Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

14 MOVING PICTURE AGE January, 1922 On the PACIFIC Rev. Shelton Bissell Venice Union Church, Venice, California "The Jack-knife Man"; "The Passing of the Third Floor Back" (with Forbes Robertson) ; "The Pinch Hitter" (with Charles Ray) ; "A Message from Mars," and "The Stream of Life." This last picture is the only non-theatrical film that has been used. The church has booked ahead such pictures as "Jes' Call Me Jim," "Bunty Pulls the Strings," and "The Clodhopper." From the standpoint of a church that is striving to serve an urban community in the broadest and most sympathetic way, such a Sunday-evening service as is described above has everything in its favor and nothing against it. THE UNION Congregational Church, Venice, California, has been using the moving picture as the feature of its Sundayevening services for over a year, and is more than ever convinced of the wisdom of this policy. Venice is a rapidly growing city of nearly 18,000. It was founded in 1904 by the late Abbott Kinney as an American replica of the Italian Venice, and was intended by him as primarily and exclusively an amusement resort. Its growth during the last five years has been very rapid, and today it no longer considers itself a mere carnival beach town. With its schools, churches, banks, and multiplied business features it has taken on the aspect of the average southern California tourist city. An Unusual Problem Our church is situated close to the amusement zone, and has for a long time known that it faced a special obligation as a center of wholesome influence on Sunday evenings, when the great pleasureseeking crowds swarm in from Los Angeles, only 14 miles distant. The Sunday-evening services were largely a duplicate of the morning, with a slowly dwindling attendance, supported chiefly by those who carried it as a wearisome duty or enjoyed it as a superfluous luxury, rather than by those who were drawn to it as a stimulating and needed means of moral grace and spiritual growth. The change to motion pictures was made with the least possible disturbance. In consequence not one family has left the church. The new feature's most enthusiastic supporter is a deacon of Quaker inheritance and convictions. The attendance has been increased between 100 per cent and 150 per cent. Some, who had grown apathetic are out now every Sunday night. Many who had abandoned their church-going habits on coming to California are regular attendants. The Plan of Operation Ours is most emphatically not a moving-picture "show," although it shows moving pictures. There is much gospel-singing from the stereopticon slides thrown on the screen, and in the same way the audience heartily joins in the reading of prayers and scripture. The pastor always inserts a ringing and practical "sermonette" between two of the reels. Through an arrangement with the exchange the church is allowed to split a five or six-reel film into two instalments, giving part each Sunday night. This has a double advantage : it materially lessens the expense of picture rentals, and it brings the service within the scope of an hour and a half, thus encouraging parents to bring their little children with them. Where Are the Religious Films? If the Union church were committed to the policy of using only films which are distinctly and avowedly religious or scriptural in their nature, this program could not be maintained, for the number of such pictures is quite limited. What few there are cannot make a consistently stirring appeal to a public accustomed to the most superb productions of the screen art. But there are a host of fine, healthy, wholesome pictures that can be made to fit into a broadly constructed Sunday-evening program in such a city as Venice. With care spent upon the arrangement of the several parts of the service, the picture may be made to reinforce the religious atmosphere. The audience is always quiet, reverent, thoughtful, and very appreciative. A taste for the character-building kind of picture is being cultivated, and at the same time a response to the moral and religious appeal is being made — both wholesome items in favor of films. The Standard Motion Picture Service of Los Angeles has built up a circuit of churches, and distributes the carefully selected films week by week. The average cost of a Sunday-night service with pictures in Venice is less than $10, which is more than paid for by the free-will offering. "Among Those Present" Some of the pictures that this church has used with pleasure and profit are : "Parentage" ; "That Something" ; "Carolyn of the Corners"; "Homespun Folks"; "The World Aflame"; "Milestones"; MORE CLASS FILMS Orrin G. 'Cocks Secretary, National Committee for Better Films, New York City NORTH AMERICAN HISTORY Title Across the Rockies Reels Description 1 Non-inflam. stand, film Before the White Man Came 6 Histor. romance Breaking Through the Appalachians Canals in U. S. History Conservation — Reclaiming Arid Lands Copperhead, The Courtship of Miles Standish English Settlements in N. America Evangeline French Explorations in N. America Historical and Architectural Mexico Immigration to the United States 1 Non-inflam. stand. film 1 Non-inflam. stand. film 1 Non-inflam. stand. film 7 Lincoln and the Civil War 5 Colonial drama 1 Non-inflam. stand, film 5 Arcadia and the American colonies 1 Non-inflam. stand, film 1 Source Soc. Vis. Ed. Arrow Soc. Vis. Ed. Soc. Vis. Ed. Soc. Vis. Ed. Fam. Play. Argonaut Soc. Vis. Ed. Fox Soc. Vis. Ed. Ed. Film Last of the Mohicans I Non-inflam. stand. film Soc. Vis. Ed. 6 N. Y. Colonial and Indian story Asso. Prod. Lincoln Cycle 10 episodes, 2 reels each Community "My Mother," "My Father," "The Call to Arms," "My First Jury," "Tender Memories," "A President's Answer," "Native State," "Down the River," "The Slave Auction," and "Under the Stars." Louisiana Purchase, and Lewis and Clarke Expedition Panama Canal and Its Economic Significance Petrified Forests of Arizona Non-inflam. stand, film Non-inflam. stand, film Railroads in U. S. History 1 Non-inflam. stand. film Ride of Paul Revere 1 Settling the Ohio Valley 1 Non-inflam. stand. film Steamboat in U. S. Historv 1 Non-inflam. stand. film Story of Plymouth Rock 1 Struggles of French and English for N. America 1 Non-inflam. stand. film Trans-Mississippi Trails 1 Non-inflam. stand. film War of the American Revolution 1 Non-inflam. stand. film What the Ice Age Left 1 Topographical changes Soc. Vis. Ed. Soc. Vis. Ed. Prizma (Repub.) Soc. Vis. Ed. Kleine Soc. Vis. Ed. Soc. Vis. Ed. Kleine Soc. Vis. Ed. Soc. Vis. Ed. Soc. Vis. Ed. Ed. Film