Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-23
MILLIONS IN MOTION
LARGE Investment of Money in
Moving Pictures.
THOUSANDS OF THEATERS
Manufacture of Films Also an I'm
portant Industry.
VIEWS OF PEOPLE IN ACTION
Separate and Distinct Scenes
Blended With the Aid of In
tricate Machinery.

! Forty-tive million dollars is a very
large sum of money, yet. according to an
authority that ought to he relia BILE. tina,
sum represents the amount of capital in
vested in the moving picture enterprise
todaf. 1t would take ather a long time
/ to make up SO G1,tao from the admis-
sion fees of :. and 10 cents, the CUSTOM
AIRY charges at the notion picture houses,
but there those who are willing to
take the chance There are 10000 thea
! tiers in the country where moving pic
/ lures are exhibited There are also
many concerns which produce the NOV
ing picture films, and many more which
act as Intermediates between the film
producers and those who exhibit the pie
lures to the public
| AS all good things seem to breed trusts
according to the popular belief of the
day. the moving picture has bred what
has come to be known as a trust by
those who compete with ii. Ten of the
| leading film manufa, turers. in order to
prevent duplication OF films and thereby
save expense. and for many other APP
parently good and sufficient reasons.
bought up all the patents for making
/ films which seemed to them to promise
the best results in the moving picture
line. They organized and laid down GER
! tain rules for the conduct Of their joint
business.
| These manufacturers then licensed 12o
! iilm-reniing exchanges. which in turn
rent the film reels to those who exhibit
the pictures to the public, regulating the
rental of a reel according to the new
mess of the film. Some motion picture
exhibitors rent films direct from the
manufacturers, thus insuring the abso-
lutely first exhibition of the pictures in
| their theaters. others rent from the eX-
changes.
Scope of Alleged Trust.
| The trust if il can be called such. en-
braces not only the film manufacturers,
but the film exchanges and the exhibitors
| of the pictures The exhibitors. it is
claimed. profit by membership In the
trust in several ways First. only they
can rent the films produced by the ten
manufacturers: second, the manufactur-
ers and exchanges undertake to protect
| such exhibitors from competition DN de-
clining to furnish OF rent MINIS TO those
not in the trust, or TO accept LOT mem
bership those whose theaters come W'ilin
a certain distance of theaters already
established and using the trust INNS.
third. they are guaranteed against d
| duplicat ton of films in the same city or
| town except by special arrangement
and fourth. they are guaranteed only
of censors thus insuring that they are
not Objectionable from moral, re-
ligous patriotic standpoint
The motion picture combination consld-
ers this last feature one OF me grsa arest
things il has accomplished in the interest
of the motion picture business It has
| board Of censors composed OF three prom
| inent clergymen and 1ouf prosIess,'o
| members of the combination. NO MIN
that does not receive the approval or tnls
| rd he sold q rented. he tel
| manufacturers are not restricted as 10
The number Of new films they may pro-
duce each week, and each manufactures
! is actually in competition in the produc-
ton Of films. as we'll as in the quantS OF
those produced. The output AT the present
| time is said to be about eighteen new
films n week but this is shortly expected
| to be increased to twenty.
Regulates Use of Machinery.
| There is also a regulation Of the trust
as to the kind of machinery which shall
be used in producing the pictures, the
idea being TO concentrate the entire IN
terests of the business as far as possible
for the benefit of all the members of the
combina zion
The machinery used in this country, at
least is almost exclusively OF American
manufacture. and il Is claimed 10 be the
best. 1t costs about $50. 1t consists OF
an are lamp anu Il TiISGStdl To collliol tilS
current. The two make a light of about
80 candle power at its best. There Is
also the projecting machine. which throws
The picture on the screen. 1t is equipped
with an intricate combination of SHUT
ters that are operated with inconceiva Bile
rapdity to shut off the light between the
pictures: for be it remembered that there
are d great many separate and distinct
pictures on a film reel that are blended
with the aid of this machinery so as to
Z no nDII ny1n mic
ture with living and moving beings in it
acting just as they do in life. A reel that
runs IL minutes displays probably 1000
pictures These pictures are but 8 of an
inch by / inch in size on the film. yet
when projected on the screen are about
II by IS feet in measurement. In other
words. the film picture is magnitied by
the projecting machinery about 5000
dameters. and. Notwithstanding the deli
cacv and wonderful power OF the ma
chine. it takes a very clever operator to
prevent the picture the screen from
f1ickerng and injuring the eyes of the OBJ
server.
The screens are made of all sorts of
white material-tireprOofed. There is also
a stereopticon required for announcements
and other slides. This makes the ma
chinery outfit.
Cost of Outfit Varies.
The cost of establishing motion picture
and aspirations of the owner. There is
one in this city which is said to have cost
its owner $4,000. 1t is equipped in all re-
spects like standard theater, with dress
ing rooms, stage entrance and the like, be-
cause it combines live vaudeville with its
picture exhibit. From that sum the cost
runs downward. according TO the loca ton
size and equipment. The expense of run
ming the theater also varies accordin.,
To the film service and the extras provided
| sualiy nimbc-tingered young woman,
with resoundins piano, constitutes the
orchestra. The cost of the film and other
service in the nfnetN-thouSand-d dollar the
alter already mentioned is about 5000 to
$3.50 a week, almost equa that of a minor
theater for dramatic productions.
In the operation of the business the film
exchange buys from each manufacturer
one or more films a week. The films are
on reels and are frequently referred to as
reels The exchange then forms circuit
in it's licensed territory and starts the
reels on their round to the motion picture
theaters Some get new reels every day
and some less frequently-it all depends
upon what they pay for the service. The
average cost of a reel to an exchange IS
about $50. and with 12o exchanges to run
il can easily be seen what the manufac-
turer realizes.
Each theater uses from Two to three
reels a day in its exhibitions. Two of the
avenue theaters representing the trust
and the independent interests rent thei"
reels direct from the manufacturers and
give their audiences always absolutely
new mixtures. This service costs them
probably so day. 1t costs some the
aters in the city as high as 500 day and
others perhaps more. The rental fuctu-
ates according to the age and condition