The Moving picture world (January 1920-February 1920)

February 7, 1920 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 871 Pastor Says Church Should Utilize Screens "Inherent Power for Good 99 DECLARING that motion pictures have an "inherent power for good" and suggesting that the churches form a motion picture exchange for the quick and broad distribution of films for churches and Sunday Schools, the Rev. Dr. Joel H. Metcalf, pastor of the Unitarian Church, Winchester, and a clergyman-astronomer of fame, has caused widespread discussion in Massachusetts. Dr. Metcalf's parish is the church-home of many wealthy and influential residents of Greater Boston. "There is nothing wrong with the movies themselves," declared Dr. Metcalf. "They may be put to bad uses now and then, but that in no way prohibits their inherent power for good. On a Sunday night, for example, your churches are empty and your movie houses are filled. Why could not the church have movies and bring the people to herself? Not to Compete with Theatres. "I do not mean that the church should endeavor to compete with the theatres. I mean that the church should endeavor to bring itself up to the times and make itself attractive. The trouble with the church is, that it is, as far as methods are concerned, back somewhere in the Stone Age. The men and women of today are modern children and they want what is modern. It is the church that is to blame. The church should step in and take the new inventions, the new triumphs and make them her own, and the moving picture, one of the century's achievements, should be one of her greatest instruments for good. "One would only with difficulty exaggerate the possibilities of the movies in the hands of the church. As a means to wholesome recreation it is incomparable. The church, we know, should not separate itself from life and hold itself as something apart. It should intertwine itself with every branch of life. It should be social. So, if the church should arrange to exhibit good, up-to-date movies on evenings and Sunday afternoons, it would have taken a long step toward the quickening of her own life and the life of the people. Educational Films First. "I do not mean, you know, that the church should exhibit problem plays and those thrilling d'me novel dramas. Nor do I mean that the church should cease to have regular church services. It is not a plan to compete with the movie theatres. "We could start with educational films for children. They could be confined to Bibical subjects. Then we could branch out on a broader educational field. One could have travelogues, studies of foreign peoples and places, studies of the habits of animals and the wonders of the mountains and the seas, and so on. Children would no longer be loath to come to Sunday School. They would be eager. And it would be not only interesting, but profitable. "I have long considered the advantages of movies in the church. But it was my first experience on the other side that first brought home to me their really great potency. I saw weary, homesick doughboys grow gay and lighthearted just from watching wholesome, hearty movies. I saw the sick and the wounded forget their sufferings as they lay on their cots and followed the episodes of a photoplay. I saw the morale of the men improve under the stimulating influences of these exhibits. The movies over there did a great deal to make our boys happier and better, better men and better fighters. Suggests Church Exchange. "There is absolutely no doubt that the proper movies are invaluable as a recreational and educational power. But beyond this, in the right hands, they could be a mighty, uplifting and spiritualizing force. And the right hands are the hands of the church. "Once it was the church that not only ararnged amusements, but originated them. Dancing, for example, was religious before it became secular. The modern drama itself is but a product of the old church's miracle plays and pageants, but now these things seem to have gone away from her. She should change her policy. The attractions that are taking the world away from the church should be used by her to bring them back. And the movies furnish the first convenient step. "It is almost imposible for a solitary minister to put on the proper movies. He is all alone and would be unable to get the films he wanted. Hence, it is why the church, as an organization, should undertake the project. Moving picture shows should be started in all the churches. The church should organize, or at least superintend, an exchange where pastors can get the films they wanted, whether they are Bibical and religious or recreational. The exchange should have up-to-date pictures, healthy, stimulating pictures. It should have a method of quick and broad distribution. Once this is done the first step will have been taken. This step will accomplish much toward the bringing of the world back into the church." Plans Prepared for Wick's New House in Kittanning SKETCHES have been made for the theatre which John Wick, Jr., announces he intends building on the north side of Market street, Kittanning, Pa., between the Alexander and the Citizens' Hotels, opposite his opera house, which he recently purchased from the Moose Lodge. Tenants on the premises have been notified to vacate on April first. The theatre will have a frontage of 41 feet 6 inches and a depth of 200 feet. There will be an outside lobby eight feet deep and an inside lobby seven feet three inches in depth. The seating capacity will be 1,342 and the seats will be arranged in four separate blocks, separated by two four-foot four-inch aisles. The ceiling will have a height of 17 feet and there will be 18 different exits. The second floor may be converted into a ballroom or other amusement place. A third floor may also be added. The building will be of concrete, reinforced with structural steel, and Mr. Wick hopes to open the house on Labor Day. The Opera House will be used for road shows and special feature film productions after the new house is completed. Adele Farrington to Be Seen in Neilan Picture MARSHALL NEILAN has announced the addition of Adele Farrington to the cast of his second big independent features for First National release, which is now in course of productio.i at the Fairbanks studio in Hollywood. Miss Farrington, by her long experience on both stage and screen, is well fitted to play the character part in the forthcoming picture for which she was selected. Before her entrance into motion pictures, Miss Farrington was on the legitimate stage for twenty years. Most of the time she was in comic opera. Later she was starred in "Tess of the D'Ubervilles," and then played the vampire part in "A Fool There Was." Her best known screen successes are "Too Much Johnson," with Bryant Washburn"; "A Fugitive from Matrimony," with H. B. Warner; "Rio Grande," an Edwin Carewe production, and Marshall Neilan's "In Old Kentucky." Miss Farrington is an accomplished musician and composer. She recently wrote both words and music to "War Baby's Lullaby" and "Liza Lou," which were published and which are now being sung throughout the country. No two men advertise alike. If they did, there would be little pull in advertising. But the man who does the best work is usually he who makes the most radical departure from the average. II iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiliiiiiiiiiiiiHiiriiiiiiiliiiiliili[lllinilllllllll)IIIIIIS Adele Farrington. Will play big role In Marshall Nellan'a second production for First National.