Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

WAY 25 1918 DON R. EGBERT. Managing Editor NEW TORK OFFICE: 506 LONGtCRE BUILDING. Forty-second Street and Broadway Telephone Bryant 7030 LOS ANGELES OFFICE: 6035 HOLLYWOOD BLVD. MABEL CONDON, Western Representative NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Changes of advertising copy should reach the office of publication not less than fifteen days in advance of date of issue. Regular date of Lssi>° every Saturday ,^77 THE MOTION PICTURE TRADE JOURNAL PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ELECTRICITY MAGAZINE CORPORATION FRED W. SCHWAMB President and Treasurer PAUL H. WOODRUFF, Secretary and Editor in Chief MONADNOCK BUILDING CHICAGO, ILL. MERRITT CRAWFORD, Managing Director 1476 Broadway, New York Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second Class Mail Matter. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE Per Year $3.00 Canada Foreign Single copy Per year $4.00 Per year 5.00 • • .15 NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS Remittances— Remittances should be made by check. New Tors; draft or money order in favor of Motography. Foreign subscriptions may be remitted direct by International Postal Money Order. Change of address— The old address should be given as well as the new, and notice should be received two weeks in advance of the desired change. This publication is free and independent of all business or house connections or control. No manufacturer or supply dealer, or their stockholders or representatives, have any financial interest in Motography or any voice in its management or policy. Volume XIX CHICAGO, JUNE 1, 1918 Number 22 Disturbers in the Audience SAYS a "War Bulletin" on one of the weekly programs of the Garfield Theatre, Chicago : "A movement is on foot to make use of gas masks, when the war is over, as silencers for those who read the titles out loud." Theatre rowdies who throw things about the house or who use objectionable language are promptly ejected by the efficient manager. But the scarcely less annoying imbecile who reads aloud everything on the screen that can be read is practically safe. Some day an outraged audience may fold him up in his seat ; but unfortunately there is no law against him. And classified with him are the individual who has seen the picture before, or read a review of it, and proceeds audibly to anticipate its development ; and the fellow who knows something about the production or the stars, and wants that fact appreciated by his neighbors. All these disturbers of the peace are beyond the physical reach of the exhibitor. It strikes us, however, that the Garfield Theatre, with its whimsical paragraph, has shown the way to the only possible control of audience ethics. Frequent repetition of such verbal cartoonery should finally penetrate the ivory armor of even the most egotistical and inconsiderate of visitors. Exhibitors who print weekly programs (and there should be about twelve thousand of them) can serve and please ninety-nine per cent of their patrons by aiming a little disciplinary comment at the irrepressible one per cent. ^¥ K* ^ The Red Cross Drive THE Red Cross drive which is on this week is under* taking to raise a hundred million dollars — practically a dollar for every man, woman and child in the country. Every exhibitor will, of course, make a personal contribution for more than his arithmetical share of the call. But in addition he should remember that his thousand or more of regular patrons represent a thousand or more of dollars for the Red Cross. He can help wonderfully in the collection of this amount by running the Red Cross films, backed up, if possible, by the creation of a little atmosphere in the way of nurse uniforms. Remember, also, that the Red Cross makes a big drive only when the money is in immediate demand ; and that after the drive is over, there is still need for all the support we can give to the work that not only saves the lives of our boys, but that returns to the fighting line men who would otherwise be lost as otir defenders. Viewed in the most cold-bloodedly practical light, the Red Cross is a huge human repair shop, whose efficient maintenance work in caring for the military machine over there enables the rest of us, over here, to keep the wheels of business turning. Support the Red Cross ALL THE TIME to the limit. ^ Jfc ^ Newspaper Space BEING curious as to the persistently flippant and negligent treatment accorded the motion picture by the majority of newspapers, Motography has been sending out a series of interrogatory letters to city editors all over the country. We are not yet ready to announce the result, if, indeed, there be any result to announce, of which we are somewhat skeptical. The subject is enlivened for a moment, however, by a letter from Fred Elliott of the National Association, calling our attention to the advent of a motion picture page in the Albany Journal. Mr. Elliott says : "The importance of the industry is just beginning to dawn upon the publishers of some of the important daily neAvspapers. . . . Many of them have for years been running columns containing news of the automobile world and it would be very helpful if these newspapers devoted equal space to the silent drama." We used the baseball parallel ; Elliott uses the automobile. Baseball does not bring an inch of advertising to the dailies; the automobile news does. From that standpoint, advertising would seem to have little to do with it — which is as it should be. But the picture has all the advantages of all of them. It has more fans than baseball, and it is bringing more and more local advertising to the papers. There are more logical and business reasons why newspapers should run picture news every day than reasons why they should run automobile and baseball news. Publishers who have not yet awakened to that fact might take a tip from the growing list of papers which are increasing their popularity and prosperity by logical treatment of the picture.