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Feb., 1931] BANQUET SPEECHES 233
consented to introduce the various producers and guests this evening— Mr. W. H. Hays, President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc.
MR. HAYS: In a world where industry literally must keep its eye on the keyhole of the laboratory if it is to endure, and where what happens in a test-tube may very probably entirely obliterate the art and put a new one in its place, I don't have to emphasize the importance of your activities to the motion picture industry. It is a great satisfaction to be able to contact with those whose business, mainly precise discovery, is not affected at all by what may be the psychological condition of a people and an imaginary or so-called depression which appears to be upon us.
I was very interested in the speech by your Vice-President. He spoke of the "tinkling" which has always been with the movies. About twenty-five years ago that started. A merchant from a small town in Wisconsin walked into a theater somewhere in a side street in Chicago, saw a flickering shadow and was enamoured of it. He borrowed money on his little store and came back and bought that little motion picture theater. He then hired a little boy to play the piano and do the "tinkling" before and after the picture. As he sat and sold and took tickets most of the time, he watched the effect of the music on the audience — this is a true incident. After one show, he suggested to the boy at the piano: "At the next show 'tinkle' the piano during the picture and see what happens." The boy did so, and that was the first time that music accompanied a picture. That merchant was Carl Laemmle and the little boy was Sam Katz.
My appreciation of the moment is known to you all; my function is to present these gentlemen who are here to join with me in this appreciation. The first one is not only a ranking officer in a company, but is in charge of all its product; he has the soul and vision of an artist, and his great achievement has been to lead the way in raising the standard of our motion pictures — Mr. J. Lasky, VicePresident of Paramount.
MR. LASKY: Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: When I was a small boy I had several ambitions: first, to be a fireman ; second, to be a soldier; third, to be a sailor; and the other, to be an engineer; but until now I have never attained the ambition of being an engineer. After hearing the remarks of your President, however, I find I am an engineer. Just imagine wishing for something you had all the