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206
MOTOGRAPHY
Vol. VII, No. 5.
Scene from Essanay's Dramatic Novelty, "Out of the Night."
Acetyl Cellulose for Moving Picture Films
A number of inquiries have been received from our readers regarding the manufacture of uninflammable moving picture films made from acetyl cellulose. The Eastman Kodak Company has given a full explanation of the present situation in a note published in the Journal of Industrial Chemistry, the substance of which is reproduced here. The company explains :
"'\Yhile it is a fact that those of our customers who had been using cellulose acetate film exclusively for nearly two years have returned to the use of the cellulose nitrate stock, we have not 'abandoned the manufacture of these films,' for we are still filling occasional orders for the acetate film and are prepared to manufacture on a large scale should a majority of our customers decide to return to the use of this film exclusively. The reason that the manufacture was discontinued was not because the acetyl films were inferior in lasting qualities or the general trade objected to their use. It is true that the acetyl-cellulose film which was manufactured for several months after this product was introduced was inferior in wearing quality to the nitro-cellulose film. But improvements in the process were made which resulted in a product that was in practical use substantially as durable as the nitrate film. At the time our customers gave up its use, and for a year previous, we were not getting complaints of a lack of wearing quality. So far as the product was concerned, we feel sure that our trade would have continued its use indefinitely. Having brought the acetate base to this
point, we do not feel that there would have been any technically retrograde step if we had stopped its manufacture altogether. The regret is that cellulose acetate, even when manufactured in very large quantities, can not be made at a cost which would make is possible to sell the film at the same price as the nitrocellulose film. An advance of nearly 15 per cent did not more than cover the extra cost of manufacture. The film went out of general use because the trade found that it had not displaced the nitrate film. The two were used together at the theaters. The safeguards with which municipalities and insurance companies surrounded the use of the inflammable film were still required, and the fact that no serious accidents occurred during the two years that the two films were used together in the theaters, shows that the protective devices and regulations were adequate. Therefore, film manufacturers using acetyl film could see no reason why they should bear the burden of a raw material of a higher cost than used by their competitors, and returned to the use of nitrocellulose."
Chicago is Mutual Film Headquarters
The Mutual Film Corporation has chosen Chicago for its general headquarters, with J. R. Freuler as manager. The choice is to be commended for the Mutual is a western organization, and while it has been doing things farther east, western men get inspiration on their home grounds. The offices of the Mutual are at 1412 Harris Trust building.