Motion Picture News (Jul-Oct 1914)

40 THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS Philadelphia "Reel" Fellows Elect Officers Lively Quaker City Organization Admits All Persons Connected with the Industry — Eugene L. Perry Made President Special to The Motion Picture News Philadelphia, Sept. 3. AT a small but enthusiastic meeting last Sunday the "Reel" Fellows of Philadelphia became a permanent organization. The faithful and earnest work of a small band of film men who. felt that a social club among the Quaker City film boys would be worth while, were rewarded by seeing their work bear fruit. The title of the club is to be The "Reel" Fellows, and membership is open to all persons connected with the industry. There will be three classes of membership, regular, associate and honorary. In the first class will be those actively engaged in the film business as managers, exchangemen, manufacturers, actors, etc. Associate members will be those who are interested or indirectly connected with the business and will not have the voting power. Honorary members will be those who perform signal service to the organization. The constitution and by-laws were adopted after a double reading and the following officers elected: President, Eugene L. Perry, general manager for the Stanley Theatres Company; first vice-president, Simon Libros, of the Photo Playhouse Film Company, Philadelphia branch; second vice-president, Ben Zerr, of Reading, Pa., exhibitor; third vicepresident, Howard G. Bobb, Liberty Motion Picture Company, Philadelphia; fourth vice-president, William Fox, Box Office Attractions Company, New York and Philadelphia; fifth vice-president, "Pop" Siegmund Lubin, of the Lubin Manufacturing Company; treasurer, Jack Levy, Greater New York Film Rental Company, Philadelphia; secretary, Jay Emanuel, manager Ridge Avenue and Ideal Theatres, Philadelphia; financial secretary, Steve Talbot, Philadelphia representative of the "Billboard"; press representative, Benjamin Zeidman, Liberty Motion Picture Com pany. Directors: Stanley Mastbaum, Stanley Theatre Company; J. S. Hebrew, Warner's Features; Dave Sablosky, exhibitor of Wilmington, Del., and Lewis M. Swaab, dealer in supplies. A initiation fee of $10 was placed, so as to keep the undesirables from rushing to join, the dues being but nominal, $3 per quarter. The club starts of? very auspiciously with about twenty-five members now on the roll and applications from ninety others. These will be acted on as soon as a meeting can be held by the membership committee. Plans are also under way to become incorporated as a club under the state laws and a charter will be applied for at once. The meeting Sunday was held at the Ridge Avenue Theatre, and while many were absent because of the final holiday at the shore, all the business that was needed was attended to promptly. The films which had been taken while on the outing at Atlantic City two weeks previously were thrown on the screen and the boys had the pleasure of realizing Bobbie Burns' dream, "of seeing themselves as others saw them." Prominent in the film were Steve Talbot and his little grip (contents not shown); Benny of Liberty, with his pennant and smile; "King" Solomon, of The Motion Picture News, with his ice cream pants; Simon Libros; Smiling Jay, of the Ridge Avenue, and all the others wellknown in local film circles. A motion was made and carried to hold the next meeting on September 13, with suitable and proper entertainment, and the secretary received a committee to help him put over another good time. Prior to adjournment, Jay passed out young telegraph poles labeled "Pittsburgh." They were well received and immediately turned into smoke. Julian M. Solomon, Jr. THE PASSING OF THE SONG SLIDE FOR the past few years exhibitors have cast about for something to go with the silent drama. With some it took the form of illustrated songs. A set of lantern slides illustrating a popular song was shown on the screen, accompanied by a singer and orchestra. Others used a lecturer. A film was shown with someone explaining the story as it passed in review on the screen. Others, again, used a company of players who, out of sight of the audience, either in the wings or behind the curtain, supplied with voice and traps any sound called for by the picture. This elusive "something" was proving quite a bug-bear. Probably the first "talking pictures," mechanical in the sense that a phonograph was used, was the Cameraphone, now extinct. Then lately we have the Edison and the Gaumont. The latter has had considerable vogue abroad. According to Robert Grau, in the "Musical Obsei'ver," the Gaumont machine has seemed to find a larger public response than the American machine (Edison). Yet it is fair to state that in theatrical history there was nothing to compare with the Edison talking pictures as a theatrical attraction during its first two weeks in the vaudeville theatres. That the public was attracted by the name of Edison alone is hardly true. The Kinetophone, as the machine is known, is yet a live proposition, with as many companies on tour now as at the outset; while it is being continually improved upon. And now comes J. Mahan, of the Imperial Film Company, with his "Singing Pictures." If his plans should develop and create perhaps a new craze (for let us not forget the illustrated songs were once the rage), the much-sought-for "something" will have come, and present just the diversion so many now find lacking. Probably the best explanation of this latest innovation could be given in Mr. Mahan's own words: "Our singing pictures win their way because they accompany the human voice. A man or a woman begins the song and simultaneously the picture in vivid action tells the story of the song on the screen. Song and picture move together as each verse is rendered. There is perfect harmony between the two — eye and ear are alike charmed. The films for the songs are prepared as carefully as for a photoplay. In fact, each song film is a photoplay in miniature." The song story is visualized — not with the old-fashioned conventional slides — but with life-like motion pictures, having continuity and all the necessary conditions found in firstclass film playlets. The exhibitor fur nishes the singer — Mahan furnishes the song. Old and new songs have an added charm when rendered to the accompaniment of the film. Take, for example, "Home, Sweet Home." The film for this song was staged at the home of John Howard Payne's direct descendant, Mrs. Clara Payne Boyce, Kingsbridge, New York, and at East Hampton, Long Island, showing John Howard Payne's lowly thatched cottage home. Among the old songs already released we find "Last Rose of Summer," "Silver Threads Among the Gold" and "Annie Laurie." The latest popular songs also are being released as rapidly as possible. The latest are: "In the Heart of a City that Has No Heart," by Daly, and "In the Valley of the Moon," by Morris. The main offices are 1476 Broadway, N. Y., under the name Imperial Motion Picture Company of N. Y., Inc., and various firms in different parts of the country have territorial rights, while Hurtig & Seamen have European rights. In the western part of the United States, W. W. Ely, of San Francisco, controls California, Oregon and Washington. The New York office will direct exhibitors to the nearest exchange.