Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1924)

March 22, 1 924 1293 Public is Entitled to Good Prints 1 HAVE been greatly interested in the campaign inaugurated by Motion PICTURE News for better prints. Certainly, there is no phase of this business more important to its welfare or more capable of working great harm, if it is allowed to drift. In discussing this subject, it seems to mc we should direct our attention first, to the obvious responsibility we owe the public. The artistic standards of the screen demand the use of good prints. What is the sense of spending money, time and effort on a product ion only to have it delivered on the screen to the ultimate consumer — the public — in a slipshod fashion? The relation of good prints and good projection to dramatic effect and ultimate boxoffice success ought to be clear to everybody. Five minutes' reflection will convince anybody that no adequate apology can be offered the public for anything that detracts from the pictorial value of the screen. The public is not interested in disputes between exhibitors and exchangemen as to who is to blame for bad prints. But the public is interested in, and has the right to demand, the best possible pictures under the best possible conditions. And the conditions can't be right, if the print isn't. Now, it seems to me that the subject of bad prints has several angles. If we start out to fix the responsibility, we find that it rests alike upon exhibitor and distributor. It is certainly the duty of the distributor to supply the theatre with adequate prints. Unless he does so, he seriously jeopardies the theatre's standing as a purveyor of entertainment and, incidentally but very importantly, injures the whole industry in the eyes of the public — directlv or indirectly. By E.R.Rogers, F. P. Theatre Dept. Reaction on Theatr .lied -and s are poor But if adequate prints are supp they are in many cases — and these prii seriously injured or destroyed by mechanism, who is to blame? The answer is clear. The exhibitor is to blame but the public suffers most, because the public has paid its money to see good pictures — good as to physical condition as well as good in dramatic and entertaining quality. The reaction on the theatre is a decline in attendance, and this, in turn reacts on the distributor. It has very often a direct relation to the question of rentals. The exhibitor loses money, not merely on the picture which was in poor condition, but on succeeding pictures. It is a fact, as everyone knows, that once you drive business away from a house, it is no easy matter to get it back. That business has been driven away from the theatre — especially the small town house — by bad prints is just as true. This condition can be cured. and normal busino; giving the public goi lias lost prestige in The public suffer deferred longer tha The exhibitor has. tored — in time — by its. But the theatre ■antime. if play dates are life of the prints, bought shopworn goods; and the public knows they are shopworn. This overworking of prints should be stopped. It is doing the distributor no good and is certainly doing much harm to the exhibitor. Distributors should discard bad prints long before it becomes an absolute necessity. Rometimes prints never go out of service until they New Guardianship Bill in N. Y. Legislature WITHOUT any mention of matron or proposed license fee, a bill, much changed from the original pertaining to the admission of unaccompanied children to picture theaters in New York state, has been introduced in the Legislature during the past week, and will no doubt be passed without opposition. The bill was introduced by Senator Reiburn. and embodies many ideas on the part of Samuel I. Berman, of the New York State M P. T. O , and others interested in the best methods to be em ployed in handling the unaccompanied children situation The bill as introduced by Senator Reiburn provides that the governing body of a city, town or village, may adopt an ordinance allowing children between 8 and 16 years to be admitted to a picture theatre at such hours as will not conflict with school duties, but in no event later than 6 o'clock in the evening Such an ordinance must carry a provision, however, that no unaccompanied children are to be admitted to a theatre unless provision is made for their segregation on the street level of the house burn in the machines or are sent back to the exchange in such a disconnected condition that it is too much trouble to put them back again. I am one of those who firmly believe that no distinction should be made, in the matter of prints, between big houses and small exhibitors. The small theatre needs good service as well as the first-run fellows. If anybody thinks the so-called small town public is not discriminating in this matter, he is very much mistaken. They know, and they do not fail to register their displeasure when they are disappointed by being shown a cheap piece of merchandise, which is what a bad print most assure In i print a verv rence to play dates as related to the 5tion, let me point out that they have :al bearing on each other. The popular picture, it stands to reason, is likely to be worn out far more quickly than the subject of lesser appeal. If the print of a popular picture needs to be renewed, the exchange ought to renew it. It is only good business to do so. Good business for the whole industry. Projection Quality Necessary If the exhibitor books within reasonable time after release date, he stands a far better chance of getting good prints. And it is clearly up to hi™ to see that he has good equipment, and that, the equipment is kept good. An operator who knows his business is a great asset in this business. He is a very important cog in the machine which extendall the way from the studio to the screen. It is an axiom that no matter how good a picture is, it can be spoiled by poor projection and careless handling of film. And the operator's carelessness or incompetence has far more than a mere local effect. It may spoil the picture for a. great number of audiences in other towns, and thus work considerable damage to the industry as a whole. What we need, in my opinion, is a unity of purpose for the conservation of prints. The projection-booth, and what goes on there, is pretty nearly the final word in the picture's destiny. The director, the players, the author, the laboratory may all have done their work well. If the projection-booth tails to measure up, all the good efforts of the studio and laboratory people may go for nauglit. You can't have picture quality without projection quality. In the same way, it is clearly the duty of the exchange to do its part in keeping prints in good condition by careful supervision and inspection. This means, among other things, that prints ought to be withdrawn from circulation and replaced in any instance where that is necessary. The standards of screen efficiency can only be gained and maintained by unity of purpose and square dealing on the part of both exhibitor and exchange. Good prints are very essential. They are helpful in establishing respect for the business and building goodwill tor the exhibitor. The plain truth is that we are not fulfilling our duty to the public unless we give them entertainment that is as perfect in its physical condition as it is in dramatic and artistic quality. The whole question of prints goes right back to this. And the sooner both exhibitor and distributor make up their minds that the public has a right to good prints — in the case of every picture — the better off we -hall all be, not only in business returns but in everv other wav. Former Governor Milliken Speaks in Penn. "The Relation of the Motion Picture Industry to the Church," was discussed in an address made by Carl E. Milliken, former Governor of Maine, to the Ministerial Association of York, Pa., in the York Y. M. C. A. The audience included about one hundred ministers and other persons specially interested in religious and educational matters. The former Governor took a broad-minded view of the industry, spoke of its great influence on the minds of the public and particularly the young, and told the clergy it was their duty to exert their interest and influence in eliminating unwholesome material from the screen. Mr. Milliken wont to York through an arrangement with the Appell theatrical interests and through courtesy of Will IT. Ha vs. N. Y. Assembly Gets Bills on Miniature Machines ho--e tical with vear, have been State Assembly smblyman Steinrend the general dniature motion Two bills, apparentlv idei introduced and defeated Inst introduced in the New York during the past week bv As? gut. The first bill seeks to a city law by providing that i picture apparatus, use of which is permitted, must be of a type approved by the National Board of Fire Underwriters, or the head of a fire prevention bureau of a municipality. Tinbill has been referred to cities committee. The second of the Steingut bills amends the general business law as it relates to the requirements for, and the approval of miniature motion picture machines.