Motography (Jan-Jun 1915)

448 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIII, No. 12. When the Clutching Hand himself appears in the rooms, he is amazed to find another like himself already there. Kennedy removes the handkerchief that masks his face, and the Clutching Hand calls the game up. Kennedy's triumph is short lived, however, for the Clutching Hand then informs him that within twenty minutes Elaine Dodge will be dead. The master criminal suggests to Kennedy that if the latter will permit him to escape he will reveal the method to be used in killing Elaine. Kennedy reluctantly consents, and as a reward learns of the ingenious mechanism in the wrist watch that has been sent to Elaine. As he rushes from the quarters of the Clutching Hand, Kennedy raises the curtain at the window, exposing the selenium cell to the light and ringing the bell, which will summon the police. Ere Jameson and his squad of policemen can raid the headquarters of the crook the latter has discovered the wires leading from the selenium cell and vanished through a secret passageway that opens in the middle of his desk. Kennedy rushes out to Elaine's home and arrives there in time to snatch the watch from her wrist, ere the poison needle can perform its work, while the Clutching Hand, escaping to another room in the lair occupied by him, dons an elaborate disguise and saunters forth onto the street under the very noses of the police, who are vainly seeking him. A Misleading Article Editors of Motography : Will you permit me space in the valuable columns of your publication to call attention to a new annoyance that must be borne by the long suffering manufacturers of motion pictures? Not only are. the business men, engaged in a great and important industry, badgered by special taxes, state and local censors, reformers, so-called, etc., but great injury is also given to their business by the misleading articles and stories that are appearing more and more frequently in the magazines and other publications. It seems that the higher classed the publication the more ready and willing is the editor thereof to accept and pay for at highest rates the work of some writer, who, with superficial knowledge of the film game, nevertheless takes his pen in hand and dashes off a page or two of the "inside history" of the motion picture art. The American people have been given the false conception by such articles that every motion picture manufacturer is rolling in wealth; and "millionaires made over night" is a most common and favorite expression. It should be stated here that motion picture manufacturers of the better class are business men who worked onward and upward and builded their industries after the manner followed by any other line of trade. Few of them are millionaires and one manufacturer, reputed to have made a million dollars in eight years, has been in the motion picture game for nearly twenty years. Articles purporting to present facts as to the wonderful prosperity to be uncovered in the motion picture industry are not only misleading, but they tempt the unwary to invest in stock" promotion schemes. Many have invested their savings in some "wild cat" concern only to lose their money. A recent article in the Saturday Evening Post has created amusement among those who have long been affiliated in the motion picture industry. Here are a few pearls: ". . . One can do in pantomine in a foot or so of film more than he could do in ten minutes if his characters talked." (That is to say, allowing 150 minutes of actual open stage to an average play, all the business of that play could be put over in fifteen or thirty feet of film!) To quote again: "Until then (eighteen months ago) none of the stars of the American stage, no good writers, and not any of the better plays had been exploited." . . . "The one-reel comedies and two-reel plays of the professional moving picture playwrights have small vogue today, though some of the smaller houses still stick to them." Another statement: . . . "Apart from the aforesaid feature companies there are . . . and the Lubin Company. These companies have ceased producing short films and are now doing features." Again . . . "The General and Universal Film Companies have also dropped the shorter film and entered the feature field." And finally . . . "The vogue of the old moving picture actor has gone. His place has been taken by such favorites as Ethel Barrymore. . . ." In view of the wide circulation of the Post, we think such statements are injurious to the film companies. The General Film Company has not dropped the short film. The Selig Company not only produces special features, known throughout the civilized world, but we also specialize in one and two-reel pictureplays. There will always be a demand for the shorter length releases of worth, for they add variety to the programs. Eighteen months ago many elaborate productions had been produced, including stage plays. The professional writer of motion pictures never enjoyed the prosperity that he does today. When the playwrights of the legitimate stage, the novelists, and the short fiction writers submit work, in nine times out of ten it must be put in shape by the "professional moving picture playwriter," so-called. There is also a great demand for his original work. The vogue for the "old" moving picture actor is decidedly not gone. What actor or actress who today enters the motion picture work can claim popularity with Kathlyn Williams, Thomas Santschi, Bessie Eyton, Stella Razeto, Maurice Costello, Crane Wilbur, Arthur Johnson, Francis Bushman and half a hundred other motion picture players? The Lubin Company and the Universal Company have not dropped shorter films, but rather specialize in releases of one and two reels. There are many axes to grind in any profession, but it ill behooves editors of standard publications to be deceived by the incorrect, misleading and frequently unjust statements of those writers who are in no position to speak authoritatively of the great profession of motion pictures. The Selig Polyscope Company, H. C. Hoagland. New Smallwood Lead Miss Ruth Blair has been selected from among over a thousand applicants as leading woman of Smallwood brand of comedies, shortly to be released through the United Film Service. When the Smallwood Film Corporation decided that it was ready to secure a feature lead for its new brand, a contest was conducted with the idea of getting the typical American girl. The requirements demanded were that she be beautiful, have ability as an actress and screen well. Of over thirteen hundred photographs secured from all parts of the country, a selection of eight girls was made who were called to New York City for the final test. A well known artist, a sculptor and a representative of the Smallwood Film Corporation made the final selection. After all points were carefully weighed, Miss Blair was offered a contract for a period of three years which she accepted. Ruth Blair. Within the last two months four popular magazines have adorned their covers with screen stars' pictures.