We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
from Dr. William Lewin, Managing Editor, 125 Lincoln Avenue, Newark, New Jersey.
The International Federation of Catholic Alumnae was the first national organization to set up a previewing service. It reviews pictures on both coasts and publishes a joint list under the title "Endorsed Motion Pictures" which is circulated to a thousand or more outstanding leaders in Catholic churches and schools. "Endorsed Motion Pictures" may be subscribed for at $1.00 per year by addressing Mrs. Richard G. Auspitzer, Subscription Manager, 35 Lawrence Avenue, Lawrence, L. I., N. Y.
Mrs. James F. Looram is chairman of the Motion Picture Bureau of the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae and Mrs. Thomas Hearn, 205 South McCarty Drive, Beverly Hills, California, is chairman of the west coast committee.
In addition to "Endorsed Motion Pictures" the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae has two sources of outlet for information about films: a weekly list of endorsed pictures which goes to editors of Catholic publications and a few church leaders and a weekly radio broadcast prepared by Mrs. James F. Looram, the chairman, for circulation to many leading radio stations.
Various Preview Lists
In addition to the preview lists which have been specifically mentioned, the following lists are officially circulated by preview groups: Reports of the California Congress of Parents and Teachers appear monthly in the California Parent Teacher Magazine and weekly in the Los Angeles School Journal; a weekly guide is edited by the Daughters of the American Revolution which may be secured from its west coast chairman; the National Council of Jewish Women and the National Society of New England Women send mimeographed copies of their lists to their membership; the Women's University Club prints a small bulletin with a yearly subscription rate of $1.00 a year; the South California Council of Federated Church Women edits a monthly report.
Probably the most widely circulated list is "Selected Motion Pictures" published by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America" at the request of East and West Coast Preview groups. This reaches each month approximately 30,000 civic leaders who rebroadcast the information it contains through such media as local newspapers, school and library bulletin boards, local telephone committees, radio stations and announcements in clubs, community organizations and from church pulpits, so that these evaluations of films reach millions of people throughout the United States, all of whom have an active interest in films and are potential promoters of the higher grade of product turned out by the industry.
"Motion Picture and the Family"
In addition to "Selected Motion Pictures" the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America has another monthly publication, "The Motion Picture and the Family." Published in
midmonth, this carries six regular departments. These are the Cleveland Library bookmarks, to which reference has been made; "Movies for the Pupil and Teacher," in which Sarah MacLean Mullen, motion picture critic for "Scholastic Magazine," reviews feature films which are of distinct interest and value for classroom discussion; "Lessons from the Movies," in which Dr. Howard LeSourd, dean of the Boston University Graduate School, appraises current films from the standpoint of social values; "What's Next in Hollywood.?" in which Mrs. Thomas G. Winter of the Community Service Department of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America calls attention to notable films in the process of production; "A Clubwoman Chats on Films for the Family," in which Mrs. William Dick Sporborg, chairman of the East Coast Preview Committee, adjudges the industry output from the viewpoint of the civic leader, and a department which gives informal glimpses of the life of film stars, signed simply The Observer.
The Association's two publications are available free of charge to Better Films Councils, the motion picture chairman of local organizations interested in special types of entertainment and the success of those photoplays having particularly great cultural value, and to professional people requesting them.
Motion Picture Councils
It is estimated that approximately 3,000 motion picture councils and committees exist in the United States whose primary function is to stimulate interest in and patronage of films of the higher type. Through the close contact it maintains with these groups the Community Service Department is frequently able to mobilize them in support of photoplays of especial merit, particularly those which are based on literary classics, which have social import or are of such unusual artistry as to commend themselves to civic organizations.
A recent development resulting in large measure from the introduction of photoplay appreciation into the curricula of secondary schools has been the formation of large numbers of photoplay appreciation clubs and junior motion picture councils. Many of these junior groups regularly preview films, publish their evaluations in the school papers and post them on the bulletin boards. They also stimulate in every possible way patronage of the higher type of films. This junior movement has gained special impetus in New Haven, where 30 junior motion picture councils exist in an equal number of schools, and where as a direct result of their efforts as many as 2,000 pupils have attended showings of outstanding films, accompanied by their teachers, with classroom discussion following. With the faculty advisors of these junior councils the Community Service Department also maintains a close relationship, supplying its publications for their use and rendering whatever additional assistance it can.
796