The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-03-14
WAR FAILS TO
CHECK GROWTH
d The MOVIES.
In Six Months Number Of PIC
ture Houses in the United
States showcases a. 600. ,-


seriously effected by the world war
the motion picture industry has con
.tt1ued its march rf progress unre-
tarded without, indeed, the slightest
.perceptible. shortening of itssmammoth
strides. $50 - Il {isy
Such a condition is altogether
unique in. the history of amusemenls
and causes the first serious break in
the time proved relationship OF Office
and theatera-of big business and pro-
fessionally provided pleasure.
Invariably the prosperity OF the
amusement world has been dependent
upon and ! in well defaed proportion
to the prosperity of the business
world y:
H. a marked depression in; the 1nan-
cial market is always reflected In the
box office, and since sthe commence
ment of the European strife and sub
sequent depression OF big business,
the dramatic stage, circus. carnival
and kindred amusements have receiv-
ed ajolt5 that has all but put them out
of the running, and the majority, of
those which remain Pare conducted
more upon the hope that springs eter-
nal in the showman,S breast than up
on actual receipts
Not SO with the motion pictures. On
the contrary that extraordinary
amusement with its appeal SO broad
as to touch all classes and its rates
of admission SO low as to- be ever
within easy reach OF the masses, has
shown a greater: advance in prosper
ity from the exhibition side and a
more rapid and vital development of
the inventive, constructive and pro-
ductive side during the last six
rNk11
iod OF its existence.
Last September it was estimated
that there were about III 900 theaters
in the United States devoted to pic
lures. Today conservative estimate
places the figures at al 900, while on
the producing side there has been an
astonishing increase in the number
OF people employed (now about a
quarter of million) and the salaries
paid them aggregate s2,815, 900 week
sly. The income Sof the combined pic
ture shows is about Sd 1888 1888 per day
or close to 1910 year from every
man, woman and child in the United
States. Il. d
The manufacturers progress dur
ing this same period has been most
wonderful. Color photography has
been highly perfected, directors have
shown marked advancement in their
work, the foremost actors Of the sle-
Ultimate stage have been enlisted with
the film forces, apparatus OF all sorts
has undergone radical change and the
production Of even the poorest man
ufacturers'n has frightened up in tone
and quality.
Perhaps the strangest feature of all
this evolution and revolution is the
fact. that the real ility, for
the miraculous advancement of the
art rests with only a small handful
of men out Of hordes that have rush
ed into it during it's most active per
iod. The new corners have evidently
been drawn in merely from the pros
poets OF quick ] monetary returns
many Of them being showmen OF a
certain unprog ress; "a form Of amuse-
ment which has suffered much from
the popularity OF the picture show,
and who actually spent great sums of
money in the early days to kill the
industry. Today the original pion-
GERS are still, as they have ever been,
the substantial and creative man Of
the industry and little has been accom-
splished by the new Corners except In
jobbing. s.ss
tered in Illustration of this is David
sHorsley and Nina made In America1
films. Horsley is spoken of-.in. the
film world as ..the man of the hour,
He was the first indapendent mnnu-
faeturer in this country and Foremost
in the pioneer DAYS when q motion
picture Eof a horse eating hay was a
sensational achievement, and cameras
and apparatus We're so rare and eX-
snensive that he had III const rnct his
own "a hest he could
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