Motion Picture Story Magazine (Aug-Dec 1913)

/AOSINGS OF^ME PHOTOPLAY PMILOSOPM&R:: This is the time of year when our physical well-being demands that we be cautious — the lingering of summer and the approach of winter. Remember this: medicines and doctors do not cure; they only assist Nature. The less medicine we take, the better we are. The drug habit is a product of superstition. And so is the doctor habit. There are three kinds of doctors : those who work to make us well; those who work to prevent our getting sick, and those who work us whether we are sick or well. Beware the third kind, cultivate the second kind, and dont consult the first kind till you have to. Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Remember that most doctors simply guess at Nature's desires and intentions, and then substitute their own. Remember the old saying, that the best physicians are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merryman. Live so that the doctors will never be needed, for when they attend us, they either mend us or end us, and in either case we pay dearly. It is pleasant to note that many of the manufacturers are now inserting the casts of characters in their films. While the players deserve this publicity, and the public are demanding it, it would seem to this writer that it is rather a primitive way of accomplishing the purpose desired. In the first place, it takes up valuable space that should be devoted to the pictures, and in the second place, a cast is something that should be studied, and one cannot study and memorize a cast in a few seconds. The Edison plan of introducing the cast on the instalment plan does not appear to be an improvement, altho other companies are trying it out. It may appear awkward at first, but the proper place for a cast, if it must be on the film at all, is at the end. There, it would be studied with greater interest, and it would not tax the memory. But the real place for the casts is on the printed programs and on the bulletins in the lobby. Please remember that the time is near when people will not rush into a theater at any hour and rush out in the middle of an exhibition. They will take it more seriously. They will learn at what hours Film No. 1 is to be exhibited, and be it 6 or 7.30 or 9, they will be there at one of those times, on the minute. And the exhibitor will see that time is allowed between reels for exits and entrances. And the patron will take time to look over the program to see what is coming and who is to be seen in the several casts. Another idea — did it ever occur to the manufacturer that it is superfluous to name every character in the cast, as is done in the speaking-play ? Unless the character's name is used in letters, telegrams, subtitles, etc., or in some way describes or qualifies the action, it should not appear in the cast on the film, because it only burdens the memory unnecessarily. When we see a long cast headed with, say, ' ' Jonathan Hopkinson — Arthur Johnson, ' ' we remember only the name of Johnson, and we care little for the name of his character, and could scarcely remember it if we did — let alone eight or ten other characters. Until the time comes when the manufacturers provide the exhibitors with printed casts, why not place under the title of each film, in lieu of a cast, something like this: ''Featuring Arthur Johnson, Lottie Briscoe, Harry Myers, Howard Mitchell, Florence Hackett, etc."? Those who could not place these players would probably not be able to do so any way, and the plan would have the advantage of saving many feet of film and considerable unnecessary mental effort on the part of the spectators.