Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-17

An interesting sideiEht on hither;
phase of the film world ha
been brought to light by Thomas H. Ince
who, writing in Motographv, says:
There are various methods Of test
ing the public pulse i'm regard TO mo-
ton pictures. but the sCrest method
Of finding out exactly what the people
want Is through the medium of Uncle
Sans mailbag.
OF late the correspondence of the
larger motion picture corporations
established In the East and in South
ern California has reached such huge
dimensions that the officials of the
various companies concluded 1t was
better to apply to the Government
for n postofiice At each plant than so
to the expense of having all matter
carted several times daily from the
nearest postofllce.
\ glimpse of one days mail received
by any one OF the better known COM
pHnies Will impress the most opt-
mlstic person with the idea that the
world Is unuuestiOnably in the grip of
motion pictures.
Thousands OF letters are received
daily, in 80 different languages, from
places never dreamed OF as being on
the map The prcdomiuatns letters
are those applying for work, Every
body on earth seems to bc peculiarly
adapted as a coming motion picture
star, according to these letters. Second
In point Of numbers are letters from
aspiring mothers, inqutrng into the
moral atmosphere surrounding n pic
ture-produCing plant, and wishing to
know II it is IT place for their
daughters Then come hundreds of
letters from ambitious would-be
scenario writer's, the majority of whom
have not yet written n script, but who
desire few pointers before embark
ing
Pouches of letters come daily from
the general public, who OFFER good,
bad and Indifferent advice in regard to
past present and future productions.
Others send In epistolary eulogiums
on plays they have viewed and hope
to see more of the same kind pro-
duced In the future.
one would think that most OF these
epistles are consigned to the waste
basket after a single reading, but such
Is not the case. Each letter Is care
fully read and its contents noted by
some one in authority In the plant
Then they are sent to the various
departments with which they particu-
larly deal with a view of perfecting
production, for after all II Is
the public who is the real critic of the
Aims and IL the wishes of the public
are carried out we know that the
flm-service is being Improved.
Thrown Into the Discard
That good old standby Of the spoke
irama of the thrills classification. namely
he mortgage and the shyster lawyer, ar
,arred from picture-play plots purchased
1y the selg Polyscope Company and othe
eading manufacturers. In speaking Of tn,
,nn placed on the mortgage plot, the Selil
5olyscope editor recently said:
"The mortgage plot was thought to hav'
lied a natural death In melodrama whes
the papers were worked overtime by the
'ilain But not SO. With the advent o
he motion picture play all the timc-worf
ricks of the spoken drama were lugget
% the animated screen and presented tC
he people as new stuff There was al
Ways the unjust travesty on the lega
the 'shyster' lawyer, who hel0
he mortgage on the old home farm and
Who threatened TO foreclose the same I'M
ess the farmers beautiful daughter. IN
owe with the honest young husbandmar
N the adjoining forty, was given to the
awyer in marriage The 'shyster' lawyer
~ called always appeared in an office In
'hch there was a small safe in one corner
md he invariably visited the safe, pro
uced the papers and then rubbed hi'
ands in fiendish satisfaction OF course,
10 met timely punishment, but In so do
ng the members of the legal profession
we're frequently presented in an unraVor'
bile light The Selg Company will not
,uy plots of this nature and other con
erns are following suit"
Heard in the Lubin Studios
Captain Wilbert Melville, manager OF
he Western Lubin Company, at Los An
ieles, Cal, has been securing the entire
'alifornIa coast in his yacht, the Lucero,
n an effort to locate schooner of espe-
,ial type and design 10 be used for a
ariety OF scenes in the big three e-reel
he is making.
A large force OF carpenters, mechanics
nd plasterers have been busy the past
everal days at the Lubin Western studio
recting an Algerian village
Clay NJ. Greene, one 1t the best known
I the Lubin photo-playwrights, who has
chieved wide reputation as writer
4 fiction and plays for the legitimate
tage, had a regular birthday party this
'eek, II was not of his own planning
MT was suddenly wished on him by a
me of the old guard OF the Lambs Clue
n New York. and. incidentally, a mem
er of a great many other clubs in New