The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry (1914)

Men to whom the theatre is wholly without appeal, men emboldened by divine incentive, are now on their way to lands where a civilized human being never ventured before, and it is these Henry M. Stanleys of the second decade of the twentieth century who will perpetuate the vogue of motion pictures, and when the public is invited to gaze on such productions the impression created will be somewhat similar to that which one might have in seeing "A Million Bid" today, if the spectator had not entered a photoplay house since the days of "The Chase." Toward the end of 1913, the influence of the motion picture in shaping and revealing public sentiment was aptly illustrated through the experience of Hal Reid, erstwhile apostle of melodrama, author of a score of thrillers, and present-day all-round film promoter. Mr. Reid had been with various producing concerns, in the capacity of director and scenario editor, without achieving the unusual. Evidently Mr. Reid believed that the vicissitudes of one Harry Thaw would make a compelling subject, and as Mr. Reid once wrote and produced a play in which the slayer of Stanford White was sympathetically pictured, h« was able to obtain the aid and co-operation of Thaw himself. Proceeding to Sherbrooke, Canada, and other Canadian and New Hampshire cities, Mr. Reid secured less than 500 feet of film, yet in a half dozen of New York's vaudeville theatres of the first grade, for an entire week, the audiences were limited by the capacity, and twice daily in each the spectacle of the crowds cheering the alleged madman was on view. It was at this time that several of the big city dailies reversed their attitude toward Thaw, and it is generally conceded that these Thaw films and the manner they were re