Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1919)

Piioiupi.w Magazine — Advkhtisixg ^Section 1 hat SK', Dishonest ( Concluded from page ^SJ s lijn flunp; and flamboyant. Rimembcr, ihey haven't the goods dt^cribed on the labtl. That naujihty poster is a •siory-ti'lUr. " The next time you see one which mi>repri-tX'nts the liim it purports to ad\\rti.-e, and nukes you ashamed thai such thin;;* sliouM be tlaunted on the streets of your city, tell the manager exactly what you think oi him, and reiuse further patronage to a man who wijfully persists in giving a good film a bad name. If conditions warrant it, complain to the authorities. No one is comjxUed to go inside a theatre and look at a photoplay, but you cant help seeing a poster. A vile poster is a public nuisance. In the centr.il portions of a large city, only the local authorities can help much in a matter of tiiis kind, because there is always a floating population to draw from. Your influence and the loss of your patronage, will not accomplish much there, unless you are powerful enough to elect the right sort of city officials cr reform the exhibitor. Otherwise you'll just have to stay away from that kind of theatre. However, in any other sort of community, you can at least do your part toward arousing public opinion, nnd make it unprofitable for your exhibitor if he uses misleading advertising. Incidentally, why not join The Better Photoplay League of America? BILLS for state censorship of motion pictures failed to pass in every one of the legislatures in which they were introduced the past year; this in spite of the fact that the secretar> of one of the stale censor boards wrote urgent letters to influential persons in states where the matter was pending, asking ihcm to support the bill, as he feared he wuuld lose his job. The people wis<ly decidid that censorship was loo dangerous a measure to sanction in order to keep one man from losing his job. Perhaps, if he is a clever man, he might get another job. Also. Xew York City flatly refused to iUelf with censorship. Many other will ratify its judgment. The report t.! .\cw York's committee on general welfare, .Aldcrnaan WilliAi C. Collins, chairman, read in p>art : "Your committee does rot believe that the administration of the criminal law has broken down, nor that our courts are unable to cope with the evU sought to be remedied by this ordinance. "The advocates of the proposed ordinance suggest an abandonment of a court proceeding and the substitution of a censorship by the Commissioner of Licenses to delerminj in ad\-ance what pir" ~ ;•.• or may not be exhibited. If su. : n as this may be enacted, it can be : , . by the censor ship of plays, and the author compelled to submit his manuscript, or the censorship of the press, and the news items and editorials in our daily [xipors be subjected to th; censor's O. K. before publication be allowed. "If this ordinance became operative and the time should ever come when the censor should through caprice or favoritism, pass unfit and indecent pictures and permit their exhibition, would we not be driven to invoke the courU and call upon them to enlorce the penal law already on the statute books, and which we are now asked to put aside as too cumbersome and slow? "Your committee is opposed to any individual being invested with such power." This report, in its virility and clearness, requires no furchcr exposition. It speaks for itself. A MORE complete co-ojieration with the motion picture industry has recently been instituted by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Morris M. Rathbun, of the Chambers Publications Bur^-au writes as follows to the executive secretary of The Belter Photoplay League. "A recent canvass indicated that the industrv was not canning as many members in the Chamber in proportion to its size as were other commercial enterprises. Hence it was decided to invite the producers to participate as actively in the work of the Chamber as were other lines of endeavor. This action was construed in some of the stories that appeared in newspapers as following a sudden realization on the pirt of the Chamber that the industry had been neglected, when in fact it was merely an invitation to the picture makers to take advantage more generously of the opportunity of being affiliated with the leading commercial organization of the Southwest, wh;ch section produces approximately 75 per cent of the film made in the United Stales. "We are doing all we can to promote the welfare of the legitimate producers who frequently suffer annoyance from undeserved attacks. Our e.vperience is that the intelligent producers, who are ambitious and working toward high ideals, survive and thrive, while the limited number of those who pander to the low tastes are automatically eliminated — through the good sense of the public." REQUESTS for the handbook, "Hints and Helps in Obtaining Better Films, " are coming in from all over the United States, and even from China and Australia. Xow that the postage rates have relumed to a pre-war status, the booklet will be sent to any address in this countrj on receipt of two cents in. postage, instead of three cents, as formerly. Interesting items in regard to new branches of The Better Photoplay League of .America, and new work of other branches, will be published in next month's issue of Photoplay. Fat Boy, (Ring Bearer) 'J'io'ht Pants Concluded from page 44) in addition to p' • - ■--■■^ " > r^\ii\.. and much to hb fi • applied for a job of a. _ _. ; _ „r theater where his father was stage directing. Two years at the .\lcazar and then to the Morosco in Los .\nccles where his father is stage director and Dave rapidly developed into a wonderful young character actor as We!! a' a fift cla' -tigi manager. FinaHy David Wark Griffith, after trving out eight men for the part of "M'sieu Behc' in the production of "The Greatest Thing ih Life.'' found this other David, and young Butler became a motion picture success over night. He played in "The (V\t\ Who Stayed at Home, ' in "Uptairs and Down," with Olive Thomas; with Mary MrLaren; then was co-starred with Za-Su Pitts in "Better Times." after which be returned to the Griffith lot to play opposite Dorothy Gi.sh in a western picture. Butler is creating an unusual line of parts, all his own. SHIRLEY MASON havinf^ tried a pair, is 'phoning her dealer to deliver a box of FASHIONED HOSE Knit-lo-fit without a Seam What impressed her most was the elastic Narrow Hem Top that positively prevents garter runs. You can appreciate what a relief it would be not to have any more garter ravels — and what a saving it would mean in giving longer life to the stockings. Accept no substitute — sec that you get the Narro.w Hem Garter Top that's what saves money by preventing the destructible runs. You'll find this top more ci>nifonablc, too, because of the extra elasticity. Booklet sent free Made in C'fHton, Lisle. Mercerized, and Silk twisted with Fibre SolJ al leading Stores Everywhere Burson Knitting Co. 97 Park Street Rockford. 111. Wh«> jroo irTll* lo sdTrrt'Mn clrsM mmtlon pnOTr»PI,AT ItAOAZINE.