The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-28

Prosperity of Town Was
Due to Leather In.
dustry, and Fire of
Last Week Started in
Leather Factory--S
Famous Houses

dIII)US L lOUStS
I'm this next two years the Grrfith
productions Of The Escape and Home.
Sweet Home will be seen by more peo-
pie than The Old Homestead or The
Music Master in all their years OF pop
ularity. For the sake of finding out
the real truth about the matter. let us
make a still boider plunge. The Es-
cape and Home. Sweet Home In their
certain two years run are destined to
overreach the most successful play ever
staged-'Ben-Hur.'
"'Ben-Hur' has been running fifteen
years. In this time It has been pre-
scented in America alone 4,4O4 times.
realizing box office receipts Of s6.497.543.
Its successful tours OF Great Britain
and Australia brought up the total re-
ceipts to s7,S91,601. In this country a
large part OF the time 1t played to
double price houses. and counting the
average price of admission both here
and abroad at 81 per seat the box office
figures represent fairly and literally tho
number OF persons who witnessed tho
performance. In fifteen yeas, let mo
say, then, 7,s91,6o1 persons have seen
Ben Hur.'
without doubt this spectacular
drama IL the greatest drawing card that
the legitimate stage is likely to produce.
Thousands OF persons who never IN
their lives had crossed the threshold of
the theatre made n single exception to
see Ben-Hur.' On Its opening night
every State in the Union was repre-
scented and 10000 persons saw the 1874
performances which comprised the first
run in New York. Therefore. in COM
pairing Home, Sweet Home or The Es-
cape with this play we can realize
thoroughly the relative influence of pic
lures and the legitimate
THE film finds its audience not only
in every city or town whore the theatri-
cal performance commands n house put
in hundreds OF towns to which IL doesn't
pay the theatrical production to go. The
cost OF transportation to remote or
smaller places would eat up any profit.
From this limitation. OF course, tho
movies are absolutely free. The big
gest production on the Mutual pro-
gramme travels in its little round tin
boxes all over the country by express
carrying in the smallest possible space
at a merely nominal cost all that Is
, necessary for the reproduction OF a
drama on tho screen. For instance,
u
to Albany costs flfty-five cents. while
the transportation of theatrical out
fit over the same route would amount
| TO hundreds of dollars.
"In the case OF 'Ben-Hur' this problem
Of transportation was moro of an
obstacle than for the average play. The
paraphernalia required limited its ap-
pearance to the largest cities. The
horses, the chariot race machinery, the
elaborate electrical devices in the mir
acle scenes, the trained choruses and
numerous sets of scenery were an en-
| cumbrance and expense. Only the
largest theatres could house such
spectacle. Tho moving picture pro-
duction, on tho contrary. goes to the
smallest towns at q minimum OF effort
and money.
ALLOWING for towns where the thea
ire Is closed on Sunday. for tho time
required to exchange reels in the film
exchange and for the time the film
spends on the road the feature photo
play runs. usually, about three hun
dred days out OF tho year. Home,
| Sweet Home and The Escape will be
shown for three hundred days twice In
tho afternoon and twice in the eve
ming during every twenty-four hours
! making a total OF 1.200 appearances
on the screen yearly. In two years
IL these subjects survive their popu-
larity for a full film life time-each
will be seen 2,400 times
"These are the figures for single
film. From twenty to thirty. dupli-
Gates of the original negative will be
made and sent out all over the country
through mutual branch exchanges. The
total number of appearances of each
of these features may be conservatively
estimated ton n basis OF 20 prints) at
$4,000 in a year, or $4,000 times in
two years.
1.-THE average drawing capacity of
the motion picture theatre-computed
for the entire country-per perform
ance Is about 800 persons. II The
Escape and Home, Sweet Home are
shown $4,000 times in a year to an
average house of 300, each will be wit
messed, all told, by 100000 persons
in twelve months. In their two year
career. then. each will reach IA, 400 900
persons. In fifteen years 'Ben-Hur'
has played to only a few moro than
$500, 900 people.
But Home. Sweet Home or The Es-
cape will not merely reach about twice
the number OF persons that Ben Hur'
has reached. they also will extend their
Influence to more heterogeneous and
more representatively American audi
ence. In the small cities the movies are
are theatres of the people. 1t il here
especially that photoplays are in de-
mand."