The Billboard 1909-09-18: Vol 21 Iss 38 (1909-09-18)

‘ SEPTEMBER 18, 1909. his The Billboard 13 NATIONAL INDEPENDENT MOVING PICTURE | ALLIANCE | Formed in Chicago---Details of the Meeting Held at La Salle Hotel. Aims and Purposes Outlined : ———— By W. R. ROTHACKER i OR some time there had been brewW. F. Smith, Central Film Supply Co., Sag-; ordinances and state legislation, and of fur-, turer, both foreign and American, to have 1 ing In and around independent film man. nishing funds by which to test the legality of | the benefit of his production; ‘ renting circles a movement which J. M. Hayes, J, Schuchat, U. S. Film Ex-] such ordinances and state legislation, as well | Of promoting the use by exhibitors of such i evidenced itself last week when change. as claims of others it may deem illegal; | means and appliances as will furnish ample pro; invitations were issued to those who R. G. Bachman, 20th Century Optiscope Co. Of checking and correcting those evils which | tection to their film as well as adequate protecee | should be interested In the project, Jas. W. Engel, Wm. Swanson, St. Louis. it present threaten the stability and perma-| tion to their audience against fire; ! to meet at the Sherman House, on American Photomography Co., New York. neney of the business such as misrepresentation, Of acquiring and distributing among members ' Saturday, September 11, at 10 o'clock a. m. Alex. T. Moore, copyriglts, duplicating and renting obsolete! information as to any disreputable conduct | Ibe invitation was signed by an entertainment J. J. Murdock, International Projecting and | and worn-out film, subrenting by circumven-/ on the part of schemers or impostors who may wed committee, composed of Wm. H. Swanson, of | Producing Co, tion and fraud, and correcting such other evils| impose upon film exchanges or manufacturers ' the Wm. H. Swanson & Co.; J. W. Morgan, of W. E. Jones, Geo. A. Knaak Co., Milwaukee, | and impesitions as may appear from time to! and furnish such information as to the credit at J. W. Morgan Film Co., and R. C. Bachman, A. F,. Hamack, Sprocketless Camera & Pro-| time and become public: | and reliability of their customers, and as te : of the 20th Century Optiscope Co., and was the Jector, 4645 Evanston ave., Chicago. Of preventirg the production, sale and renting | tue wanner in which they use and treat rented ; result of the concerted ideas of an organiza H. Meredith Jones, Camera Non-Infringing, | of suggestive, obscene, immoral or highly sen| film: : tion committee of the following men: J. W. | New York. sational films se that all films exhibited shall | And of using all legitimate means to further ; Morgan, of Joplin, Mo., chairman; Mr. FishenGeo, A. Knaak, Peerless Kinetograph, Osh-| be such as give improved character and dignity | the interests of the manufacturers of film and berg, of New Orleans, La., vice-chairman; Jos. kosh, Wis. to the business and remove all the cause for | ¢XChanges or renting concerns and the manu5 Schuchat. of Chicago, secretary; Mr. McMa | facture of such sundries and accessories as are ‘ han, of Cincinnati, O.; G. F. Kerney, of De—— | incident to the business and to further the , troit. Mich.: A. S. Davis, of Pittsburg: R. G. interest of all members of this Association and Bachman, of Chicago; H. D. Brac ett of De MAURICE FLECKLES. improve general trade conditions. ti troit. Mich.: W. E. Green, of Boston, Mass.: After Mr. Swanson’s introduction of the or{ Mr. Shearer, of Kansas City, and the manager ganization and its purposes, the Independent of the Pecific Exchange, of Seattle, Wash. Film Renters’ Protective Association was dis” These invitations were issued with the hope | solved, by unanimous vote. The motion for this that they would be instrumental in getting to | was made by J. Hayes, and seconded by R. G. gether those interests demanding such co-opera | Bachman. tion, and while enthusiasm has always been rife | It was then in order to select temporary Mi , among that faction termed ‘*The Independents,’’ | officers for the National Independent Moving in this instance it was more consistently alloyed | Picture Alliance, which was done with dispatch ye with earnestness, as was materially evidenced and no diseension, making Wm. H. Swanson ; by the number of men present when the roll (chairman; Luke Mithen, secretary, and Maurice La was called In the new LaSalle Hotel. which ' Fleckles, treasurer, for the time being. The sup i "i was the transferred scene of the subsequent | ject of initation fee was then broached and on action, because of the fact that the Sherman when the smoke had cleared away it was found re House is soon to be no more, and accommo to be $100 to join, with a contingent obligaA \ datious were inadequate of consequence for the tion to pay $100 a year, in quarterly payments, ae proper housing of the convention. By the {as dues, to begin January 1, 1910, but the initia: time those people who had first gone to the | tion favored the saying, “‘there is no time like } Sherman House in auest of the convention rom the present,’’ and the suggestion of Mr. Swan+ bad been directed to the LaSalle Hotel, and by son that part, if not whole payment, be made ; devious paths arrived there, it was close on at once, so that material evidence of good faith ' ‘ to noon and even later when the gavel of Chairbe evinced and some working capital be put in i ) man Swanson announced that the meeting was the tressury at once. He incidentally reuaa in order. At the cxecutive table, with Cheir marked that it was the recommendation of the ag man Swanson was Maurice Fleckles, A. T organization committee that after thirty days ag Moore, Jos Schuchat and J. R. Morgan. Shortthe initiation be raised substantially. 1) ly after the meeting was called to order, W. The subscription list was the object of attenvia H. Havill. after a few whispered words with tion then, practically, until the motion was A Mr. Swanson, was introduced to those assemmade for an adjournment for lunch, and wae : id bled and proceeded to voice a few words of even in progress up to 3:30 p. m., when eg kindly greeting. speaking from his official poseveral new arrivals came upon the scene, and, \ sition as hexd of the City Roard of Examiners incidentally, across with the initiation money. th whose duty it is to pass on the ability of the Early in the afternoon session an_insurane~ ‘s | moving picture operators. Mr. Havill’s talk proposition was broached by a Mr. Burroughs, vi was well received, and was immediately folwho stated that he, as a broker, was in a po ‘ sition to offer the members of the Alliance a policy covering loss by fire, accident or panic at the rate of $35 per theatre of not over 500 seating capacity, and for theatres of over that number of seats, at 10 cents per extra’ seat. For all insurance written among the members of the Alliance at these terms, he offered to give a commission of 5 per cent to that body. J. J. Murdock talked comprehensively on the subject, and it was finally decided to hold the | matter in abeyance for the time being. | The >-laws were then read by Luke Mithen, | in articles and sections, and discussed in detail. This occupied considerable time; they were accepted practically as they were read, except that the assessment clause governing | special assessments was held in abeyance be|ecause of a fancied scope. It was decided that the word ‘‘Alliance’’ be substituted and used in the sense of ‘‘association.’’ A committee, composed of Messrs. Truscott, Kessell, Morgan, | Riley and Peters, was then appointed for the | purpose of discussing a territorial division of | the country, that sub-organizations be encouraged, whose objects would be to further the independent cause by means most feasible in local conditions. It was while this point was up that Mr. Swanson came out with the statement that at present there was not, in Chicago, 4 a truly first-class theatre that used independent films, and cited that the reason of it all was Co., Pitteburg { Jones’ Patent Camera, A. Harstn and Mr . > N — that they were afraid that the independents Jones, New York. oe we ‘ werd x | /||\ > could not deliver the goods with any idea of | lowed by a suggestion from Mr. Swanson, which resulted in a division of the film renters on one side of the room and the gathering of the camera and accessory men and the press on the opposite side. It was then ascertained that there were present the following persons, of which 38 were representatives of film exchanges, 9 represented manufacturers and 5 accessories of the trade Harstn, New York, New England Film Exchange, Boston. Keystone Film Co., Scranton, Pa. Granite Film Co., Burlington, Vt. Wm. H. Swanson, Chicago Dixie Film Co., H. Fiechtenberg, New Orleans American Film Exchange, James Lee Reilly, Pittsburg. Southern Film Exchange, T. A. Rully, Cincinnati Swanson'’s Omaha Film Co., Omaha. Laemmle Film Service, M. Fleckles. L. Lerrer, Golden Gate Film Exchange, San Francisco I Wagner, Wagner Film Co., St. Louis. J. W. Morgan. J. W. Morgan, Joplin, Mo. Anti Trust Film Co., C. P. Plough. E. W. Peter, Texas Film Exchange, Dallas. N. W. Rubel, Phoenix Film Co. Dr. R. A. Gamble, Columbia Cinematograph oa = en ee ee ees _~ ns * ——— vs v} . ire co . ° ‘o continuity or variety. To obviate this and to oo = Oces, Great Northern Film Co., s \ Sd counteract this feeling, it was suggested that J. E. Brulator. Lumiere Co., New York. ‘ demenstraters, under the direction and selection Motograph Picture Machine, Harstn & Co., ; of a publicity committee, tour the country with New York. Wiscted Srenwarer ef the New All degrees of regularity, and prove by actual exU. S. Film Mfg. Co. — oawurer ¢ e New Alliance. hibitions of independent films that they had suhNew York Motion Pieture Co ee so Pa | jects of the highest caliber in quality and acI. W. Ullman, Columbia Mfg. Co... New York, | tion and then prove, by advancing arguments, R. M. Mock, M. P. Supply Co., Rochester. Wm. H. Harrill, President Executive Board, | harsh er‘ticism which it has had in the public | 22d the purposes of the Alliance, that the indeArthur Lueas, Savannah Chicago press: |} pendent movement and faction was strong enough Flectric Film Exch., Jas. L. MelIntire, New Chairman Swanson then read the purposes Of giving iegal protection to members in } to stand on its own legs and take care of its York of the organization, :s given herewith: cases where their property may be in jeopardy | Customers. Empire Film Co., A. Kissel, Jr... New York =e or unjustly and illegally confiscated or re-| The committee appointed as a publicity comInternational Film Co., Chas. O. Raumann. ARTICLE 1 tained or enjoined or in such other cases as | mittee was composed of J. J. Murdock, I. W. Wolverine Film Exch., Geo. F. Keany. Section 1. The name of this Association, May iffect the interest of the trade as a whole; | Ullman and R. A. Gamble. In the meanwhile, Mr. Swain, Indianapolis Calelum Co., Indlan shall b National Independent Moving PicOf using its influence to compel film mann-/| Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Fulton, of the Enterprise apolis ture Alllance facturers by reward and merit by inducement | Optical Company, were introduced to the gathWorld Film Mfg. Co., I. Atkinson, Portland, Section 2 This Association is organized for | to heighten the moral and artistic character, | ering and looked in for a while as _ visitors. Ore the purpose of promoting and safeguarding the | as well as the photographic and pictorial qual| After a certain amount of pro and con talk, Max Lewis, Chicago Film Exchange interests of the film manufacturers and film ities of their film used for renting business; }it was decided that after thirty lays the iniMeMahon & Jackson, Cincinnati Film Co, renters of the United States, of their customOf preventing the use by any film renting | tiation fee would be raised to 50 and that Louis C, Wurzer and Wm. F. Klatt, Mich.) ers, the exhibitors, and that portion of the! concern of as soon as was possible notices to that effect any name similar to or liable to be Film & Supp'y Co., Detroft public who patronize the moving picture shows; | mistaken for the name of any member of the As. | be Sent to all prospective members. About this H. A. Fitzgarrell, Consolidated Amusement Of creating and fostering good fellowship and | coefation. irr sspecti > Of where they mar be | time Mr. Swanson’s voice‘ gave out, and he was Co., Baltimore friendly feeling among those engaged in the | joeated. and in case of such con@ticting names | Seized with a violent fit of coughing, so that the P. D. Stratton, Eureka Film Exchange, Ak| business and to acquaint each other with the | glready existing, to endeavor to adjust. the | Suggestion that some new independent film be ron, O advancement and progress made in the business, | inatter that only one concern will make use of | exhibited was most opportune and was eagerly; 0. J. Scherer, Bijou Film & Amusement Co., eo that all may work harmoniously in making | anq do business under any stated aine* 5 | accepted. Kansas City, Mo the business ai great educational and moral e itn’ it? : When active business was again resumed, Mr. H. E. Smith, Toledo Film Exchange, Toledo. | force Of preventing any manufacturer, film €X| swanson officially made a suggestion that a M. C. G. Fearis, Oklahoma Film Exchange, Of improving the moral and artistic char-| Change or other person from advertising OF | }.. of 25 cents a week for each customer be Oklahoma City eter as well as the photographic and picto| bolding out to the public that inferior film is imposed on each film exchange who is a mem/ 8. Davis, Independent Film Exchange, rial quality of the films and other devices used | Manufactured and put upon the market, is du| yo of the Alliance, and the money thps brought Pittsburg for the renting business, by offering approval plicated or renovated old film, in order to into the treasury be collected for the purpese L. Truscott, Independent Western, Portland, ®4 reward by notice and publication to its heighten his own reproduction. as such State| of creating a working fund; the idea, expressed Ore. members and exhibitors at large through its — he can ar Me discredit. the legitimate jin the form of a motion, was carried. —_ in hip > . : . proper othcers: o ns & DSusiness, quick order, was suggested that the Alliance 4. J. Eldred, Eldred Film Service, Chicago. iy exerting its influence in preventing, tn all Of preventing the duplication of film and of | ae W. N. Barlow, J. Frank Hatch, Pittsburg. lawful ways, the passage of oppressive local | recognizing the right of the original manufac. | (Continued on page 40) |