The Motion Picture Story Magazine (Feb-Jul 1914)

Ml MOTIOX 1*1 CT CHE MAGAZINE He conferred with me and li c 1 j» c (1 me promote t h e B o y s c o u 1 movemenl by showing films of Boy Scout 111 o v c in cuts both in this country a d <1 in Europe. I had a talk with him one day, and he had many good arguments to hack up his idea of educating the public to better things. "Of course," he said, "I am in the business for the money, but I can make it in a way that will benefil my patrons. Unquestionably, the Moving Picture is the most direct appeal to the understanding. The printed page and the spoken words arc tortuous paths to learning as compared to the royal road provided by the moving film. As a developer of intelligence, the contrivance cannot be highly praised, but as a direct and Immediate appeal to the understanding it is the last word. Nothing thai we have today can surpass it in its power to make plain either a mechanical process, an acted plot, or scenes in unknown lands. Moving Pictures of the right kind may be mad. b highly valuable element in education, amusemenl and general upliftment. These are facts that a thinking man or woman will not deny. There is a hue and a cry nst the Moving Picture theater 01 ml of the land to the other. and the reason can be seen in this verj neighborhood. Wh\ is it that from juvenile, divorce and ainal courts, constanl blame for J laid on live-cent The answer is greed all man e looking for the maxi mum possible profit. The only way thai children and wom< u can be •I'd from the influence of evil il regulation of the p ibition. A rose will fro* fron | 0f il ould bt I ack of the exhibitor. giving him power to refuse or return a film which is not what it should be — and, of course, the exhibitor should be a man who will refuse to take degrading films from the booking agent ; hence, the film manufacturers will be acted upon and forced to put out better films, and the general embettering effect on the people will in time be noticeable. I am trying merely to educate the public of this neighborhood to choose between good and bad, and I think I am succeeding." Other business men in the neighborhood, particularly the owner of the rival theater, prophesied a complete and rapid failure of his project, as it was not, according to their belief, appealing to the tastes and desires of the people of the vicinity. Indeed, it seemed as tho this was to be the outcome for the first few weeks, but then it soon became easily observable that his idea was beginning to take hold. In fact, it was discovered to be a comparatively easy matter to educate the neighborhood to the higher standard. The two pipe-organ solos every evening became a strong drawingcard. I wras told by the minister of the large church near my playground that, altho he disliked to see a pipeorgan desecrated by being played in a Moving Picture theater, it was really bringing more people to appreciate this kind of music, and hence bringing them to his church. The minister was soon won over by pictures of the Holy Land, accompanied by lectures in the new theater. The poorer people soon began to appreciate the cheap means of travel afforded by the evening travelogue, as they were advertised, and I often heard them conversing about the d i I t e r e n t j) I B «• c s they had seen at the " movies." a s if t h e y h a d actually been t he re . The Bcenes of Ireland, when advertised on the