Reel and Slide (Jan-Sep 1919)

34 REEL and SLIDE Screen May Supplement Text in All Schools Motion pictures may supplement textbooks in the schools and colleges of the United States within the next few months, following the announcement of a detailed campaign to this end inaugurated by noted educators of the east in conjunction with producers of educational films. Arrangements have been completed, it was announced, by which this modern method of instruction will be installed in eighty per cent of the schools and universities of America during the course of the campaign. That the effort is a sincere one, and that the interest of educators of the nation is centered upon the success of the campaign, is evident in the fact that the entire editorial facilities of one of the largest publishing houses in the world, producers of school textbooks, have been placed at the disposal of those in charge. Complete visualization of the contents of textbooks is part of the plan. Such visatures" will embrace geographical, scientific, economical and even mathematical subjects. There is scarcely a branch of the average school or university work, it is declared, but that can be translated into moving pictures. Anatomical studies, historical themes and scientific subjects particularly lend themselves to the advantages of the screen, and manv school executives are convinced that visualizing the relations of elements, rather than a digestion of them from the printed word, will leave them in the mind of the scholar with far more impressiveness than by any other means. Engineers and experts of a prominent projector company, after long conferences with Mr. Harry Levey, general manager of the educational department of the Uni versal Film Manufacturing Company, with whom supervision of the motion picture end of the campaign has been placed, have placed at the disposal of the schools a projection machine which can be used any-.v->ere without the nrotection of a booth. The construction of booths, and the purchase of expensive apparatus proved hindrances that most schools found themselves unable to overcome. The new projector, according to Mr. Levey, is light, compact and fully as capable of projecting standard films as its larger brothers. Mr. W. E. Grady, district superintendent of the New York board of education, heartily approved the project, and promised his own support in the work among the New York schools. In outside cities, boards of education, educational committees of civic organizations, and other influences have been enlisted. Carl Laemmle, president of Universal, is intensely interested in the project, and has given Mr. Levey and the others in charge of the campaign his heartiest support. "I have always thought that the schools were the losers in that a greater number have not taken up motion pictures sooner than they have," he said. Official announcement is made by the Universal (Film Company of the release of the first of the series of the famous Stage Women's War Relief productions. The release date has been set as September first with one picture being released each month following. Eighty reels of motion pictures, supplied by the Y. M. C. A., have been sent to Haiti in charge of Chaplain H. M. Peterson of the First Provisional Brigade, Marine Corps, tor the entertainment of the marines now stationed on the island. VISUALIZE IT! rfSJSfi&b When a motion picture camera, built with the scientific accuracy of a watch, finishes telling your story, there is nothing left unsaid. The modern business man speaks to his public through the eye. He issues a graphic message about his product or his machinery that hurdles all ordinary doubt and resistance. Amotion picture is the dynamic, decisive medium of expression. It gets results. Big Production Experience The largest proposition is not too large for us. And every contract, large or small, receives our most expert attention. Eastern Motion Picture Company 1451 Broadway, New York Engagements now being made for important commissions to be executed this fall. Write us for terms or suggestions. Worth-While Industrial Films Literary and Comedy Films Entertain in Church The Fairview Methodist Church, near Binghamton, N. Y., celebrated "Community Night" by treating the members of the parish to a motion picture program of varied character. A screen version of R. D. Blackmore's "Lorna Doone" was followed by a Sidney Drew comedy and pictures of a large dairy were shown as an instructional relief to the literary and comery features of the evening. Beginning September 1 a similar program will be carried out in the church each week during the winter. Southern Theaters Contract for Long Prizma Run The Saenger Amusement Corporation, maintaining a large circuit of southern theaters, has contracted with World Pictures for a year's run of Prizma Natural Color Pictures at the Strand Theater, New Orleans, where they have been given a trial covering several months. Included in the year's showings are other theaters on the Saenger circuit covering several other prominent southern cities. Mr. Richards, general manager of the amusement corporation, says that the public's appreciation has convinced him of their value: Churches to Produce Films The Uplift Motion Picture Company will be the title of a new organization with a capital stock of $500,000, which is to be subscribed by church people of Los Angeles, is an announcement made by Charles J. Hall, temporary secretary and publicity manager of the new company. The films to be produced by the company will be made from stories in the Bible and other religious works, and are intended for use in churches, chautauquas and Sunday schools. The company will be incorporated under the laws of California, according to Mr. Hall, and will build its own studio and employ a complete staff of artists and technicians to produce the pictures. Off to Palestine John Ezra and Joseph K. Calder, of the Cosmo Pictures Corporation, left Los Angeles for Palestine, where they will assist in making the film, "Judereal," a story of biblical times in Palestine. Jules Ratzkowski, vice-president of the company, is already on his way to Palestine from New York. After the scenes in the Holy Land have been finished, the company will return to Los Angeles to complete the film. Mr. Ransom Kennicutt, chief forester of the forest preserves surrounding Chicago, 111., recently gave before the Lower North Community Council, a ward organization of that city, a slide lecture showing where to take the children for outings and how to become acquainted with the trees. Complete Motion Picture Equipment for Educational and Business Organizations National & Speer Carbons — Mazda Lamps CHARLES F. CAMPBELL 14 West 31st Street New York AL. HENDRICKSON, Charge d'Affaires