Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-10-30
FOOD FOR FILM FANS
COOKED UP TO ORDER
Some Comment On Local Nov
ing Picture Matters By the
Staff Bug"

A fellow must needs step lively these
days to keep up with the m. p. game in
this most beautiful of western cities.
Five-count 'em-palaees of flicker
stuff.
Prices locally seem to be struggling
upward. But what shall it profit a
manager if he add a iitney to his ad-
mission price and two jitneys to his cost
of operationR
One thing that can't happen to M.
p, fancier in Salem at present: He
can't get lonesome. But he can get
broke.
What does it portend when the pie,
ture house managers manifest q ten
dency to indulge in hoart-to-heart talks
with the pubhcf We don t exactly
know, but we suspect something.
AS time glides along more and moro
Salem people are becoming affiliated
with the b. o. t. B. O. T. stands for
box office twist. malady of the el-
bow caused by the exercise of sliding
coins across to the how-many girls,
and it ism 7 serious.)
Is it a factor ism t itl-that the m.
p. public is becoming a bit fussy2 II
seems to want pictures of higher
grade than it was satisfied with a while
back, and it seems to care less for guam
tity and more for quality. The house
showing the most reels caught lot of
us once. But not any more, dear Ag,
mes. Too many reels maketh the heart
sick, as the poet said.
Once not such a very long time ago
this town was Chaplin mad. Fact is
Charley is so d funny that week or
so of him tires US all out.
Pretty soon now-it WON'T he long
Charley will he in the discards along
with old Bill Shakespeare. And that s
pair to draw to!
Edgar Allen Poe g Craven is an
nounced for the flickers. Cheer upl the
worst is yet to come!
For our part we re going to cease be.
heving everything house press agent
tells us about a picture. We've beer
fooled about enough with excessively
spiced stuff. 1t may cost lot cf
money all right, but sometimes it is
neither wholesome nor palatable. Safe
and sane-no more intellectual stomach
aches-that's the slogan for us hence
forth.
And now everybody, almost, is run.
ming to vaudeville. The picture pro.
grams are being augmented with
"acts." The Sullivan & Considine peo-
pie put bill in here once q week, and
every theatre in town with one excep-
tion becomes temple of vodeville.
(The said exception w8s t. of V. once,
but reformed) Whether or not the stuff
of real merit gets what it deserves is n
matter for the public TO determine. Any
one manager, no matter what he may
try to do in the way of furnishing good
entertainment, is as helpless as a leaf of
wind.
We infer from an item in John W.
Kelly interesting column in the Port.
land Telegram that Bud Fisher of
"Mutt and Jeff" fame, is not so par
ticular as to how he gets his material
as he should be. There are many peo-
pie who seem to see nothing wrong in
stealing any successful idea that may
come to their attention,
Every we'll regulated Sunday paper
now has q department in which girls
are informed how to achieve fame and
fortune as moving picture actresses. In
teresting enough-but shucks!
A writer in Portland paper says
that theatre managers are what school
children call "eopy cats" We believe
he g more than half right.
After all, with all the Haunting of
banners and the spreading of P.per,
really good moving pictures are not nu-
merous, We mean pictures to which q
man can take his family Of an evening
and feel afterward that his money was
wen spent. There are few Of this sort
coming all the time. Salem folks prob
ably know where to see them as wen as
we do.
II is a fair supposition that no the
atrical music is perfect. The manager
who makes a practice Of calling atten.
tion to the excellence Of his music
the same time draws notice to its ir
perfections, which imperfections the av-
erage auditor would likely not have no
tieed otherwise.
1t is nearly as i'll advised TO recon.
mend a photo play to friend as to
recommend a book. just as likely as
not he won Z be pleased with il, and his
confidence in your judgment is iolted.
The advertisements of~course are all
made up along the same line; every
picture is superlative; and the public
comes naturally TO pay no attention.
When IL sees title il thinks II will
like IL. takes chance, that's all, ex-
eepting in the case OF a very limited
number of plays featuring certain play
ers. whom we might name were we 80
disposed. These are always good, some
times better than AZ others, but never
failing TO come mp TO the worth while
standard.
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