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32 THE MOTION PICTURE as they pass the ticket window, commenting favorably and un- favorably upon the film pictures which they have seen a few minutes before. In this manner the manager may learn when any particular picture has favorable comment, and may endeavor to have his film exchange supply more of the same class; likewise, when any picture has a flood of unfavorable comment among the theatergoers them- selves, the manager may try to influence his film exchange to avoid sending him that class of subject. The words, "try to influence his film exchange," are chosen carefully to express the true position of the exhibitor, or theater manager, in the matter of obtaining film pictures acceptable to his patrons. The film exchanges as a rule take all the film pictures pro- duced by the particular manufacturers from whom they buy. All of these film reels look alike to the film exchange man, and he would like to send them indiscriminately to his customers, to the exhibitors, or to theater managers. The service the theater manager will get, therefore, will be "hit or miss" of the film exchange stock of reels unless some influence is used by the manager to govern the classes of pictures furnished him. Film exchanges are notoriously lax in the matter of selecting pictures for particular theaters. If the film service is to be what the manager desires, the deliveries of the film exchange must be watched constantly and carefully. The manager who has learned the tastes of his audience should consider their tastes as a requirement upon him to obtain the pre- ferred classes of pictures from his film exchange. The responsive- ness of the audience in the theater is one barometer of public ap- proval; the attitude and conduct of patrons leaving the theater is another. The ticket sales will be another, but this last is not so quick in its indications of response. When a picture pleases the audience, it may be the specific picture, or it may be the general class to which the picture belongs; in one neighborhood, dramatic and scenic may please more than comic or historical; in another nothing but comics can draw the crowds and send them away smiling. The Program. Whether vaudeville is advisable and profitable, and whether the song is a drawing card or whether the audience would rather have solid pictures, all may be learned from watching the house during the performance and watching the faces and com- 196