Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

MAR -8 1922 'C1B522952 WHEN the MOTHERS ENLISTED Mrs. R. A. Ellis Tampa, Florida MANY women's clubs have declared themselves in behalf of visual instruction through the wise and liberal use of motion pictures, and are forwarding the cause by their influence with the schools, churches, and film theatres of their communities. Here is a plain story of constructive effort and definite success by a village improvement association away down South that must increase our respect for the strength and sincerity •of women's achievements in this direction. Crescent City is a Florida town that, at the time this experiment begun, had a population of 800, no moving pictures, and very backward schools. In brief, there was no mental and very slight spiritual stimulus here, especially for the young people who constitute the community's future hope. Wherein the Big Idea Is Born But the Village Improvement Association — commonly designated the V. I. A. — had in its membership some score or more of mothers with the good of the town and especially of their children at heart. Not all the women, even in this unpromising environment, were purblind of vision or stagnant of spirit. A few had scanned wider horizons and kept themselves abreast of the times ; and one or two of these had the additional gift of leadership. It was in such a group that the Big Idea germinated. They nursed it in quiet for a time, because of the practical difficulties looming before them. You .will see at once that such difficulties must have been numerous, and at first glance almost insurmountable. The lack of financial backing in such projects may sometimes constitute a complete barrier. The Big Idea Grows But women are not easily daunted. Soon the Big Idea found opportunity to expand into action. The requisite impulse came when two of the best business men in town asked the officers of the V. I. A. if they would rent the club hall for motion pictures two or three afternoons and evenings each week. The answer came promptly: No; the V. I. A. could not rent out its hall, for the association intended to open up a picture business itself ! And why not? If long-headed business men thought, as they evidently did, that such a proposition could be put over, why could not the women initiate the enterprise and forge ahead? Money was needed, of course ; some resources on which to start even in the smallest way. At a special meeting of the club the matter was threshed out in vigorous debate. One woman finally summed up issues in this way: "Our town must have moving pictures. Our children need both the instruction and entertainment side of the cinema as an important part of their education. No doubt we mothers and fathers stand likewise in need of just exactly this supplementary education. If we fail on the practical side of the enterprise, perhaps we shall have hastened the day when someone else will attempt the same and succeed. If we succeed, we shall have happier, more enthusiastic, better-informed pupils in our school and better sons and daughters at home — besides more cheerful and better-informed citizens now and in the future. Moreover, we shall have kept control of the pictures, and can make the results vastly better by wisdom in the choice of films. We have the hall ; it seems to me we might muster among us enough business sense to manage this thing." "It's a matter of dollars, not sense," someone snapped out. "Where can we borrow even the moderate sum we must have at " "We'll borrow from ourselves," broke in a hard-headed, inde pendent spinster. And in the end it went that way, though not until an argumentative storm had cleared the atmosphere. You see, the group had for years been laboriously accumulating and carefully hoarding a little building fund — nursing the dream of some day having a real clubhouse in place of that which had long been its shelter. The old dwelling with partitions removed had served for an association home almost long enough. Should they now jeopardize their hope and dream by plunging into this new venture? They did; the "plungers" leading, they broke into the precious nest-egg tucked away in the savings bank. Expensive Economy The first mistake of these valiant women was a common one — going too heavily on economy. The committee appointed to guide the new enterprise felt the monetary responsibility most acutely, and so were easily beguiled into accepting the loan of an old picture machine; and to their lot fell much tedious and futile experimenting with storage gas. After the waste of some months and money, besides much patience, they found the courage to clear the sheets and start on a different tack. They had at least determined definitely that the only way for them to show pictures was by means of electricity. A block removed from the club building was the one progressive store of the town, having its own electric plant. The owners were sufficiently public-spirited to agree now to increase the capacity of the plant sufficiently to supply adequate current for the V. I. A. enterprise. With this encouragement, the committee proceeded to order the equipment they had selected : a new Edison machine, a fireproof booth equipped with electric fan, a screen, and, lastly, wiring to connect the clubhouse with the source of current. This first machine — later traded in when a much superior one was purchased — cost $235. The entire equipment mentioned cost the association $365, and costs of installation, etc., brought the total to about $400 — an appalling sum to the anxious committee. Arrangements were made with a theatre in a town 25 miles distant to supply films, at least until a tryout might prove whether the club should go ahead or sell its equipment and retire — the latter alternative being the forecast of a doubting majority. And then finally, after six months' battling with difficulties great and small, came "The First Night" ! And ThenWas it a success? Truth compels an answer in the negative. Bruised and battered, even lacerated in feelings, was that picture committee, as they stood huddled together in the semi-darkness, with the crowd dispersing, laughing and commenting audibly in kindness or unkindness, according to the temperament of the individual. However, there were pluck and backbone in the personnel of this committee, as well as practical insight. Rallying forces immediately, they were buoyed up by one firm conviction — that even in their failure lay the germ of future success. With clearing vision they recognized their mistakes, and knew they could be rectified. The biggest mistake had again been that of false economy. It's a feminine failing, you know. Thinking the services of a professional operator quite beyond their financial reach, the committee had engaged an ambitious young amateur of the town to operate the projector on that critical first night. The youth knew considerable about machinery in general, but little about projectors. As to the women themselves, they belonged to the great uninitiated who have a vague idea that you feed this mechanism much as you would a