Motion Picture News (Jul-Oct 1914)

50 THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS Film Drama Supreme in New Orleans (Continued from page 20) and Birmingham, and within convenient jumping distances to a number of cities in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Take Some Exceptions to Report There, however, another high-grade motion picture house is preparing to open and the picture men are confident of increased business. Biloxi, Mobile, Laurel, Corinth, Columbus and other cities of that class are counting on fair seasons, but the indications now are that the attractions thej^ do have will be of the strictly one-night stand variety in all that the term indicates. In The ^Iotion Picture News' survey of business conditions through the country recently, the New Orleans correspondent indulged in some criticism of the failure of producers and their agents to familiarize themselves with conditions in this section. As some friendlj exceptions have been called to the attention of the correspondent, the temptation is too great to omit three cases that were called to his attention within a single evening. Three days after the first case of bubonic plague was discovered here and the people were more or less nervous, "The jNIoonstone of Fez." an undoubtedly strong picture play, was produced at one of the highest-class houses in the city. It had everything to commend it except one thing, and that was that the stor} was based entirely on the mother of the heroine dying from the plague, an incident that certain!}' was not at all pleasant for the average spectator to take with him to bed as a food for dreams. Sitting next to him was a' friend who had just returned from a Louisiana city of the second class where the prevalent language is French. The previous evening he had visited a picture performance where the bill consisted of two plays, both of whose chief elements were English characters and divorce— produced in a section where the people would not know the English type if they saw one and where the divorce is a thing obnoxious in the light of the strict rulings of the church. Demand High-Grade Features After this performance, during a ride on a street car. the correspondent passed three "neighborhood" theatres which admittedly appeal largely to children for their patronage. At onfe of these the bill consisted of : (1) a film with the plot centering about a prize fight, (2) a two-reel problem play and (3) a Western play picturing minutely the horrors of death from thirst. A second theatre was showing films based on a diplomatic intrigue, the reformation of a burglar and a third "mystery play," which the correspondent, with an average amount of intelligence, sat through twice to learn "what it was all about." The third theatre had three single-reel comedies, and a fourth light love story. The pleased faces of the members of the audience just leaving were sufficient endorsements. These are facts which need no comment. There was only one film in the whole list that was not a good film ; in fact, it so happened that all were above the average, but with the exception of the last named theatre, here were distinct cases of bad selection. It was somebody's fault ; whether that of the manager or the booking agent is to be settled, but certainly had the agent through his representatives devoted the proper attention to the requirements of the individual manager rather than his vague "selection" the probable increase of patronage would have been greater. Versions of Popular Books Preferred Feature films have come to stay. In the four big Canal streets they are going to be of the highest grade, preferably film versions of successful playj and well-known books. In not more than a half-dozen cities in Louisiana and Mississippi are these apt to be a success, especially where an increased price of admission is required. The serial story has come to stay, but care is going to be necessary to avoid keeping out the production of the manufacturer who is simply putting out a feature because his rival has done so. In the greater majority of the theatres, especially those outside of the business district of New Orleans and in the average town throughout the two states, the one and two-reels will prove the money-makers. Comedy and the love story seem to be running a close race in popularity. Western films are popular, but sameness is losing them many friends. The problem play is almost an outcast, and the play that does not "end all right" hurts if shown too frequently. "We have enough troubles in life without paying to see the troubles of others," is the way the patrons define it. Railroad and steamship films, when done well, are probably the most popular of all, undoubtedly because they are not overdone. As a general rule, any film introducing machinery or the constructive idea is business-building, especially in the scores of great industral centers that are the really rapidly growing places of Louisiana and Mississippi. The slapstick is as high in favor as ever among the children and the working element, so long as the producers stay away from the more or less brutal elements for their laughs. . Subjects that Please Mississippi and Louisiana are not the staid and old-fashioned states that many would conclude. The communities where there is any real money for the theatre owner to be made are as progressive as any cities and towns of the East or West. They are working towns, new towns in many instances, and the element to which the picture theatre is going to appeal for the largest share of its patronage is the film that will appeal to the average man or woman who has done a hard day's work and who wants actual amusement — not necessarily a laugh, but a picture that takes him away from the thought of the lumber mill and makes her forget the kitchen stove. Misery and want and the social problems of the upper strata, sudden death and the eighteenth divorce are not going to do it. Don't go too far away from the people. That is a mighty good rule for the producer to think over. The average motion picture patron down in this section is a whole lot more familiar with the joys and the sorrows of the country school teacher than with the social machinations of Mrs. Astorbilt to win a title for her only daughter. New Orleans and the_larger city patrons are going to stay away from the $2 admission regular theatre when they can see successful plays produced in films with all-star casts and for twenty cents. Better Business Conditions Soon Business had been bad, in some ways, in this section. It is going to be a good deal better. And it is going to be best with the men who understand what the people want. Pearce and Fichtenberg have solved this problem in New Orleans and other towns for themselves. Many one-theatre managers have solved it. And more will solve it, but the quicker they get the individual co-operation and the specialized assistance of the producer and his intermediate representative the faster will be tJie growth, R. E. Pritchard. BEVERIDGE SPONSOR FOR INDIANA CENSORSHIP PROPOSAL Special to The Motion Picture News. Evansville. Ind., July 30. AT a formal meeting of Progressives here last week at headquarters in the Waverly Building, attended by former U. S. Senator Albert J. Beveridge, party candidate for the U. S. Senate, it was thought advisable to write a plank in the party platform, pledging a motion-picture censor board. Evansville exhibitors are contemplating calling a meeting of all Southern Indiana exhibitors in this city in September to take action to discourage the proposed legislation to put motion pictures under the censorship of a political board.