Moving Picture World (Jan-Jun 1909)

if,S THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD THE PATENTS CO. AND THE INDEPENDENTS. By Our Man About Town. The Motion Picture Patents Company, in view of its ap i monopolistic title, lias not met with a very cordial reception. On the spur of the moment it has received the plaudits of many; on after thought it has been condemned. Others have, upon reflection, come into the fold. Sift it out. What is there to it? The sum and substance i that all tin supposed patent holders have turned over their paterfts to a holding company. That company has licensed certain other companies to manufacture moving picture films under tin patents it holds. The situation .i plain and clear. There is but one avenue for dispute, and that is for those who claim a better title to go into the court and dispute the title. So much for the chief point under discussion in an industry that for Si on or other has been made a prominent one by the daily press, which unfortunately leans to the sensational, rather than to the just. Tlie very press that now arraigns the capitalist has for months past been most active in persecuting the man of small capital. Every little point has been raised against the exhibitor. He has been branded as a guerrilla upon the theatrical profession, and no opportunity to brand him has been spared. We take this opportunity to say that there arc as good men engaged in the moving picture business as can be found in any other legitimate line, and it is only prejudice that has deprived them of the recognition they deserve. Much has been said about the Independents, and the ringing of the Independence bell, but it should always be remembered that cheap grade in either labor or products does not tend to promote the welfare of any community. Cheap film exchange nun, "dupers" and other like panhandlers, have done more to wreck legitimate capital than anything else. This is the chief argument of the so-called trust. None but those engaged in the business know what low, scheming people are engaged in it. Where a legitimate manufacturer will spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to put a subject 011 the market, there are scores of vultures who will buy a copy and counterfeit the product. Uncle Sam does not allow his product to be so treated; why should any other legitimate producer stand idly by? Then take the film exchange man. He buys every new subject that is put on the market, in order to give his cusr 1 tlie exhibitor) the best that can be obtained. And as an opposition he fine's some fellow with an office in his hat. or a basement, offering his customer one new subject and the balance of his program made up of pictures that have lien on the market for months. This allegation may be denied, but not in good faith. Anyone who knows anything about the business knows that you cannot buy new goods and deal them out to your customers r ' seci md-hand prices. This brings me down to the point that there are in existence a number of cheap-John people whom the Motion Picture Patents Company arc expected to drive out of the business. I make this declaration without fear. Every man is entitled to just remuneration for his labor — whether he be a capitalist or a laborer. Pikers should stick to their own quarters and not infringe upon legitimate fields. It is for this reason that I say the Motion Picture Patents Company will remain intact and survive. T have spent several weeks in looking into the matter and I believe that where cheapness is to be wiped out the people will stand by. At first blush there appears to be a monopolistic color, but think it over, friends, and you will see deeper. T see that the United Managers' Association is up in arms against the so-called trust. People in glass houses should not throw stones. T well remember when the aforesaid managers were paying $75.00 and $fio.oo per week for one reel of film se their programs. One reel of films per week. mind you. \t that time moving picture operators considered themselves operators, so much so that when the theatrical managers started the squeeze the same operators were capabli of taking positions as stage electricians. What are these managers doing for the moving picture business to-day" Have they ever promoted it?1 Ask the old-time operators. Don't go to the moving picture producers. You will find in the houses of tin biggest kickers a man-of-all-work. No operator. The man who works the moving picture machine works the spotlight, and probably acts as usher, or in some other capacity, when not at his post. Some of the theatrical managers threaten to form a combine with millions of capital to manufacture and produce their own g Is. That is all bluff. That was tried by Proctor years ago and he was glad to give it up. The mouthpiece that now gives it to the daily press has no more pluck or capital than Proctor has. But with all this in mind I wish to say that the Motion Picture Patent Company must be more conservative than it has been. From the observations I have made in my tour I feel it lias been, in a measure at least, unjust. To be frank with you, Mr. Editor, 1 believe that the policies of the company are all right. 1 don't believe in cheap skates, whether they be manufacturers, exhibitors, or film exchange men, but you cannot work reforms with an iron hand. In time the policies will be universally endorsed, but time must work the way. I get among the exhibitors more than any other class attached to the moving picture business and I find a very strong sentiment against the payment of the license fee of $2 per week. Taxation has always been repulsive to all people, and always will be; but has it ever occurred to you that people delight to pay taxes when it is to their own interests? Understand me, I do not mean to put up an argument in favor of this special tax. What I mean to convey is that the people will only too willingly pay the tax when they see the reason for it. What next? Simplest thing in the world. The $2 tax means protection. Nothing protects like protection. It is now up to the Motion Picture Patents Company to exercise that protection by proceeding against the companies that promise and advertise to give both Patents and Independent products to customers with a guarantee against molestation 01 prosecution. The way is clear. The halting exhibitors are not at fault. In the language of the day, they are from Missouri. OLIVER. A TOUR AMONGST COUNTRY EXHIBITORS. By John M. Bradlet. (Continued from page 143.) In the country most of the shows are run by local, respectable business men and by local capital. In Pottstown, when two well known business men, Messrs. Cook & Wiley, opened the Arcade, the Acme, a small Bowery style show had to close its doors. Messrs. Cook & Wiley have not to apologize to their friends for being in the moving picture business, the3r are proud of it. and they have the support of the community. Now if Messrs. Cook & Wiley were to show objectionable films they would not only drive away their local patronage and lose money on their venture, but they would also ruin their reputation and endanger their respective stores. Shows managed by respectable local men are a safeguard to the morals of the community. In Royersford we find one of the richest citizens of the place at the head of the Star Theater, not an old store converted into a show room, but a specially constructed building, well equipped for the work, and even with an electric transformer, etc. In Spring City, a small place, we find the New Gem, a theater that would be a great credit to Fourteenth street, well equipped for the business, neat and clean in everything, with its well uniformed employees, etc. In Phoenixville we find still another illustration of a respectable business man driving away undesirable showmen. When Mr. Brownback decided to devote his Colonial Theater to the moving pictures an undesirable show place had to move away. He had not much to move away as most of the goods, including the piano, had been taken away for debts. So he sold the balance of the place to other persons and since the place has been resold and resold again. In other words, the country business men have recognized that the moving pictures are not only a good and cheap amusement but an educator, provided good productions are shown, and for this reason they take hold of them instead of allowing undesirable showmen to take possession of the morals of the community. Mr. Tucker, of the Bijou, of Downingtown, and many other exhibitors told me that I could use their names as opposed to show in their respective places, films that could offend in any way their local patronage and that they have not only given strict orders to their renters to not send them highly sensational films, showing brutal murders, burglaries or other crimes, but that they generally manage to have always in reserve a good reel of films, to be used in case the renters should send accidently some objectionable subjects.