Der Kinematograph (Oct 1907)

No. 44. L For Our Eiiglish readers. Moving picture shows in the United^States. (From Our Special Correspcndenl.) Moving Dietere shows in the United States, altbough a widerspread fad, show elenents of permancncy in the steady improvement in film subjects. While coitiic subjects draw all sorts oi people, and sen-e as good advertising Cards or "cafches", tht inore solid subjects draw the betfer classes, who iind their knowledne iiicreased aml their tninds broadeiied by films depictmy ioreigii laiids and unportant news events. The American, in the lun^ ruii, is practica): To illustralc: The Mcyde at a vehicle foi plcasure had a tremendous run; fortuacs were won in building the wheels for pleasure-seekers, and were just as quickly lost when plciMirc-Mxkers wcarieJ ot tliat sort o' diversioii, bu! iiow Xhv Airtruan's "sobcr, secMud tlioughi" is revivin^; ihe bi- cytl».' as a vehide for bus ness. So M v, ill surely bc with the inoviiig-picture business if its ^resetit popularity should wane. The "shows" will remain as a mediuiA for specta- cular preseatation oi news events, just as tlie tlieatre buil- dings reouiia «rtwn everybody has become tired of the Comic opcra, or other attraction, with its 'pbeoomeoal run*. TheWaning of the present popularity of the moving-picture business does not seem, however, to be even a reniote possibility, for the reason itiat the .shows" have brought out, iiid are holdin^, a clas^ of people not reactied by the average ttaeatre. In otber words, tbe .shows* have aeated Thousands of inoviny-picti:rf sIk>ws in ^merica are located in slores, or shops, in ttie prmcipal streets, and niany of them \^erc started with jiist eiiough capital to pay ior the equipment and a month s :ept. TIr enlrance fee is usually placed at hve cenis. -lu propneior uepending m>oa a fresh audience every iiiteen ur twenty niinutes to ninbane him for bis outlay and pay bim a proiit. The „shows" are not interfered with by the authorities except where indifference to fire regulations is apparent, or where objectionable film sub ects are i ^ lnbittd. Between the filnis, songs are sung by persons hired for the purpose, and the songs are iliustrated by means oi highly-colored stereop- ticon slides. The "sbows" bave stimulated other lines of busioess, drawing to the streets in wbicb they are located thnwrti of pcfiOM. ami motk oi tkrow. mit tbe "sbow", become promeoaders, who inspect the wIndow displays of rrerohaiidise. Many a street iti American cities and towns Owes itä "boom" lu business, and consequent rise in real •ilfle «ihwii. t» Hm pw—w of Mviac-fichMe shows. Some Opposition to the moviiii; pictun- shows has beert, and is, tnanifested by theatre ni.inaners. but this. time will probably show, is about as short-siyhted .is !lie t)(i[)Ositioii displayed years age by handcompusitors to type setting machines, despite temporary embarrassment of sonie hand- ooapositors, eventually increased prodnction to the profit of afl ooacerned, so the moving-pictuie shows will aid the amMdHCot busioess by frequently, or regularly, drawing from tlieir bomes persons not in the habit of going out- doors for amusenient. .Moreover, the five or ten-ccnt fee draws inany who could noi pay theatre charges children. by deinandin« that a heavy license ta.x be le\ied upoii the inovinK pictun- shows but ttie populär sensi- df justice is beginning to assert itself n objection to placiiiy upoi; a lifteeo-minule and live-cent show tbe same tax placed upon a two-hoiw aad Wly-ccat CicaMcal pcfiofauuice. It is true that some o' the moving-picture shows have made theinselves obnoxious by using phonographs outdoors (usually over ihc L-iitrance) to attract attention Thiee or four phonographs outdoors in one block make botb night and day bideous, but this din is already giving way to tbe quict, and just as atlraclive. advertising method of employing cotored ckctik : ligbts, arranged about tbe doors and blank Windows. Surely, and not very slowly. tlie moving-picture showmen are adapting themselves to tlie conditions necessary to niake their business a [»ertnaiieot feature ot Amei:can streets, anü herem they show the American mstimt oi -niaking it pay" Nothing in tnismess in America is appreciated unless *it pays". State-inaintai- ned theatres do not exist, aad no propositioä for IMt estabtialiment is evcr serioiialy eateitained. Populär belief IS ttiat such institations would "not pay'. Many, many decades must elapse be<ore the A -ur caii w li enterlain doubt of the wisdoni of p^vate ei:ierprise. and yet ht is not t>!iiid to ttie evils oi trusts an l other combinatio:>s. His renieüy for such evils is coinpetition. He does not surrender to the idea of socialism because soinc nCB have destroyed competition for their own t>enefit. Coming to the American manufacturer of films, he knows the transiiii!. or temporary iiattire < f tfimic sub- jects, and is alrcad> t;nini; evidence ot his intetiiion to make himself needed l>\ .lU .la^scs oi pcopli- Ht- is makinc; some daring invasions into the sennon and soug- service field, and does not hesitate to declare that tbe schoois, public and private, will soon come lo bim for the most effective n aa » oi teacbii^ bistoiy, geography, and other subjects. It is impossible to exaggerate the possibilities of the moving-picture business in America. Uni|uesti<)iiablv it is destined to raise the Standard uf intelligence, and stimuiatc sodal liie, by sbowing the average person how his fellow- men in all parts of tbe world tUak or feel, as he doet, and by giviag Um ia pictoiial aad nMvtag form ttw aub- stMMc Ol m «mM iMniac. Wm. H. Kailir. Here and th KInematography for abroad. The British Consul in Odessa says Üiat a good busi- ness (.an be done in kmi-inatograpti -pictures in that town. In Barcelona, also, the detnand is growing, and, with the help of a capable agent a paying business can be donc. He who baa ao cooaection witb tbese places shoald, m boMi i a atoac es. advertiae. A new use for klnematOKraphy. At the congress oi German nerve Oodors in Oiesden, on tbe 15*^, and at tbe congress of Oerman aataral in- vestigators and Doctors on tbe 18*" bist exceedingiy in- teresting kinematographic matter was demonstrated by Dr. Carl Reicher it was the original idea of this man tO give again on iiiin band unbroken series of slices uf the for instance, but it also tiirns their minds towards public 1 human brain, and, in seeing the rapid succession of thc.se amnaements generaUy, and in tbis way cteates future casto-loovel Uvias pictures, the impweioa as ii the extremely for ffei iMüm TIm oif MlI ioa mmttif ibo«« ümM icmi^iGiM4y iwtiii veaaob aad of the biaia lösten»