Screenland (Apr-Sep 1924)

Soldiers' Choice and Ingram Myron T^obel Movie Workers All T y ]f N HE Board of Inquiry of Toronto, has decreed that the minimum wage for female employees at picture theatres shall be $12.50 per week. It is interesting to speculate on the wide range that separates the little girl working for a pittance in the movie theatres of Canada, from the proud star drawing her thousands weekly in the studios of Hollywood. Both of them are serving the same master and each in her way is part of an industry that embraces great and small. And to their proud family and friends these little girls are above the run of other people's children, for are they not all "working in the movies?" False Alarms D ISREPUTE was brought upon the screen industry recently by the exposure of a publicity stunt perpetrated on the daily press and published in some of the screen magazines. It had to do with the purported finding of Spanish treasure at the bottom of Nassau harbor by the star of a company on location in that place. As a result of this deception the company was made the laughing stock of the local community when the hoax was discovered and the local paper which threw out much valuable advertising to carry what it was told was a true account of the finding of the treasure will surely not look on screen press agentry in the same light again. The publicizing of motion pictures is just beginning to take on a dignity and a love of truth in keeping with the improved quality of screen productions. To this new order of publicists we will look for the squelching of the old type of space snatchers who sought to gain free publicity throughout the country by the circulation of false alarms. Bebe Daniels to Star "E wish to congratulate Bebe Daniels on her forthcoming elevation to stardom, by Famous Players. No girl in pictures has worked harder or better deserves the right to have her name in electric lights along the Broadways and the Main Streets of America. Bebe has had a long ap prenticeship to the screen — dating back to the days of her work as leading lady with Harold Lloyd. She is a friendly, sensible and charming girl. Welcome, Bebe, to the ranks of stardom. Lifetime of a Film 1 7 U ^WO years is said to be the lifetime of a film. Within three months the larger cities net for it 50 percent of its total income. At the end of one year, 88 percent of its value is gone and when two years have elapsed the life of the film has virtually passed away. And yet the selling cost is very high — under present methods of distribution — in the small towns from which this latter profit is derived. It runs in most cases to forty per cent of the gross income. The average film rental of the small town is $7.50 a booking. To secure these little bookings each of the important distributing companies maintains a staff of salesmen who visit the towns of their territories once a month. These salesmen, with travelling expenses, cost about $150 a week to maintain. For one of them to do a steady business of $400 a week is considered very good. The Film Daily suggests joint distribution and the use of Ford trucks as "traveling film exchanges — loaded with as many varieties of subjects as the body will hold." This would cut down the high cost of distribution. The high cost of distributon is one of the worst problems of the industry. And whatever is a problem of the industry is a matter of concern to the screen patron. Page Mr. Hays KlMHE poor movies have been accused of many things from arson to may A hem; but here, apparently, is a new one. Says a dispatch from St. Louis: — Proprietors of some of the cheaper-priced picture houses in this city have objected to the activity of the Police Department in selecting their houses for special treatment in a drive against crime. A special squad has been detailed to watch them on the theory that criminals use the darkened seats as hiding places. Police are stationed at the entrances to make arrests as suspects enter or depart. 17