Motion Picture News (Jan - Mar 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 15 Pathe' Here to Study Conditions CHARLES PATHE. head of Pathe Freres. makers and world-wide distributors of motion pictures, cameras, projection machines and raw film, is in this country for an extended visit and with a serious mission. Mr. Pathe gave out his first interview to the Motion Picture News. He is accompanied by H. M. Smith, who was for twenty-five years the confidential representative of George Eastman, and by Mr. Julian, his chief engineer. Asked what he thought of business conditions here in the motion-picture industry, Mr. Pathe replied that he found them far from satisfactory. "Your exhibitor," said he, "appears to be dissatisfied. "Why is that so?" he asked. "What is handicapping him?" "Is it because the manufacturers are competing too sharply along lines of quantity and so are not supplying him with the quality of pictures he needs? "Do they misinterpret the demands of the public and so fail to give him the kind of pictures he wants ? "Is he being charged too much rental ? There is a grave danger here to all concerned. Germany started in several years ago with high rentals and found the policy ruinous. "Are there any other existing conditions which prevent the exhibitor from getting what he wants and should have? '<'T, O these questions I have as yet no answer to ■*■ make. But you may say this : that I have come to the United States to determine what is wrong and that I shall remain here until I reach a satisfactory conclusion. Later on I shall announce my opinions through your columns. "You may say this: that Pathe Freres puts the interests of the exhibitor first and foremost. We believe that upon the safeguarding of their interests depends the vitality of the industry. "Also, we do not believe in monopoly. The field is a very great one. There is room for all. And the field will grow so that there is no defining of its boundaries. It should not and cannot be circumscribed by monopolies along any lines. YOUR country is a very wonderful one. It is' by far the greatest field of action. There will be big developments here. I should like to be here a great deal of the time, and probably I shall be. "You are doing things with a great rush and optimism. That is characteristic and it is well. But in Europe we count more the economies. You will have In His First Interview in America, Head of Great French House Outlines His Plans and Discusses Present Day Problems which Confront Producer and Exhibitor Alike to do that here. For instance, the question of theatre management -for the exhibitor will become more and more important. So will the matter of new machinery and other economies in production." A MONG investigations already made by Mr. Pathe is that of the vanoscope, with the result he considers favorably taking over the manufacture of this machine in his plant in France, and the use of it throughout his theatres abroad. "It is a remarkable invention," said he. "I am very much surprised that such results can be obtained by reflection." What particularly appealed to Mr. Pathe was the economy of the machine in prolonging the life of the film. Mr. Pathe has brought with him his new home projection machine, which generates its own light. He believes that there is a very large field, and one immediately open, for the small and inexpensive projection machine.. A SKED if he thought that motion photography -**• would also follow along amateur lines, Mr. Pathe replied : "That is more difficult. It is not a question of making and marketing an amateur camera, but of providing the necessary facilities for the development of the film." He does not see how this difficulty can be satisfactorily overcome for many years to come at least. "Will the use of non-inflammable film become general?" "Yes," he replied, "very soon. "As you know, the law requiring its use throughout France goes into effect next year. Already it is required and is in use in many departments and towns in France. We have been producing non-inflammable film in our factories for a year and are now turning it out to meet a demand of five hundred thousand feet a day. '\X71LL this non-inflammable film be cheaper?" he was asked. "No. It costs more to produce." Mr. Pathe's attention was called to a recent statement purported to have been made by Mr. Charles Gaumont in which the latter declared that a non-inflammable film would shortly be made and sold as low as one cent a yard. Mr. Pathe shook his head emphatically when this was told to him. "That is not to be regarded seriously," he said, "I do not believe Mr. Gaumont made any such statement."