Photoplay (Jan - Jun 1924)

Photopi vn M\(.\/im Advertising Se< ii<>\ I 2 I the terrifying fad that the motion picture was perhaps an art merchandise, not merel) merchandise As w is to be expected, a storm of indignation arose. The spirit oi conserva tism and standpatism is always the widely prevailing one oi the motion picture indu The vaunted enterprise and initiative of t lubusiness is always expressed in airy words. In intent and in deeds the picture industry is tin' world's most conservative commercial institution. It i an ultra conservatism that leads to the most violent extravagances of money and effort to avoid the pain of thoughtful originality. This spirit prevailed then. Until this moment when Baumann ami Kessel found that the enthusiasms of hue had carried them up into a new high level of producing cost, it had been the accepted notion that all exposed motion picture negative was worth a dollar a foot and that all positive prints were worth ten cents a foot. It was traditional. There are a good many motion picture men who still think of the picture in the same term-. As lon^ as that line of thought prevailed, the industry of making and selling pictures could be kept in neatly standardized channels, as routine as the making of bricks, buns or bonbons. The floods could be measured with a yard stick. N> >W came the first inkling of a new element of valuation. That subtle thin-; called quality, an element of value which called for the bloodsweating process of the application of mind and judgment, was creeping in to poison the rocking-chair rhythm of the routine making of routine pictures for routine profits. No wonder there was opi>osition. The exhibitors liked the pictures, but the ccchangemen did not enjoy the idea of paying two cents more a foot for film when they could get it at ten. They had never heard of quality anyway. It was a mere stuck up notion. One reel of film was just as long and just as good as another reel if it measured a thousand feet. It was easy for those who felt inclined to foment cancellation of print orders against Kessel and Baumann. Remember that this same precious pair "K & B" had raided the "Imp" for Ince and several important players, that also they were in a somewhat friendly relation to Majestic, which had looted "Imp" of the services of Mary Pickford. Remember, too, that the Independents, while they were nominally allied, had been driven together in the Sales Company by fear of the Motion Picture Patents Company rather than because of love for each other. n> it might have been anticipated that Carl l.aemmle, the chief of Imp and the head of the Motion Picture Sales Company, would not I e entirely in sympathy with this upsetting price-raising departure of Kessel and Baumann. Laemmle's exchanges, of which there were many, cancelled orders for the K. & B. product right merrily. The rest .ollowed. ■ To save the face of the situation while they thought out a solution, Kessel and Baumann i->ued a letter saying they were going into production exclusively for the European market Which of course was mere conversation. Meanwhile the rip-tearing Indian shooting process of making pictures with Ince and that costly 101 Ranch show was going out at Santa Monica canyon, piling up costs on the ledger and negatives in the safe. A few weeks more of that and K. & B. could see the bottom of the bankroll rising to telescope with the top. But Kessel and Baumann had enjoyed the charmingly effective discipline of looking fate and luck in the face together when they had been following the ponies, "making book." They were ready to make a new bet against the field on an unknown and untried horse. It was time to"re-assert their independence by a departure from the Independents with their costly Ince-made two-reelers. Shortly K. & B. appeared in the "Moving Picture World" with a one page advertise Reduced 5 3 Lbs* In Nine Weeks! Society Leader Takes Off Every Pound of Excess Weight — From 191 Lbs. to 138 Lbs. Mrs. Bayliss Tells the Way She Did It " T NEVER dreamed you could do it, Mr. Wallace," wrote this well known young matron of Philadelphia's social licet. Her letter is dated in February, and refers to reducing records purchased late in November. A reduction of more than 50 pounds in a few weeks! But read her own story: "Here I am, back to 138 lbs. after my avoirdupois had hovered round the impossible two hundred mark! Your perfectly wonderful music movements — nothing else — did it. You have reduced my weight from 191 to 138, and lightened my heart as no one can know who has not had activities and enjoyments curtailed for years— and suddenly restored. "Thanks to Wallace I am dancing, golfing and 'going' as of yore, and wearing styles I would have had to forego with my figure what it was. Because I once laughed at the idea of 'getting thin to music' I offer in humble apology this letter, my photograph and permission to publish them should you desire." * It's SO Easy To Do! Most women of bulky figure would make almost any sacrifice to attain the symmetry Mrs. Bayliss' photo reveals. But you need not sacrifice your health, comfort or even convenience. The process is enjoyable. You use Wallace's records but ten minutes a day! Yet the reduction is felt within five days of starting; the second week will bring a noticeable improvement ; the third or fourth week will find you lighter by many pounds. The beauty of Wallace's method is its absolutely natural reduction andredistribulionof weight. Unlike the drastic dieting and drugging methods, there is no loss of flesh where you cannot afford to lose it. How long will it take? Some lose seven or eight pounds in the first five-days test period; others but two or three. Much depends on the individual constitution. But you can and will lose steadily by this method — as fast as is good for you. Mrs. Jessica Penrose Bayliss of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, did not find it hard to go from 191 lbs. down to 13/i. Do you see a single sign of gauntness, or any flabby look? What You Should Weigh For Your Height and Age Height Age 20 Age 30 Age 40 Age 50 in to 20 yrs. to 30 yrs. to 4'i yrs. and Over I Drill's Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 60 Ill 116 122 125 61 113 118 124 127 62 115 120 127 130 63 118 123 130 133 64 122 127 133 136 «."> 125 131 137 140 66 129 135 141 145 67 133 139 145 150 68 137 143 149 155 69 141 145 153 159 70 145 147 156 163 And everyone who ever reduced this way will tell you it's downright/ww. There Is No Need of Starving or Otherwise Punishing Yourself Scores of society women have reduced by this now famous course in reducing. Many of them would never have done so had it required the strenuous and tedious effort and self denial once thought to be the only means of defeating superfluous flesh. "It is downright fun" is what most folks say, from the first day they take up this exhilarating form of reducing. It is easy to get thin to music — and extremely easy to prove that you can. The first reducing record awaits only your word that you want it. Try it only five days — and note the result in even this short time. Free Proof — Send No Money Just try Wallace's way for five days. That's all he asks. Don't send any money; don't promise to pay anything now or later. The trial is free. If you don't see surpris'n r results in even these few days — simply mail back the record and you will not owe Wallace a penny. Let the scales decide. Here is the coupon that brings first week's reducing lesson complete, record and all: Mail This Coupon to WALLACE Dept. 40, 630 So. Wabash Avenue CHICAGO Brings First Lesson FREE Please send me FREE and POSTPAID your first reducing record for a week's free trial. Name Address When you write to advertisers please mention PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE.