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The Unspeakable Photo-Play 175 :cidents. For after some twenty sars of experiment and activity in Lis screen department the sum total f creditable or worthy achievement pitifully meagre. Among the scores f directors not more than three or )ur have come to the front that are otable. And of films that possess snuine value and significance about a ozen cover the list, and of these the lost were made in Germany and aly. There have been many pre- vious efforts on which fabulous ims have been spent, both here and Droad, but bigness and extravagance lean nothing in themselves and these samples have been no better intrin- cally than the smaller productions at cascade ceaselessly from the num- rous studios. Taking everything into considera- :on, the news is not unwelcome that ie photo-play is losing its popular avor. We hear that on all sides. The novie public is getting bored. Com- laint, not only deep but loud, pro- eeds from the manufacturers and ex- ibitors. Receipts have fallen off larmingly. That is one of the prin- .pal reasons why Dr. Will Hays has ieen called in to diagnose and pre- cribe remedies for a very sick busi- less. Financiers and bankers have town suspicious of an industry, reck- issly conducted, whose earlier run of ortune was due more to good luck ban to the sound judgment of those ontrolling it; consequently credit has een sharply restricted. Resultantly production has been curtailed; many studios have suspended operations temporarily while others have reduced their output; re-releases of old films have been resorted to; hundreds of actors and others have been thrown out of employment; exhibitors con- tinue to report a shrinkage in patron- age. Will the crowd be attracted back again unless the played out photo-play is relegated to the limbo of oblivion, or something approximating it? One lesson experience has taught is that the screen cannot compete with the "spoken drama." Nevertheless, the motion picture has its place—a very important place—in the scheme of modern life. But it will have to be developed along the lines of its actual potentialities and within the limits of its legitimate province. In certain directions its value is meas- ureless. As an educational factor it has tremendous possibilities. We can- not overestimate its unique ability to place before our eyes the peoples and customs and countries of the world, a truly enlightening and civilizing function. It supplements the work of the newspaper in telling the story of current events in graphic form with speed and facility, and therein pos- sesses a field for wider enterprise than has yet been displayed. Like the newspaper, too, it can be utilized in- directly to mould public opinion, a power that carries with it great re- sponsibility. It can perform a great patriotic service in aiding in the (Concluded on page 195)