Moving Picture World (Mar 1917)

March 17, 1917 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1745 Entered at the General Post Office, New York City, as Second Class Matter J. P. CHALMERS, Founder. Published Weekly by the Chalmers publishing Company 17 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY. (Telephone, 3510 Madison Square) J. P. Chalmers, Sr President J. F. Chalmers Vice-President E. J. Chalmers Secretary and Treasurer John Wylie General Manager The office of the company is the address of the officers. CHICAGO OFFICE-Suite 917-919 Schiller Building, 64 West Randolph St., Chicago, 111. Telephone, Central 5099. PACIFIC COAST OFFICE— Haas Building, Seventh St. and Broadway, Los Angeles, Cal. Telephone, Broadway 4649. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. United States, Mexico, Hawaii, Porto Rico and Philippine Islands $3.00 per year Canada 3.50 per year Foreign Countries (Postpaid) 4.00 per year Changes of address should give both old and new addresses in full and be clearly written. Two weeks' time may be required to effect the alteration. ADVERTISING RATES. Classified Advertising — One dollar for twenty words or less ; over twenty words, five cents per word. Display Advertising Rates made known on application. NOTE — Address all correspondence, remittances and subscriptions to MOVING PICTURE WORLD, P. O. Box 226, Madison Square Station. New York, and not to individuals. (Index to this issue will be found on page 1830.) "CINE-MUNDIAL," the monthly Spanish edition of the Moving Picture World, is published at 17 Madison Avenue by the Chalmers Publishing Company. It reaches the South American market. Yearly subscription, $1.50. Advertising rates on application. Saturday, March 17, 1917 Facts and Comments FH. RICHARDSON, the projection department man of the Moving Picture World, is now well * started on his 18,000 mile trip of visitation to the managers and operators of motion picture theaters of the United States. As nearly as it is possible to schedule such undertakings the list of cities and dates of the first section of the tour upon which Mr. Richardson expects to meet and talk to theater men were printed in the Projection Department of the issue of February 24, subject to a few slight amendments which appeared in the issue of March 10. Wherever Mr. Richardson has talked to the motion picture theater men he has been complimented for the manner in which he has presented his subject and has received generous thanks for the information he has imparted to manager and operator alike. From these facts one must conclude that time spent in attending the meetings he will hold on his long tour will be well spent. Regarding the subject of Mr. Richardson's talks it is hardly necessary to explain its importance here. There is one point, though, that may be overlooked; that his talks are as important to the manager as to the operator. Since most that has been written by Mr. Richardson has been addressed to the man who is directly responsible for good projection there may exist in the mind of many theater managers an impression that all this is not for him. To act upon that conclusion would be a great mistake. To be a competent picture theater manager one should have, at least, sufficient knowledge of projection to enable him to know when the operator is delivering the goods. We conclude, therefore, with the hope that managers will be as numerous at Mr. Richardson's talks as are the operators. Watch for the date for your town. Further dates will appear from time to time. * * * A SOUTH DAKOTA exhibitor claims that every time he runs a poor picture it cuts down his receipts for a month after. His suggestion is that it would be more profitable all round if the producers would burn up the negative every time they find that they have got a "flivver." We are very much inclined to agree with him, but the trouble is to find producers, and especially, directors, who will admit that they make poor pictures. Even then they try to get their cost back at least, though it gives their name or brand a black eye for months to come. ATTEMPTING to put into practice the training and knowledge secured in the office of the Moving Picture World in a campaign to secure subscriptions for their paper is the latest scheme for the National President of the Exhibitors' League and one of his editors. This is being done under the thinly veiled guise of being in the interest of the Exhibitors' Organization. The real purpose of the trip, however, was plainly put by the aforementioned editor when he says in a recent signed article; "I feel, therefore, that to increase the circulation, to add to the influence and prestige of the (mentioning his new paper by name), is to render the highest kind of service to the industry at large." Oh! wonderful Moses ! Oh ! easy salvation of the Exhibitor (it only costs a dollar). It is to laugh. COME to think of it once more, it is always the Moving Picture World that leads. The trip of Mr. Richardson of our staff in the interest of better projection was being planned and outlined for the past eight or ten months. Of course it is a good thing and will be in the interest of the whole industry. In fact, it is such a good thing that others had to do something like it, hence the trip of the National Exhibitors' League President and his henchman to gather in dollar subscriptions under the cloak of "service to the industry." We do not mind others copying the good things we do, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," but, goodness knows we hope that no one will credit the influence of this office with the muck-racking and mudslinging style of editorial matter of the "New School Trade Journal." * * * IT IS unmistakably one of the signs of the times that the Alhambra theater in Minneapolis has not only had its theater license revoked for showing a nude figure picture, "The Garden of Knowledge," but its manager will have to face a jury and has been, it is reported, expelled from the local exhibitors' association. The theater did a booming business for three weeks, but it is empty now.