Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1917)

4564 Motion Picture News Bruce Seeks the Unusual for His Scenics Robert C. Bruce, of Educational Films Corporation WANTED, by Robert C. Bruce of the Educational Films Corporation, a new land of surprises, a place where water runs up hill or the inhabitants have devised novel and entertaining methods of transportation. That is because Mr. Bruce is ever mindful of the remark of a certain one of his companions on a mountain trail. Asked if his cabin would furnish a suitable subject for the motion picture camera, the man of the hills replied, " Well, I don't know ; the d d door don't wiggle much." That untutored genius had the right idea. A motion picture should be a picture not merely a film, in motion. It should not be a series of slides, however beautiful. It should always and essentially be a record of action. That Mr. Bruce has been so signally successful in achieving this result in his own pictures is partly because he is so very active a person himself. Some inches over six feet, and lithe as an Indian, with a sparkle of fun ever ready to flash to the surface, Mr. Bruce always carries the suggestion of mountain trails and torrents, and happy adventure in the great outdoors. For the rest, a quick intelligence aided by the training of no less than three colleges, for Mr. Bruce's wandering spirit manifested itself even in his academic years, enables him to treat his material in the spirit of the artist and to bring out the essentially dramatic elements that underlie all vigorous and happy living. Two pictures by Mr. Bruce to be released in the immediate future are " The Hound of the Hills," in which the famous Great Dane figures as the only actor, and " A World o' Dreams." Mr. Bruce has always been a dreamer and an explorer, the person for whom the next place is the wonderland. " A World o' Dreams," which will have its initial showing at the opening of the new Rivoli theatre, embodies this idea in scenes wherein the beautiful and spectacular are set forth with all of Mr. Bruce's delightful characterization. C. deL. B. Ogden Patrons Favor Weekly News Service Whether it is due to the intense patriotic spirit of the times or to some other cause, theater managers of Ogden, Utah, report an unusual demand from patrons for the weekly news service films. The opening of such films has ever produced an expression of approval by some audiences that might do credit to a starred five-reel feature. By one local manager the demand for news service films is credited to the growing American tendency of getting your motion pictures like you get your news — in the headlines. Pictographs Show Novel Balloon Railway For the ninety-eighth release of Paramount-Bray Pictograph, J. R. Leventhal, of the Bray Studios, Inc., has discovered, it is said, among the many patents filed in the United States Patent Office, material for a very interesting subject. This is the " Balloon Railway," and consists of an overhead cable fastened high above the ground and, at intervals to balloons. These in turn are attached to cables wound about large drums. The ear runs along the cable on wheels and is operated by gravity. The subject is treated humorously, but there is also a serious side and it is decidedly unique in character, it is announced. Mutual Weekly Shows Recent Halifax Disaster The Gaumont Company announced last week that motion pictures of the recent disaster in Halifax, N. S., caused by the explosion of a munition ship are included in No. 155 of the Gaumont-Mutual Weekly. Other subjects that promise great interest are also announced for this reel. " Argus Pictorial " Claims Unusual Progress Argus Pictorial No. 4, released by Pathe the week of December 30, is said to be probably the best issue yet of this animated magazine in one reel, produced by Argus Laboratories, Inc., of which Horace D. Ashton is president. The Piedmont Valley of Virginia, which boasts the finest pack of American fox hounds, is shown in the article on " Fox Hunting with the Piedmont Hounds," showing picturesque scenes in the wild country of Virginia. Another article is " Garden Monsters," showing the giant garden fighter, the Cicada (who is happy because his wife has no voice), the male harvest fly, the field cricket, the June bug, the robber fly, and other queer insects with which we come in contact in every day life but which we rarely recognize. Other subjects are included, it is announced, by Pathe. Burton Holmes Begins Travelogues Shortly Beginning with New Year's Day, Burton Holmes will start his Travelogues in the circuit of cities which includes New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Worcester and Orange, N. J. — his subjects this season being the results of his journeyings this past summer around what he calls " The Militant Pacific." For years, Mr. Holmes has sought an opportunity to visit the Antipodes— to see Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania and the islands of the Pacific. Paramount Sets Travel Films for New Year With the beginning of the new year, the new series of Paramount-Burton Holmes Travel Pictures, the fruits of the traveler's peregrinations through the Antipodes, the Pacific Isldands and Alaska, will be presented to the public, it is announced. These pictures are now being assembled and will be in readiness for release at regular intervals beginning in January, according to plans. Mr. Holmes, during last summer's itinerary, covered a great amount of territory, largely under exceptional difficulties, owing to the war conditions. Much of the traveling in Pacific waters was accomplished without lights and with watchdogs of the sea on every hand. The pictures are said to be extremely effective, giving an intimate idea of the commerce, the customs and the scenery of the various countries visited. Essanay Shows Canada in New General Release Essaney's one-reel scenic General Film release for December 29 is " Through Canada From Coast to Coast," showing the country to the north from Nova Scotia " where the east begins " to the coast of British Columbia, the valedictory of the west." The picture includes the showing of wooden ship building and scenes of the great " Soo locks."