Reel Life (Sep 1913 - Mar 1914)

Reel Life 3 Stailo ani Exdimg^ Notes "Flying A" Force's Enthusiastic Workers "The Joy of Work" is not the title of a film, nor that of a book, but is descriptive of the conditions existing at the American Film Mfg. Co. establishments at Chicago, Santa Barbara and London. Enthusiasm of the highest order has been manifested by the entire force. It has spread like a forest fire, from the office of the president down through the various departments, including artistic, technical and business interests, permeating the entire system with an ever increasing desire for efficiency and perfection. This condition of evident delight and pleasure in serving has given rise to greater ambition — greater results and achievement — and is responsible for the present high standard of American productions. Summing up the situation after careful scrutiny. Pres. Hutchinson was pleased to term the conditions resulting as being due to "the joy of work." He is confident that what has been accomplished is only an intimation of what is to come. "Flying A" productions will continue to set the world's standards. As the laws of harmony and mutual benefit underlie the success of all great institutions they insure to the American a success that is permanent and with an ever widening scope. This is the greatest production of films in the world, as the United States produces probably three-quarters of the films, according to statistics last compiled. The value of these films is about $3,500,000. Girdles the Globe The globe cculd be banded by a tiny glimmering black string on which are recorded the faces of all the beautiful motion picture women and all the stalwart figures of the handsome heroes of film drama. Los Angeles is one of the most important centers of this new industry which is taking on such vast proportions. The export trade is enormous, the American films going to all the large foreign countries. England is at present our chief trader. Here are some of the figures given out by Thomas H. Ince, Vice-President and General Manager of the Broncho, K. B. and New York Film Company: 19,000 produced a week or 760,000 feet this year. The Fire in the Kay-Bee Plant Thomas H. Ince, Vice-President and General Manager of the K. B. Motion Picture .Company, was fortunate enough to have taken out a blanket insurance policy on his place but two weeks before the fire of yesterday arrived; therefore, their loss will be small from a financial point of view. But their loss of time in waiting for the arrival from New York of a new supply of guns and saddles and other paraphernalia necessary to the carrying on of their business, will be quite appreciable. In New York alone can they secure the cavalry saddles which they use in the making of their pictures, and it is the same with the muskets, which are the arms of men who served in the army during the Civil War days, and that were sold by the Government to a New York dealer in discarded war materials. These materials have been telegraphed for, and it is thought they will be delivered within the next thirty days, and while they are in transit to Santa Ynez, the time of the Indians and cowboys and actors and actresses engaged up there will be employed upon plays that have no alarms of war in them. The heroine of the powder explosion at the Kay-Bee plant last week was Miss Anna Little, the clever film player. Miss Little was one of the first to reach the side of the injured men, and she did valiant service as a nurse. "Our Mutual Girl" The newspaper notices of Fritzi SchefT's marriage cleared up a deep mystery at the Mutual's Union Square studio recently. All arrangements had been completed for the great little devil of the opera to come to the studio at a certain hour and pose for the "Our Mutual Girl" series. When the time arrived and Miss SchefT did not appear, many guesses were forthcoming to account for the broken engagement. It was not known that the little prima donna decided to make her third plunge into the sea of matrimony which, of course made her appearance at the studio quite impossible. "Our Mutual Girl," however, was introduced to several stage celebrities. She appeared before the camera with Laurette Taylor, of Peg O' My Heart at the Cort Theatre and Bruce MacRae, of "Nearly Married" at the Gaiety Theatre. She also had the pleasure of meeting the great author of "The Clansman," Thomas Dixon, who behaved before the camera as if being a moving picture star was part of his many accomplishments. Arrangements have been made to introduce "Our Mutual Girl" to Godowsky, the great pianist and also Ysaye, the famous violinist, who will appear with her before the camera in the near future. C. J. Kite's Career That fame and fortune have been won practically "over night" in the motion picture business is well illustrated by the interesting career of C. J. Hite, prominently identified with the Mutual Film Corporation, The Film Supply Company of America, The American Film Manufacturing Company, The Carlton Motion Picture Laboratories, The Majestic Motion Picture Company, The Thanhouser Film Company, Ltd., of London. In spite of the long list of successful film companies in which he is an important figure, it is only necessary to go back to 1906i to find his first important move in the business. Only eight years ago his first venture was launched in Chicago under the name of C. J. Hite Moving Picture Company. The main object of this concern was to furnish motion pictures to Lyceum Bureaus and private entertainments. Most of his pictures were fairy tales, scenic and religious subjects which were the best that could be had at that time. He gradually found his collection of pictures assuming large proportions which led him naturally into the film renting business. His first "exchange" was a small office with a rickety desk in the Monadnock Building, Chicago, but he was compelled to spend so many houre a day at his work that his health began to suffer. The calling in of a doctor proved to be an important incident in his business career, for when the physician discovered that the reason for his patient's condition was the close attention he was compelled to give to his remarkably successful office, a deal was made which led to renewed activities on a larger scale with the doctor as a financially interested associate. In an increditably short length of time C. J. Kite's film exchange occupied an enormous suite of offices and had important branches in several other cities. From the renting of films to their manufacture was the Inext important step in Mr. Hite's career and his many interests make him one of the leading factors in the moving picture world. Griffith on Objectionable Plays There is no excuse for photoplays which call forth the criticism of Censor Boards and the Press, according to General Director D. W. Griffith of Reliance. The most delicate subjects can be presented upon the screen without the least danger of offense to the most fastidious if they are staged artistically and with the careful avoidance of sensational treatment. A large part of the lamentable condition of the theatrical business proper can be traced directly to the producing of plays in which the most daring subjects were presented with a view to sensational results. After the opening of the first half dozen _ of these much-to-be-regretted offerings, all theatrical performances had to be immediately classed under two heads; those to which one could take his wife and daughter and those to which he must advise them against going. Since it is most a difficult matter to produce a successful drama even without such a handicap; and since wives and daughters make up the largest part of a theatre's audience; poor business had to be the general result. It behooves the Motion Picture Producers to profit by the mistakes of the Broadway Theatrical Managers and steer clear of the dangerous sensational treatment of vital subjects which although they call forth a large amount of cheap advertising and do a tremendous business for a short time, do so at a terrific sacrifice in the long run. The price of their financial success must be paid many times over by the picture producers and picture theatres as a whole. It has already been necessary for parents in thousands of the homes of motion picture theatres patrons, who have been carefully educated _ to believe the their children are safe from immoral influences while looking at "the pictures," to give the alarm against their families seeing certain loudly heralded films of doubtful moral influence. Director Griffith of the Mutual claims that one does not have to be very far sighted in order to see that a few of these questionable pictures will soon reduce to a perceptible degree all picture loving audiences. But he also adds that their existence is all the more lamentable because it is so unnecessary to treat the subjects presented in a manner that make them at all objectionable. The art of the picture play has been developed to such a high degree that there is very small excuse for the production of any drama with the absence of sufficiently artistic treatment to make it call forth even the slightest criticism from the censor's standpoint. Mr. Griffith is working at present on "The Escape" by Paul Armstrong, which is an eugenic drama calling for the most delicate kind of treatment. Several negatives are made of each scene that threatens to be at all questionable, the action being changed in each case, so that the one can be chosen for final use, which is above the criticism of the strictest censor. "An artistic motion picture, is to a sensational film as the oil painting of a master is to a questionable postal card," says director Griffith, "and it is to the greatest interest of all concerned that the artistic be encouraged at the expense of the sensational."