The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1915-12-23
PHOTOPLAYS AND
PHOTOPLAYERS
Bv GARDNER MACK
CrdUled Through the
Box Office Window
To Success in
Film Plays
~ GARDINER MACK,

Crawling to the stage through the
box office window is said to be one
of the hardest feats in the world to
perform. according to the students of
the theater. And Robert Edeson, up
to the present time. has been the
only distinguished example of per-
son who attained success in this
way. George ovey has been entered
as Blossoms only competitor, and to
the East Ovey is known as a photo
player better than as a stage COM
Sdtnn. Edeson, 1t will be remember
Cd, was the assistant treasurer OF
2 Brooklyn theater when he went
into the acting end of the business
on bet he could fill the part of an
absent member of the company play
Ing at his house.
Ovey's career had much, the same
beginning. He was assistant treas
urer of a theater in Kansas City in
1900, when some member of a COM
pany playing at the theater became
Ill, andsOvey offered to take the part.
He had been wanting something like
this to happen for a long time, be-
cause he had always felt that his
real vocation was behind the foot
lights rather than the ticket rack.
Tie made a success of his first start.
and Immediately was engaged>for a
minstrel company.
Later he appeared in musical COM
edies and became popular throughout
the West. He was appearing In q
Los Angeles theater about six
months ago when Milton Fahrney
saw him. Fahrney has been a mo-
ton picture director almost since the
business was invented, and when he
saw Ovey he recognized what he
thought was real film comedy ability,
Fshrney was with the Hershey
Mutual forces, and engaged the
comedian at once. The Cub" com
man vehicles, and he has become
very popular.
Some days ago attention was called
to the fact that Roger w. Babson
proposed to put life into the dry
bones of statistics by making them
subjects for motion pictures. Just
how Mr.. Babson expected to make
such things as views upon rows OF
figures interesting by means of mo-
fion pictures was not apparent, al
though the statistician was very
enthusiastic about the thing. Mr..
Babson has done ii and with his
little railroad trains and steamships
ana piles of exports and imports he
has really invented a fascinating
system of pictures.
The pictures have been shown here
during the past week or so as a part
of the Paramount program, and in
clude all sorts of neutrality-suspicious.
larly those dealing with food stuffs,
; manufactured articles, etc. To make
these things plain to the motion pic
ture patrons the films start with
q. statement of what it is proposed to
show and advice to the spectator to
watch the little steamship" or
swatch the little railroad train"
A lined sheet is then seen divided
into columns at the top of which
appear the years to be covered. one
for each column, and the amounts to
he stated, one for each horizontal
line in the page. A railroad train is
then started over the page following
zig-zac track showing the upward
and downward trend of the figures.
Usually the film ends with the eX-
hibition of two large piles of goods,
one being the first year and the
other being the last that is treated
in the statistical tables. Or the
piles might he of wheat or of bales
of cotton Again the two pictures
might show two railroad trains
anything in fact, to show the COM
parative size of the maximum and
minimum figures, the increase or the
decrease. G. M.