Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-03-14

Is lHueiiDly impressed upon their men,
ories; yet IL these same children should
be caught reading yellow backed
novelette, they would likely be severely
reprimanded.
The moral type of picture was, of
course. elevating. and usually began
with a display of wickedness. showing
| formation. Wholesome stories, also,
were placed under this head.
"Near-Moral" Films
Those styled near-moral we're in
sidious. in that they attempted, under
the guise of morality. to show pictures
that better would have been left un.
| displayed. For example, a young man
| is shown passing through the entire
category of crime. In three reels of
fifteen minutes each one is introduced
4 TO an overdrawn and suggestive pic
torial tale of vice. when suddenly he
is confronted with a lead which
/ reads: And 1t was all on account of
this which is followed by a picture of
| q whisky flask. The flask was the
| joker'-getting II past the censors;
whereas. in reality. this feature Gre
ated little or no impression.
| Humorous: Entirely unobjection-
able.
"Near-humorous: Objectionable; not
owing to their lack of laugh producing
qualities. but because the subject gen.
Grating the laugh was either bad or
suggestive. Thus, a humorous picture
based upon the effects of alcohol or q
poker game presents crime from an
| amusing standpoint and thereby les
sens the general respect for law, par
| ueularly in the growing mind.
"Salacious: These pictures showed
suggestive evidences of passion and
We're bad only in spots; but the spots
generally were high lights. ~
Depicting criminality: Showed
everything from petty larceny to mur-
der. In eleven films there were actual
murders. as distinguished from their
suggestion. This type of picture offers
ideas which youthful enthusiasm at
tempts to initiate. Many cases OF juve-
nile delinquency are thus accounted
| for.
Travel, including pure travel ana
| stories set in foreign countries, were
thoroughly entertaining.
| Educational. showing industries and
dealing with history. were interesting
and instructive.
Indifferent, time-killers. nonclassi-
| fable-just pictures.
| Bad: Objectionable, inasmuch as
| the subject matter was bad. For ex.
ample, the life of an opium-eater or
the white slave traffic. They were fire.
| quently highly colored and overdrawn.
IWo-tn1rds Objectionable
| Thus 1t is to be observed that of
the entire 221 pictures, nearly two
thirds were either Objectionable or of
no real value. AS the services are
general. 1t is not unfair to say that the
| pictures above referred to represent
the usual type displayed throughout
the country. The conclusion is that
| from moral and elevating standpoint
the moving picture show to-day Is
| scarcely success"
| speaking generally many films are
SHOWN whose plots remind one of the
muslcal-comedy story: they are fairy
| tales Tor grown-ups and offend intelli-
| gence. Everything, in all pictures, is
sacrificed to the one absolutely essen
tlai tactor OF successful pantomime; to
w.t. attention.
This fact was most forcibly illus
trated oy picture showing the events
leading up to the birth of Christ. A
purer and more elevating theme could
| scarcely be employed. But the pro-
ducers realized that the audience
would likely become restive, and to
save the picture inserted a baccha-
nanan teast which disgusted a young
| man at the festlvities-and quite logic
| ally-so that he turned away, walked
into the deserted street, where he was
| beset by robbers and left to die. Sug
! gestlve and thrilling. certainly; but
one carries away with him those scenes
OF reVe!ry and near-murder almost to
the exclusion of the other features. 1t
Is no concern of the manufacturers
that Oriental debauchery, highway
roppery and personal violence are out
OF place in holy theme. The people
must be kept awake, attention must be
held at any cost.
Other Condemning Features
In addition to the pictures there
are other features of the picture show
that somewhat condemn It. Here it is
nat women and girls form objection
able acquaintances that frequently lead
TO bad results. Vice investigators gen.
orally have arrived at the conclusion
that the picture show often is an aid
to the amateur and professional
profiigate.
Il Again, the very character of the
amusement precludes sunshine; as an
hyglen1c force it is lost in these places,
and In lieu thereof disinfectants are
USED; at best poor substitute. This
complaint may be laid against the
legitimate house, but the necessity for
sun-cured air is there not so great;
| they are large auditoriums, and, ex-
cepting the top gallery, accommodate
a good class of patrons. On the other
hand. the movie theater is small.
patronized by all conditions of human
| ~S' AASfoSAtAy uScQ IOT Twelve
| hours at stretch. Crowded and over
crowded, the atmosphere is never the
best, and frequently the worst.
The moving picture proposition.
bad as 1t may be, is far from hopeless,
on the contrary, 1t appears bright.
rms diversion is in a state of evo-
| luton. Time was when the audience
was satisfied with pictorial necro-
nancy, but they soon tired of that;
| they demanded at least a semblance of
congruity with limited, but no Ies,-
certain. appeal to reason, which is its
present status.
'Reformers cry for rigid censor
snip, home influence and social CEN
ters; and IL adopted these will un-
doubtedly accomplish O great amount
OF good; but in the last ANALYSIS what
we really need is not these things, but
patience.
The moving picture problem will
largely solve itself. Already audiences
ire tlring of the Wild West and crime
aden films; productions of this char
acter, after all, can only follow general
lines, and people will not much
longer tolerate repetition Complaints
even now are frequent, and mo one
appreciates this better or more Sig
ni1cantly than the producers them
selves. Consequently, legitimate drama
| is being promoted for the movies:
actors and actresses of standing are
deserting the conventional stage for
| the screen, and able authors are heinz