Moving Picture World (July-Dec 1910)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD The Exhibitor and the Newspaper. The wise exhibitor uses the newspaper, not only for advertisement purpi ses but for the further and greater benefit of its news and editorial column-. By so doing mutual advantage ma) result and greater public benefits accrue; this is more especially applicable to all places other than the large cities, because in the township newspapers there is less possibility of the "yellow taint" and a greater readiness to publish matter of a readable nature. From the fact that the moving picture occupies a position of such central and vital importance to-day — tg the recognized medium of knowledge and pleasure; added to the fact of it universal acceptance by all ages and all classes of people the exhibitor is backed by a power that is in itself irresistible, therefore it only remains for him to adapt himself to the high moral standard and requirements of his community to assure a cordial support and further secure more than an adequate return in prestige and profit. To this end it is the purpose of this article to so assist the exhibitor that he may be able to secure the advantage we suggest. Every exhibitor who reads the Moving Picture World knows full well that not only is it his friend and helper but that its pages are filled with matter which he can use with great profit if he will follow the advice we are presuming to give. Before making our suggestions we prefer to present an example which will, we believe, give more effectiveness to our suggestions than anything else we could say. In our issue of November 12, page 1124, there appears under the heading "The Press and the Picture" a letter from "W. Clark, Rockford, 111., in which the writer telL of having used the columns of the local newspaper by having reprinted therein articles appearing in the Moving Picture World. On the same page another letter signed "Win. W. Hoyt" adds valuable testimony to the advantage gained by the use of the columns of the World In view of these examples we wish to enlarge upon the suggestion, that exhibitors everywhere may do the same, thereby initiating a campaign of education throughout the entire country which can only react with untold advantage to the moving picture cause. There have alreadyappeared on these pages many special articles and other matters of general importance, the reproduction of which in local papers is advisable. The Moving Picture World spares neither effort nor expense to give its readers the best ; and although ostensibly a trade paper, we have often wished that a larger army of readers might be benefited by our efforts. Plere then is the exhibitor's special opportunity which we present for what it is worth — and we believe its worth is great — feeling sure that not only the suggestions given but also the examples quoted will lead to a larger adoption of this plan. The power of the press is acknowledged, the "use of printer's ink" is an axiom of success, and as everybody reads the local papers the exhibitor is wise who uses its columns, and the reader is profited by his reading. Every Little Bit Helps. Moving picture shows ma]' be like literature, there may be some "dime novels" among them, but like literature are doing a great work among the masses. The cheapness and accessibility and the freedom in time one has to stay in them reach a vast number of people. — Memphis Scimitar. Brotherly Love. The Savoy, a new moving picture establishment to be operated by the Beverley Amusement Company, was opened at Staunton, Ya., Monday and had a most liberal patronage. It is worthy of note that the Savoy throws on the canvas a suggestion that reads, "Alter leaving here, visit the Lyric and Wonderland," showing a spirit that speaks well for its liberality and broad-mindedness. Moving Pictures in Natural Colors. Third Article. By Thomas Bedding, F.R.P.S. In former article on this subject, 1 vaguely hinted at some undeveloped possibilities in the way of producing moving pictures in natural colors. In this third article of the series, I will refer to them. Let me repeat: The object of these articles is to stimulate thought and experiment. There i no finalit) in this matter, as was pointed out last week in reference to the Urban-Smith process. There are many minds that have worked on the problem, and therefore the time i ripe for the publication of new, and perhaps unconventional ideas on the subject. As I have said before, 1 have seme idea-, but I am not going to publish them yet awhile, or until it suits me. Most photographers who make still negatives on glass are familiar with the not uncommon phenomenon of the appearance of color in the deposit. I, myself, and many others have produced negatives, developed with alkaline pyro which have shown most beautiful superficial color effects. Some people when they have had this exclaimed, "Eureka ! I have found it." The "it" being photography in natural colors. Of course "it"' was nothing of the kind. It was one of those curious chemic-physical phenomena which defy explanation. I was writing on this subject some years ago in London, when a gentleman took me up and contended that it was possible that color could be produced by direct exposure and development. In proof of which he sent me several lantern slides in the most natural colors, obtained, he said, by simple exposure and development. He could not explain the phenomena, nor could I, and there the matter ended. "Something in it," say people. But what that "something" is nobody knows. Which leads me to the main point of this article, namely, that we arc far from having exhausted experiments in the chemistry and physics of silver salts which, as everybody knows, are the basic material of the moving picture negative and positive. The haloid salts of silver, and even pigmentery or metallic silver, are very little understood. You coat celluloid with silver-bromide; you expose and develop it. You get a picture in black pigmentery silver. That is all of the property of these bodies which is known, although they have been experimented with for thirty or forty years. It is probable that one of these days some important discoveries may be made on the chemic-physical properties of metallic silver. Then there will be something doing in the way of natural colors. Over twenty years ago, as I have already pointed out in these pages, the late Mr. Mathew Carey Lea published in the "American Journal of Science" the results of some extraordinarily interesting experiments on silver salts which I have never forgotten and which I think may interest those readers who are working on the subject of color in moving pictures. Of course, when Lea worked there was no such thing as a moving picture, and no such thing as celluloid. In brief, what Carey Lea did was to prove that deposited metallic silver could, by suitable treatment with organic substances, be made to yield, approximately, all the spectrum colors. He calls these bodies the photo-salts of silver. He got silver in a blue form, in a red form, pink, yellow and the like. In fact, he proved that instead of being simply a black deposit, pigmentery silver might be converted into almost any color. Probably this was caused by some alteration in the physical constitution of the molecules. Equally so, in another ?et of experiments, Carey Lea proved that silver could be made to assume all the physical and optical aspects of