " Certainly. Said he couldn't understand it. To cap all, he got a friend to rent a public hall near by, and Value of Personality. " Yes ; he lets the operator have a night off, now and then. The staff idolise him, and work for him as they never did for any other manager I had there. At advertising, he is an expert. Gets more out of his ' personality ' than 20,000 handbills would do. He goes among the patrons and assists in anything for the welfare of the district, no matter what denomination. He is just as much at home among my better-class patrons as among the cheaper paying ones. He dotes on opposition because it develops his skill in ' advert dodges,' and he always plays a fair game. Last, but not least, though his popularity as a manager is a by-word, he does not make the error of assuming that he is also the proprietor." " You've got a jewel." " Guess I have. And I mean to stick to him." Where a picture story is told, it must be easily followed, and the end of it must not be inevitable, or it falls very flat. The public will have a good story, no matter how improbable, or even impossible, it may be. There is no time to think about the likelihood of the thing ever happening in real life ; it is sufficient if it is thrilling and capable of holding the attention of an audience to the end. — Evening News. A mine of information in a Walturdaw Catalogue, send for it post free 9d. If the Church cannot hold its own against picture palaces, then it is time we had a fresh lot of parsons. — Rev. Everard Digby. The Biograph is making a drama of its own, and a drama that will necessitate an addition to the number of the Muses. — The Standard. Like another "Good Thing," Fools of Society, The Great Moment, Gipsy Blood, etc., are still going strong (Walturdaw).