Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

June 29, 1918 MOTOGRAPHY 1209 Mutual Makes War on False Economy ACTS TO STOP MISGUIDED MOVEMENT IN LOS ANGELES AN APPEAL to the public to stand by pictures as a war-time necessity has been issued to the people of Los Angeles, where a thrift movement threatened the existence of the motion picture theatres, through the advertising columns of the Los Angeles newspapers by James M. Sheldon, president of the Mutual Film Corporation. When Mr. Sheldon learned of the jeopardy in which Los Angeles theatres stood he ordered an advertisement prepared and published pointing out the service the motion picture has given and is giving in the conduct of the war. "Ad" Appears in All Papers The advertisement went forward simultaneously to the Los Angeles Times, Herald, Examiner, Express, Tribune and Record, under the caption "Motion Pictures a War Necessity." It read as follows: "War time economy properly consists of both saving and spending wisely. "Two great institutions demand your war time patronage, both in value to you and in service to your country. They are: The newspaper and the motion picture. "It is your obligation to be well informed, to know the will and purposes of your government, to share in its successes, to laud its heroes, to succor the wounded, to keep the home fires burning. "The motion picture brings you the story of the war and our nation at war that words can not tell. The picture, too, has a function of entertainment. The United States is not in sack cloth and ashes. "While we war we live. Industry's Rights Proven "The motion picture industry's war time right to existence is proven in the large uses to which the pictures are being put by the United States government, notably the Committee on Public Information, in behalf of the War and Navy Departments, by the United States Food Administration, the Liberty Loan Committee, the Shipping Board and all kindred arms of our war administration. The pictures live because they serve. The motion picture industry has enlisted for 'duration of the war.' That enlistment has been voluntary, enthusiastic and with whole-hearted fervor of patriotism. "Your motion picture theatre presents you not extravagance, but wholesome opportunity to buy of knowledge, experience and entertainment, to know your country and the affairs of the warring world. "Patronize your theatres." Pictures Perform Real Duty "The war has proven in France and England," said Mr. Sheldon in commenting on his message to the people of Los Angeles, "that the motion picture is essential to a warring people. It has performed an important and vital duty in sustaining the morale of the mothers and wives of the men on the firing line, in providing a certain and complete relaxation from the horrors of existence, in addition to the blessing it has been to the men in the trenches and in concentration camps. "In the year of hurried preparation through which the United States has passed the motion picture has performed many duties. It was the first medium of entertainment to be adopted for the great cantonments where thousands of boys, taken from their homes, were helped over the pain of separation by picture entertainment. It has been a valuable ally to the various departments of the government as a means of propaganda. "I thought the time had passed when the motion picture was to be considered a luxury or an extravagance. Nowhere is more value delivered for the money than in the picture theatre. It gives more, dollar for dollar, in entertainment, relaxation, regeneration and education than any other agency. "The battle cry of the home line of defense is thrift, and quite rightly so. 'Buy only what you need' is an excellent rule to follow, but the public needs the motion picture. Mothers with sons in France, wives with husbands on the battle line, cannot stand the strain and do their part in winning the war without diversion. Workmen cannot work at highest efficiency in our munition shops and ship-building plants without relaxation. Deprive the nation of its entertainment and it will grow tense and break. "The motion picture is the most valuable and most efficient agency to fill this need. It has proven itself to be. "Let us in the motion picture business do all that we can in the future as we have in the past, to assist the government in the raising of its loans, in the exploitation of its savings and thrift campaigns, in the education of the people to economy and efficient effort, in the spreading of patriotic propaganda, in the dissemination of information, but let us combat the hysterical shoutings of the overzealous against the picture as a luxury and an extravagance. A new picture of Norma Talmadge, Select star. This picture was posed in the dressing room of her New York studio.