The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

The Educational Screen THE CHRISTIAN HERALD is plan- ning to do things—in fact, has be- gan doing them, to judge from a Conversation m enjoyed recently with M, Graham Patterson, the dynamic pub- lisher of that magazine. The Christian Herald, in combination with certain other interests, proposes to go at the motion pic- tures problem on a large scale. It has formed The Christian Herald Motion Pic- ture Bureau—with headquarters in the Bi- ble House, New York City—which will lerve the non-theatrical field exclusively. They are not making the grave mistake of thinking that they can serve the huge field from New York City. Branch offices will be opened rapidly in key cities throughout the country to take care of the churches and schools in the same effective way that the theatrical exchanges serve the theatres. Definite announcement of the plan ap- pears in the issue of September 2nd, under the caption, "Churches Sure of Films," written by Rae D. Henkle, managing edi- tor. Some of the reasons which prompted the step are given as follows: "Ministers and laymen in every section of the country are aroused by the abuse of the film in the hands of an amusement- purveying industry, the boycotting of the Church by commercial distributors, and the fact that under existing conditions there is grave danger that approximately ten thousand projecting machines already installed in churches will be made useless for want of acceptable pictures. "The Christian Herald is convinced that the motion-picture is of inestimable value in spreading the message of the church. I believe every church should look on a motion-picture projector as a necessary part of the equipment of the church plant, be- cause a good picture leaves an impression that it is impossible to obtain with either the written or spoken word. "Not a single reel of film for theatrical uses will be supplied by any of the branches. Every single foot of film that is distributed through the Christian Herald Motion-Picture Bureau will be inspected and stamped with the guarantee of the Christian Herald that it conforms to the highest standards of morals and good tast« A library of unusual excellence has been formed and additional subjects are bein« constantly added to it. Far-reaching plana for the production of pictures of unl usual artistic merit with missionary back! grounds are being formulated, but the oufl put will include all classes of film. TherB are Bible stories, travel reels, comedies an! dramas with clean, wholesome stories fo8 entertainment, natural-history subject^ camping, hunting and fishing pictures, exl ploration, and everything else that would gfl to make a diversified entertainment for a mid-week evening or to provide the iWuM tration for a Sunday evening lecture. "The Christian Herald believes the Church is entitled to consideration in thfl making and marketing of motion picture* It believes the motion-picture industry is making a big mistake in refusing to havef business relations with the religious an* educational institutions of the country. Tha Church and the school, next to the homq have more to do with molding the lives oi children and young people than any other factors in our national life. On them rests} American culture. On them rests the moral growth of the generation. The all most universal attendance at motion-picture theaters makes the film an extremely im- portant influence that must be taken from commercial hands and placed under the control of devoted and consecrated men who will use it for the highest purposes.1 Whole-souled faith in the power and use- fulness of the pictures is vigorously exj pressed by Mr. Henkle, who represents, oj course, the ideas of the entire organization "More than that, the Church has a re- sponsibility that can not be overlooked til combat in the most effective way the in- fluences that surround and permeate the average motion-picture theater. "The time has come, however, when the film must be restored to something ap- proaching its true function, which is edu- cational, inspirational and informative as well as a medium for entertainment." It is a great idea—a huge undertaking. It will be enormously costly, but success in this high endeavor will justify all the cost. The Christian Herald realizes fully the magnitude of the attempt—knows that everything cannot be done at once—but is willing to tackle the vast problem of or- ganization and development and to accept ;.