Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1925)

2536 Motion Picture News Notables in American public life and leaders of the motion picture industry gathered at the Plaza, New York City, for the Fifteenth Anniversary dinner of Pathe News. public regulation may be necessary it ought to be confined to the states, and that in no event ought Congress to be permitted to pass the Federal Censorship Bill. "Gentlemen, I appreciate more than I can say the opportunity of being here. I appreciate the opportunity of congratulating Mr. Cohen upon the splendidly constructive work which has marked the recent years of his life. I can, of course, add nothing to what he has told you, and to what others who are to speak will tell you as to the value of the Pathe News Service. I am simply one of the millions who recognize in Pathe Service a development as marvelous as any other thing in this marvelous age. I am simply one of the millions who recognize in it a development which, above all others, helps to give the whole world a common language and to make the whole world akin." In his speech Emanuel Cohen said: "When in the early 90's, the new art of the motion picture was developed, mainly due to the inspiring genius of one of o -r distinguished friends who unfortunately could not be with us this evening, Mr. Thomas Edison, its purpose and scope was conceived largely for the entertainment of the masses. Here and there at that time, the pioneers of the industry went beyond this scope and directed their lenses on some news events, but only in a sporadic fashion, an occasional glimpse of new possibilities. "It was in 1910 that there came the fuller realization of this newly discovered but unexplored field of motion picture usefulness when Charles Pathe presented for the first time a regular and systematic medium of news dissemination by films. "Public recognition of this usefulness has steadily increased, and I personally, in mv "eleven years of editorship of the Pathe News, have had the opportunity of seeing the news film grow from a mere exhibition in a few hundred scattered theatres throughout the country where it was used mainly as a filler on the program, down to the present day when the combined circulation of all news films reaches almost 90 per cent of the 18,000 motion picture theatres in this country. It is conservatively estimated that the news film is now seen by upwards of forty millions of people in the United States every week. Also we find it now not merely a filler, but a vital part of the program, an institutionrecognized by theatre and public alike as playing an important role in news communication and in the life of the nation. "Like the great news syndicates, the Associated Press, the United Press and the International News, of whose tremendous service the public is so fully aware, the Pathe News is now world wide. Its tenticles reaching into every nook and corner of the earth, civilized or uncivilized. Its thousands of lenses on every political development, witnessing the pageantry and the tragedy of every people, peering into the custom-: and habits of everv land, holding the mirror to every phase of human activity everywhere. "Although the purpose is similar to that of the newspaper, the news film plays a different role. Its object is to bring the readers to the very scene of an event so that they not only see what transpires bit can actually feel its pulse. The deadly accuracy and vivid realism of the news film has brought it to the heights of purpose and utility which it now occupies. It has reeled its way into the confidence of millions of persons. One might say that it has won a> place of trust as well as affection. "Supplementing the service of the great newspapers, this graphic portrayal is enabling the public to realize and to become acquainted with events the world over, to form clearer judgments of these world events, and guiding it to more intelligent understanding. The excursion round the world on which it takes its readers in the 15 minutes of each issue as if on the wings of time has made it possible for them to see and become acquainted with other lands. The lions of Trafalgar Square are just as familiar to the American audience as the Woolworth Building to the Englishman. The sufferings of Japan and the tra?ic loss following the earthquake were felt from the screens. The remarkable achievements of America's round the world flyers were witnessed by Pathe News readers in everv hamlet. "Am I presuming when I refer to what the news film has accomplished and has the power still to accomplish in the way of fostering that understanding and amity between the peoples which statesmen are so eagerly striving for as the basis for international good will and tolerance? "The news picture is within the grasp of every one, all peoples irrespective of thought, race or creed find instantaneous expression and common understanding in the news film. "The Pathe News in 15 years has filmed practically ever}' important event in the world. We shall produce living proof before you this evening. The great poet who sighed in hopelessness, 'Oh, God, turn back the universe and show me yesterday' had never seen a news film. "Tonight we shall turn back the universe and show you yesterday. The value of the news film is going to be written on your minds forever after you have traveled back over the years with us. We shall see the world before the Great War, we shall view the personalities of the world's greatest men who have passed into the Great Beyond. We shall see epoch making events, some of which have changed the map of the world. When these pictures were taken they were simple matters. Now after surveying the world's changes, they have a new significance which makes them the stage centers of the most gripping drama ever known. "Just suppose we had camera men at Valley Forge and we could sit here and watch Washington and his freezing army and ragged patriots starving and bleeding for the wealth and freedom which we are enjoying tonight. One hundred years from now our dependents will see the horror of the great war and the undying heroism of all who fought in it. "Suppose we had the news film at Bunker Hill, at Lexington and at Yorktown. what an imperishable history for us ! Can you imagine being able to witness John Hancock signing the Declaration of Independence, or Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation? It would impress you, would it not? "Even if we could witness our beloved Theodore Roosevelt thundering up San Juan Hill, we might feel as though we were being gifted by Providence with an earthly sight. "Since 1910, however, such events have