Motion Picture News (Jul-Aug 1919)

1802 Motion Picture N c zv s EducatorsUrgeTeachingbyFilm Route C'anipaign on to Replace Text-Books by Pictures and New Projection Machine Will Enable Showings Without Use of a Booth REPLACEMKNT of sdiool te\t-l)()()k8 with motion picturt\«;. loiii: ilrcained of l>y so-oalled visionaries of llio industry, may become a reality as a result of a derision l»y noted edueators of the East to inaugurate a detaih'd eampaijrn toward this end. The decision followed a meetiii'T last week with representatives of producers of educational films. It was announced that arrangements have been made whereby this method of instruction will be installed in eighty per cent of the schools and universities of the country during the course of the campaign. The effort Avill be a sincere one and tbe facilities of a school textbook publishing house have been (tlaci'd at the disposal of those in charge. Losson I isualization Coinpletc visiializaiiun of the contents of textb'ioks heretofore absorbed by the student oniy after great mental cfTort and concentration, is part of the plan. Such " visature " will embrace geographical, scientific, economical and even mathematical subjects. There is not a branch of the average school or University work, it is declared, but that can be translated upon the screen in a more impressive manner than by means of the printed word. Anatomical studies, historical themes and scientific subjects particularly lend themselves to the advantages of the screen. • School executives are convinced that visualizing the relations of elements, rather than a digestion of them from the printed word, will leave them in the mind of the scholar with far more impressiveness and likelihood that they will be remembered, than by any other means. One of the reasons for the inauguration of a school campaign is the recent development of a portable projection machine which meets all of the drastic requirements of fire underwrif:rs in the various states. Motion pic ires have long been considered as in-iructional media, but leaders in the film industrj have held back until a ■• ' ' • rojector was developed. and experts of a noted machine company after long with A. Harry Levey, gen.■«cr of the educational de I irtmcnt of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, with whom supcrvijiion of the motion picture end of the campaign has been placed, have placed at the disposal of the schools a projection machine which can be used anywhere without the protection of a iKKjth. The construction of Irfjoths. and the purchase of expensive apparatus proved hindrance that most •■cliooU found themselves unable to fi\ ( rcomc. The firw projector, according to Mr. Levey, is li({ht, compact and fully as r.i;,:it,Ic of projecting standard film as in larger brothers. " I-ack of a suitable projector has hfid back the progress of instructional motifin pictures in the New York -rho^iK," declared William E. Grady, !i«trict superintendent of the Xew ^ ork Board of Education, when informed of the project. " Not more STRIKING WHEN HOT POINTING to the response accorded him, George M. Fenburg manager of the Auditorium and Alhambra theatres, Newark, Ohio, urges exhibitors to write their Congressmen and Representatives at Washington. William A. Ashbrook, chairman of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures wrote Mr. Fenburg regarding repeal of sections 800, 906 and 1000 of the Revenue Bill as follows: " I will be very glad to refer your letter to the Ways and Means Committee for its consideration. I assure you I will be very glad to give this measure my very best consideration and thank you for calling my attention to same." than thirty are now showing regular picture programs, and these follow no definite system." Mr. Grady heartily approved ihc project, and promised his own support in the work among the New York schools. In outside cities, boards of education, educational committees of civic organizations, and other influences have been enlisted. Carl Laemmle, president of Universal, is intensely interested in the project, and has given Mr. Levey and the others in charge of the campaign his heartiest support. " Broken Blossoms " Opens in 'Frisco l^lans are being made by IJ. \V. Griffith and his staff for the Western premier of " Broken Blossoms " at San Francisco on Sunday, August 24th. Arrangements have been completed for use of " The Ciirran " theatre, formerly "The Court," one of the leading down-town houses of San Francisco. This premier will be the first of a series which will follow in several of the larger cities through the central West and East, all of which will be under the personal supervision of the producer himself. NEW FOX BUILDING TO OPEN OCT. 1 THE new William Fox motion-picture plant at 10th Avenue, 55th and 56th Streets, is nearing completion. With the four walls finished and the roofing under way, the building should be opened as per schedule on the first of October. Twelve giant bowstring trusses, each one hundred feet long and weighing five tons, are ready to be set in position. The opening of this " film city " will be marked by formal ceremonies. Plans for an aero landing platform are being made, and it is expected that they will be submitted to Mr. Fox for approval very soon. Several aeroplane manufacturers and individuals contemplating aero-passenger service to and from the metropolis, are endeavoring to make arrangements with Fox F"ilm Corporation for leading privileges on this roof. Whether the platfomi will be used for the Fox organization exclusively has not been decided. Cleveland Bars An Affiliation Exchange Managers Benefit in Joining THE Board of Motion Picture Exchange Managers of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce held a convention in Cleveland, on Friday, August 8th, which was attended by thirty-five members of neighboring exchange managers' associations. There were the presidents, secretaries and delegates for the Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Buf¥alo organizations. Jhcsc representatives met with the members of the Cleveland exchange manager's board, for the purpose of discussing several important points. One of these was the necessity of co-operation among the exhcanges, in overlapping territories. It was agreed upon by those present, that all of the exchange managers' board of the district, should be governed by the same general rules of procedure. It is plainly to be seen that much confusion will be done away with, by a uniform method of procedure. There are manj* towns situated on a border line, which are tossed from pillar to post, accomodatnig themselves to conflicting rules of difTerent centres from which they are served. This confusion results in a great loss of time to all parties and a fairly uniform plan of Board Can See No a National Body proceedure will mean a saving of time, a saving of money and a saving of unnecessary contention. Another point under discussion at the meeting was the subject of transportation. This is a perrenial evil in the movie business. But, on the whole, Ohio exhibitors are getting pretty good service through the parcels' post department. The matter of affiliation with a national organization, was also the subject of argument at the gathering of the clan of exchange managers. There was not much argument about it, however. Evei^yone was agreed that the local exchange managers' boards, should not affiliate themselves with any national organization whatsoever. In the first place, it was pointed out, a local organization, and only a local organization, knows what local evils it has to contend with. No one outside knows what is a chronic ailment, and what is a temporary eruption. The members present at this meeting all expressed themselves as anxious to proceed along uniform lines, so as to establish a uniform line of proceedure in the distributing end of the business. Sunday Show Victory Probable in N. J. Interest among motion picture men is centering on the closing weeks of the campaign the Exhibitors' League of New Jersey is waging for passage of the enabling measure by which Sunday exhibitions of film plays may be voted in any community in the state. Dr. H. Charles Hespe, president of the State League, is working overtime to bring home to legislators the fact '.hat public opinion, wherever it has had a chance to be heard, is overwhelmingly in favor of the referendum law, and he is confident that this year the efforts of his organization, backed by the support of the National Association of Motion Picture Industry, will result in a victory for the measure. Local labor bodies have gone on record as in favor of Sunday motion pictures and it is understood that a number of prospective candidates for state offices will come out on the same side. Before the September primaries it is possible that one or both of the party platforms will contain a plank advocating the passage of a Sunday opening bill. Quimby Coming East General Sales' Manager Fred C. Quimby of Pathe has concluded his work in Los Angeles, and departed for the east August 11th. Quimby, while here, visited the producing plants engaged in making subjects for Pathe, and spent considerable time with the leading exhibitors and local representatives of Pathe.