The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

October, 194} Page 297 "great divide" arises between the theatri- cal and non-theatrical fields—the purpose of the theatre is entertainment: of the schools, education, including education in the sense of advertising and propa- ganda. That function of the theatre has been iterated and reiterated from the time, in 1910, when Frank Woods wrote in the New York Dramatic Mirror, "The primary purpose of the theatre is enter- tainment." Terry Ramsaye told it flatly to the educat<jrs he addressed in 1930 at the Visual Instruction Section of the Ohio State University Educational Con- ference. "Motion pictures are more ad- apted to mass education than te-xtbooks," he said then. "The motion picture in- dustry is purely an amusement industry and must not be looked to for the de- velopment of visual education technique." The notion that motion pictures should be shown only in theatres—or, at least under theatrical superintendence—was once highly popular as a guiding prin- ciple of house management. It was even applied to the matter of classroom pic- tures. An instance was provided bj Managing Director Winstock, of the National .Amusement Company, of Port- land, Oregon, in April, 1914, toward the close of the school year. He proposed at that time to the local school board to show institutional pictures on history, geography, animal life and other likely subjects, at actual cost, one day each week. But the outstanding instance of this sort of cooperation probably will always remain that of Harry M. Cran- dall, who, in December, 1920, offered the Washington, D. C, board of edu- cation his chain of six modern theatres for use by the district schools. The school system itself had no appropriation for visual education, and only a free serv- ice of this sort would enable them to benefit from this useful new apparatus. Despite Crandall's well known interest in matters of civic benefit, there was the usual suspicion of the "publicity stunt." and, of course, if such cooperation should prove acceptable, the existing school cur- riculum would require revision to ac- coinnio<late it. By degrees the fears were allayed, largely through the confidence of Dr. Frank M. Ballon, superintendent of Washington schools, and plans were set afoot to make room in the teaching schedules. Crandall also prepared. June 1. 1922 he instituted what he called his Public Service and Educational Depart- ment with offices in his Metropolitan Theatre. The screenings for the depart- ment were to be held in the private pro- jection room of the theatre, not interfer- ing with regular performances in the auditorium. Crandall was especially fortunate in his choice of an officer to command the department. Mrs. Harriet Hawley Locher had been a popular figure in social act- ivities in Washington, and had long served as motion picture chairman of the District of Columbia Federated Women's Clubs. She entered into her new duties whole-heartedly, with discriminating in- telligence, and a clear appreciation of Crandall's own idea of making the neighborhood theatre useful in community liff. Some tests were first made with readily available films of obvious educational value. They were screened for selected classes of grade school pupils brought to the theatre at intervals over a period of several weeks. Results were carefully studied and found to be highly favorable to continuance of the project. May 25, 1923, representatives of the various edu- cational groups, including not only Wash- ington public school officials, but dele- gates from the National Education .^s- sociation, Government motion picture sections, and the Motion Picture Pro- ducers and Distributors of .America, de- cided upon the form of the project. Up- on their recommendation the local board of education assigned a teacher, Miss Elizabeth Dyer, to give her entire time to correlation of the pictures to be used with the regular units of instruction. Harry Crandall, of Washington, D. C, will always be the shining exam- ple of the theatrical manager who lives in harmony with the schools. Actual work began in October, 1923, when classes attended the six Crandall theatres and one other to serve an other- wise inconvenient school location. At this last-named theatre there was no private projection room suflSciently large, so the regular morning show was delayed for half an hour and the children were brought to the auditorium at 9:30 A. M. Hours chosen for the screenings were generally at the close of the morning and afternoon classroom sessions that pupil groups might be disbanded directly at the theatres instead of being returned to the schools for dismissal. A study period lasted approximately fifty minutes, allowing for the repeat of a one-reel sub- ject and relevant discussion. During summer months, when regular schools were closed, the work was continued in substantially the same manner for the benefit of the Daily Vacation Bible Schools. This strictly pedagogical work was a major activity, but not the only one. At the outset of the service an Advisory Board has been formed, its members selected from many lines of education and social service—Boy and Girl Sc()Uts, Camp Fire Girls, Boys Clubs, Muni- cipal Playground -Association, Y.M.C..A. and Children of the American Revolu- tion. Various athletic organizations were encouraged to hold meetings in the Metropolitan Theatre projection room to study pertinent reels. Americanization groups of adult aliens learned there to qualify for citizenship. To serve these varied needs films were obtained from non-theatrical libraries as well as from the regular exchanges. Some of the work expanded into regular offerings in the theatres themselves, as, for in- stance, the now-established Saturday morning matinees for children. October 31, 1925, the start of the second season of the Saturday morning programs, the occasion was graced by the approving presence of the First Lady of the Land. Mrs. Calvin Coolidge. -As still further stimulation of com- munity interest, a motion picture pro- duction unit photographed certain acti- vities of the interested groups, such as scenes at the municipal playgrounds, "safety first" precautions of Fire and Police Departments, and historical pageants. In the summer of 1925 Pathe head- quarters in New York City engaged Miss Regge Doran, who had been doing work resembling that of Mrs. Locher for West Coast Theatres, Inc., and brought her east to take charge of a new Depart- ment of Public Relations. Her duties were to show the managers of theatres using Pathe product how to keep on good terms with their public, and so to pave the way for "better pictures for larger audiences." Her achievement on the Pacific seaboard had been notably in the establishment of "children's mat- inees," although in the new place these were to represent but a small part of her endeavors. The private projection room at the Metropolitan Theatre in Washington, which Mrs. Locher employed mainly in her useful work, had a comfortable cap- acity of ninety persons. But the inspec- tion rooms in most neighlwrliood thea- tres are veritable cubbyholes, and would be of no use whatever in adapting so ex- tensive a program as hers to their needs. Like the extra theatre requisitioned by Crandall to reach pupils at the outlying school, they would be obliged to use their auditoriums, and, in that situation, the only available times for educational and social service programs would be when there were no paying audiences to come in. To be considered, also, of course, would be the convenience of those who wish to attend the especial performance. So it has come about that the time which the exhibitors recommend most heartily for cooperative screenings is Saturday morning. It was not a new idea. Dur- ing the winter season starting October 23, 1915, at Proctor's Leland Theatre at Albany, New York, the manager ran educational films for school children on Saturday mornings under the auspices of (Continued on page 319)