The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 180 The Educational Screen MOTION PICTURES— NOT FOR THEATRES By ARTHUR EDWIN KROWS The thirty-seventh month of the first detailed history of the non-theatrical field of motion pictures. Concerned primarily with screen rations for the progressive churches of North America. THEY took an entire floor in the Ma- sonic Temple Building, New York. I remember the suppressed excitement of most of the other non-theatrical tenants there when Paul Smith and his asso- ciates moved in. Their offices had few if any partitions, as I recall, but many fine tables, desks and chairs. We used to glimpse busy conferences in progress there when the passing elevators stopped for impressive passengers to get on or oflf. At first all those to be seen seemed to be clergymen. Some we knew—for instance, James Shields, J. E. Holley and Ilsley Boone. After awhile we recog- nized others, in the lay ranks. Later some fellow non-theatrical worker, whom we knew well enough to chaff about sluggish business, would suddenly become tight- lipped, and a week or two thereafter we would find him working for the Ameri- can Motion Picture Corporation. The Corporation's fundamental idea, suggested, perhaps, by Edison's "Con- quest Pictures" plan, which had been introduced into the theatres by George Kleine without sufficient success, was to provide non-theatrical exhibitors with unit programs—that is, completely or- ganized and balanced individual enter- tainments—together with all needed equipment. To supply projectors, screens, extra reels, rewinds, splicing-blocks and so forth was a relatively simple matter, orders for such apparatus being merely relayed to the regular dealers in such goods. "Local aids in advertising," a much touted form of the service, com- prised program leaflets, announcements for newspapers, window cards and posters. This material was prepared at headquarters; and no doubt there might have been detected here the influence of Bronson Batchelor, publicity man who was on the board of directors. "Music cues," guiding the customer into com- binations of standard musical excerpts for "atmospheric" accompaniment to his show, in all likelihood reflected the judgment of Henry Bollman, one-time student of the Boston Conservatory. John Edgerton seems to have been at times rather sophomoric in his enthusi- asm. Early in 1925 he was quoted by the press as saying that plans for the church to enter the motion picture busi- ness on a competitive basis with the theatres, "which were making many films of dubious quality," were being submitted to all church people in the United States. "We have at our disposal 10,000 Y.M.C.A. buildings and church audi- toriums," he said. "We propose to turn these into motion picture theatres and then proceed to produce suitable films." Smith was wiser. He kept his glowing utterances for his backers and his sub- scribers, who needed the principal en- couragement. It was all very well to talk of competing with theatres, but that was something for the theatrical man- agers to wake up some day and find out. After all, the American Motion Picture Corporation material was composed mostly of used theatrical stuff and there was nothing to be gained by stirring up antagonism of the professional showmen when they themselves were taking no particular action against this attempted diversion of their audiences. In other words, better to let sleeping dogs lie. Service was rendered from head- quarters in New York, and from twelve branch offices situated at Cleveland, Bos- ton, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Missouri, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Minne- apolis, Atlanta, Omaha, and Buffalo and Sycracuse in New York State. About ten others were slated to open as the President and treasurer of Paul Smith's American Motion Picture Corporation was William H. Barr of the National Founders group. business grew. Thirty program units, averaging six reels each, were offered for rental as suitable to general aud- iences. Looking casually at the list one recognizes used Triangle features, old Charlie Chaplins, an Ernest Shipman subject or two, Helen Keller's picture "Deliverance," and Knud Rasmussen's celluloid record of his then recent arctic dash, with miscellaneous travelogues in- terspersed. These were for the "weekly unit" programs. For serious-minded church audiences there were forty one- reel "Bible Pictures" presented in paiis, mostly in story form. Then offer was made, "on an especial lyceum course plan," of Holley's Holy Land series in thirty-six reels, without immediately mentioning Holley; of Ben- jamin Chapin's "Lincoln Cycle," com- prising eight "chapters" of two reels apiece; thirteen reels on geography under the general title "The United States—a Ten Talent Nation," which, from the description, strongly resembled a series featured long before by the Bureau of Commercial Economics, and a few extra- special subjects to be had by particular arrangement, including Russell Conwell's "Johnny Ring and the Captain's Sword." For those who passed all this in favor of composing their own programs from material not specifically named in the general literature, prospective sub- scribers were offered selections from the Beseler Educational Library of approxi- mately 1,000 reels, referred to with slight exaggeration as "the first educational film service to be established in this coun- try." By another sales hyperbole it was claimed that "The American Motion Pic- ture Corporation has set a new safety standard in the non-theatrical field, in that all releases are printed on non- inflammable or acetate film." In the Educational Division some pro- duction was announced, but as far as I know, nothing of importance was done that way unless it was to gather some ready-made film to be reedited into origi- nally unintended form, as so many so- called educational releases always have been made. However, the announcements were ambitious enough. Jeremiah Whipple Jenks, research professor of government and public administration at New York University (named on the board of di- rectors), was declared to be preparing twenty reels on civics based on a text- book which he had written in collabora- tion with his university colleague, Rufus Daniel Smith. This must have been be- cause they could not come to terms about acquiring Fred Wythe's valuable civics series. Paul Smith certainly was ac- quainted with it; it was available; and Wythe's office was even then just a few floors above in the same building. An- other announced series was one on eco- nomics, to be based on a book by Dr. Joseph French Johnson, professor of political economy at New York Univer- sity. Dr. Johnson was to supervise pro- duction. The Jenks series was to be entitled "We and Our Government", that of Johnson, "We and Our Work." I have seen no evidence of the completion of either. John E. Edgerton was chairman of the board of directors. The functions of president and treasurer, and very active indeed they were for a time, were com- bined in the person of William H. Barr, president of the National Founders As- sociation. Dr. Paul Smith and Frank