Moving Picture World (May - Jun 1918)

.lav 11. L918 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 843 i Motion Picture Educator Conducted by REV. W. H. JACKSON and MARGARET I. MACDONALD , rg-_g <& & g^ij^° gjgLS ^ ^ ^ ^g ^* • j 1 jj j| 5j gjjjS 5 g 5 2 5 S 5 5 Pointers from Our Correspondence Plenty of Suitable Educational Pictures Now on the Market to Start School Programs. By Rev. W. H. Jackson. IT IS very interesting to read the views of the editors of many of the school publications with regard to the place of the moving pictures in the schools. All agree that the pictures possess certain educational powers, but the views as to their adaptability are strangely at variance; some are commendably broad and encouraging, others are somewhat hesitating and halting, while a few, very few, are still in the painful state of a limited acquaintance of either the pictures or their powers; one, only one we are glad to say, passes over the immediate possibilities of the good of the pictures by a vain and foolish reaching out for the improbable and unnecessary, when he refuses 1 to endorse or aid moving pictures in the schools through the medium of his paper "until the pictures synchronize with an explanatory talking machine" trulj' a pitiable state of mind, and a lamentable lack of comprehension of the nature and powers of the picture. There is, however, one idea running through the minds of all school authorities with whom we have come in touch, and that is that there are either not sufficient truly educational pictures to warrant them entering into the matter with enthusiasm, or that the producers are not sufficiently catering to the needs of the schools and that there is too much commercialism to contend with. It is easy to answer these doubting Thomases. There are not only plenty of suitable pictures ready at hand now, but positively more than can be used in making the required beginning of the uses of pictures in the schools ; there are also producers who are giving a justifiable amount of attention to school pictures, their further productions are dependent upon the reception of their present efforts by the schools now; the "too much commercialism" is only that necessary business surrounding new enterprises and business relationships which will decrease as the use of the picture increases. Lacking Pedagogical Principals. There is a justifiable reason advanced that the pictures now before the schools are "lacking pedagogical principals." If this is meant to suggest that the pictures cannot be used in harmony with the text books perhaps for the present we must confess failure at this point, this does not, however, prevent us from saying that the criticism is a most unnecessary one, and one not affecting the main point as to the powerful auxiliary aid of the pictures. Will it surprise some of our interested readers to know that for years an endeavor has been made to arrange with publishers of school text books, to harmonize the relationship of the books and the pictures; that these publishers have given the matter their consideration and have refused to proceed with the same for "commercial reasons." The writer has come in touch personally with one of the largest school text books publishers in the United States, only to learn that the change would be so great (no matter how good) that it would affect their business; it will here be seen that "commercial reasons" are more considered by school book publishers than by picture producers. This, however, should not be advanced by any one as a sufficient reason for not using the pictures as an aid to teaching; for the time being, the place for the pictures is the school auditorium and not the school classroom, it is self evident that the refusal to use pictures in the auditorium because they cannot be used in the classroom is an exceedingly prejudiced and ill-judged one. It is not for educators above all others to expect that completion and perfection should outrun development; they are denying for the moving pictures those very principles they are supposed to teach their scholars, if they were so to invert their expectations of their scholars' requirements in the same way that they are inverting their demands of moving pictures, they would expect a high school graduaf'on from the kindergarten and brand as incompetent any pupil not fulfilling that requirement. Proofs From Experience. There are many schools and colleges where the moving pictures are in use, in some of these places they have had a thorough trial of several years; all with great profit. We have yet to hear the strange — and we admit unexpected — experience that they have failed in any way to reach the highest expectation demanded of them. It is, therefore, the more surprising that with so many witnesses testifying to their advantages that there are still so many reluctant followers; surely they have confidence in their colleagues, that which not one but a number have done, all can do. If any of our readers are still in the doubtful class we shall only be too glad to put them in touch with schools and colleges which have used the moving pictures with great profit in their work, and with great advantage to their scholars; so much so that the more we know of these things the more we are sorry for those who do not know them, and are still groping in that darkness which accompanies a lack of progressiveness and always is accompanied with a certain amount of prejudice; the abolition of prejudice will put the moving pictures in thousands of schools. Interesting Educationals Three Travel Subjects, One Industrial, One Scientific, One Zoological and One Topical Subject. Reviewed by Margaret I. MacDonald. "Following the Course of the Cayuse" (Educational). T.^E joys of the open road viewed from the back of a western horse otherwise known as a cayuse are urged upon the spectator by Robert C. Bruce in this picture which takes us on a delightful trip through Glacier Park in Montana. On the "upper deck" of the cayuse we followed the trail over hazardous passes into the snow-filled valleys of the upper mountains. There are as everyone knows scenes of great beauty in Glacier Park, many of which we meet in a general way without being bothered with names. The center of interest is the pack train, the man and his dog and a few others who move against mountain and sky, past wonderful waterfalls and other lovely sights. "Trinidad" (Pathe). This second largest island of the British West Indies is here shown in intimate detail. The natives are seen in their towns and villages, at th'e corner grocery, building bamboo houses with thatched roofs, driving ox carts, fishing, doing the family washing, bathing and burying their dead. Glimpses of a Mohammedan mosque in course of construction are also shown. This gives a very comprehensive idea of life on this interesting island. "Tacoraa, Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands" (Ford).. This reel of film contains considerable that is interesting, although its last named subject is incomplete. Scenes in and about Tacoma and Olympia give a good idea of that part of the country. Tacoma 300 feet above sea level on Commencement Bay is presented as a commercial town with a busy water front, and prosperous looking business center. Olympia's residential section is nicely illustrated and also Wright Park and Point Defiance Park. Here also is shown that peculiarly modeled building called the Temple of Justice, and also the home of the Governor of Washington. The San Juan Islands, famous for their scenic beauty, number 172, we are told; but we are shut off from viewing their beauties after one or two brief glimpses of their shores. A Liberty Loan cartoon closes the reel. "The Elixir of Life" (Paramount-Bray). The 117th issue of the Paramount-Bray Pictograph presents an interesting illustration of the orange industry in California. The scenes of the picture were photographed in San Bernardino County and show the picking of the fruit in