The Moving Picture Weekly (1916-1917)

■THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY 11 FLASHES FROM THE NEWS WEEKLIES RECORD TEA PARTY. THERE was recently held in Windsor Great Park in England the largest tea party on record. It was for the benefit of 6,000 wounded Tommies and all the 6,000 were there enjoying all the benefits. It was something of an international affair, too, as there were about 800 Australians and New Zealanders, 500 Canadians and 250 South Africans, as well as 4,000 men drawn from the home regiments. The program, conducted by the army service corps, consisted of a drive, a tea, and other amusements that were enjoyed by all the men. Although the whole ig shown in the forty-seventh number of the Animated Weekly, this does not give an adequate idea of the size of the affair. Among the other things that were served there was 1,000 pounds of plain cake, 1,000 pounds of current cake, 1,250 pounds of meat, 150 pounds of tea, 600 pounds of sugar and 18,000 cigarettes. Everyone pitched in with a will, even the taxi drivers helping by furnishing free transportation to and from the park. These men have been doing a great deal of late to make the lot of the wounded men a little easier by carrying them about the city. A SHEER STEAL. THE editor of the Universal Animated Weekly has so many times demonstrated that there is nothing that he and his live-wire cameramen cannot get, that it is almost useless to praise them any more. But again they have stolen the finest films of a football game that they were not supposed to film at all, so that all due credit must be given. This time it was the University of Pittsburg and Washington and Jefferson game that appears in the forty-seventh number of the Animated Weekly. The rights to film the game had been sold to another concern, but that was no reason why the patrons of the Animated Weekly should not see this exciting event. So a camera was smuggled in and the result was that they obtained the best films that were taken, and that night they were shown in some of the theatres in Pittsburg. The gauae was a corker, as the two teams are rivals, and this year, as usual, they both had excellent football aggregations. That Pitt won, 37-0, is a tribute to the coaching methods of the veteran Glen Warner, who for years turned out teams at Carlisle that made the rest of the football world tremble with terror. AN ANCIENT CEREMONY. 'J'HE forty-seventh number of the Animated Weekly shows one of the oldest customs in existence in England, the opening of the law courts. For centuries this custom has been observed and the English, with their ultra-conservatism, hesitate to abolish an observance that has been in existence for so many years. The custom consists in all the judges and a great many members of the bar marching through the streets of London after attending service in Westminster Abbey. From there they proceed to the law courts, where the business is at once begun. A very good shot of this is shown in the Weekly, and should prove very interesting to Americans, as the lawyers all are attired in their long gowns and white wigs, making a very picturesque appearance. A THIRD OF A MILE A YEAR. \X^HAT is supposed to be the slowest continued motion on record was discovered as a letter posted fifty-seven years ago reached its destination a few years ago. The letter came in the ordinary channels of the post and the man to whom it was addressed having died some years ago, it was delivered to his son. The letter was written to a Mr. E. A. Edenboume from his brother-in-law, telling him of the death of his motherin-law. The chances were that it was caught in a crevice of the post-box or of the post office and was hidden for all these years. But the affair has many remarkable features. One cannot help wondering whether or not the man to whom it was addressed ever went to the funeral. It is also remarkable to note that the letter, taking fifty-seven years to go the eighteen miles from Willow Grove, Pa., where it was mailed, to its destinanation, traveled at the rate of a third of a mile a year, which seems to be the record for slow procedure. All the particulars of the incident are shown at length in the forty-seventh number of the Animated Weekly. A $10,000 GIFT. IT is gratifying to hear that there is one club for the furtherance of one art that does not confine its efforts to writing pamphlets on the subject. The forty-seventh number of the Universal Animated Weekly shows the Massachusetts Aero Club presenting to the State a $10,000 aeroplane for the advancement of the art of fly ing in that State. The occasion of the gift was the memory of Norman Prince, the American aviator who was killed while serving in the French corps somewhere in France. Gov-^ emor McCall is shown accepting the gift and ex-Govemor Walsh is shown making a speech on preparedness. ELLA HALL PLAYS WITH TWELVE LITTLE GIRLS. IN "Mary, Keep Your Feet Still," dainty Ella Hall, Bluebird star, is doing some of the best work of her career before the camera. She is working under the direction of Jack Conway in this five-reel production. Miss Hall is supported by Marcia Moore, another dainty little actress, and Margaret Whistler, well-known character woman. But what has delighted the little actress more than anything is the fact that a troupe of little girls are also appearing in the company in a number of clever stage dances. When not actually at work the clever little star is playing with the children and keeping them amused while they are waiting for the next scene of the photoplay. One afternoon the sun hid behind a bank of clouds for fully half an hour at a time at intervals all day. Director Jack Conway was working on a set representing a theatre stage. During one of the dark intervals Miss Hall suggested they present a play for the amusement of the twelve little girls who are appearing in the production and so the photoplayers did the best they could to play a real play with Conway as the onlv man in the cast with the exception of Cameraman E. Kull, who was required to stand in the background as a bit of scenery. The attempt to speak impromptu lines caused much laughter not only for the children but for the few visitors who happened along at the time. MILTON MOORE PROMOTED. A FTER having served a number of years as one of the expert cameraman at Universal City, Milton Moore has been detailed by John M. Nicholaus, Superintendent of Photography, to the office of 0. L. Sellers, production manager. Moore will be known as Sellers' expert assistant over all questions of photography, arrangements of sets for proper lighting and special lighting effects. This is a deserved promotion for Moore.