Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-10
Nursing Film
Through Life
No Easy job
Infant Cellu loid Needs
Tender Care from
Its Keepers
BY OSCAR A. MORGAN

Publicity Director; Famous Players ESchanss.
Philadelphia.
Before saying anything about the care Of
the film. let II be recorded in the most de-
cided fashion that the life of the film In
dustry is the life of the film. II the film
is not properly looked after by the ex-
change, 1t deteriorates rapidly, therefore
the number OF rentals on that one print are
cut down. The matter of the care OF the
MIN, therefore, is apparently the most Inn
portant In this great industry
The public has an idea, as have many
exhibitors, that Aim is shipped in and out
OF an exchange as fast as It can be han
died They lose sight of the fact that II
must be examined and oftentmes cleaned
after each exhibitor has used 1t. one thing
the public does know is when a film is In
bad condition, and in nine cases out OF ten
the exhibitor is told so by his patrons. He
in turn sends In h1Dclaim to the exchange.
II Is sad but too true. that nearly every
operator does not yet realize that he should
handle the film from any exchange as he
would handle so much brittle glass Too
many of them pay little attention to the
manner in which they rewind 1t and put It
into the film cases TO return to the exchange
A little scratch or break here and there Is
just a mere trine. These mere trifles are
far too many at this timee and naturally
the poor condition of that film is fastened
Perhaps in this exchange we are more for
tunate, having always charged the exhibitor
for any damaged film received. Many times,
this leads to argument tfriendly, of course).
but when that exhibitor is shown how we
examine our reels in nearly every case he
Is willing to take the blame.
Just to give one an idea as to how much
care is taken of the film in an exchange
such as ours here in Philadelphia: We have
five inspectors, the best that can be pro-
cured, and an experienced chemist, who un-
IN nd q nj NO NJ ba I'm
feature or single reel picture is received in
the exchange from the manufacturer II is
put through our projecting machine to see
If there is anything the matter with II. TAX
ing for granted that such is not the case.
the film is placed in the fireproof vault or
shipped out to the first run customer When
1t is received back in the exchange from this
exhibitor the film is given to one of the in
spectors, who carefully examines each reel,
making a written report This report goes
to the head inspector. and IL there is any
| damage that will have to be attended to II
is taken up with the manager. If the film
Is in a soiled condition 1t is turned over to
the cleaner. This cleaner takes off all for
| eign matter, but each reel of film has to be
put through many as five to ten times,
according to the condition II is In. 1t is
steadfast rule that no film shall leave the
exchange until a written report has been
made. This effectively stops any film from
| leaving the exchange in poor condition.
Going back to the inspectors table again.
| we stand at her side n few minutes and
| watch hCw she works. The regular rewind-
| ing set is used with handles on both re-
winders. that the film can be turned both
| ways. The inspector threads up the flm
| and turns slowly with the right hand, hold
| ing the fingers of the left hand on both
edges OF the film. In this manner any
| broken sprocket holes or bad patches are
noticed. Bad sprociet holes, provided they
| are single are "A'D"-that is, the sharp
! edges are cut away. If there are more than
| one the piece must be taken out. The in
| spector uses her scissors. taking out the bad
part, and placing the edges of the film TO-
1 & .ther in what is known as patch plate,
| device that brings the sprocket holes per-
! srtly together when making a patch. This
! same method must be used whenever bad
! scratches or damage of various kinds IL
| discovered It can easily be seen that when
| a length of film is taken out, sometimes
| spelling very dramatic spot in the film,
| this must be replaced by the exchange the
same being ordered from the manufacturer.
1t is generally known that the law in
slsts that the films be kept in fireproof
vaults or cabinets, and that they be carried
| or shipped in metal fireproof cases. Each
reel is held tightly by band, but in some
| cases, because of negligence on the part of
| the shipper in returning the film to the ex-
| change, these bands not fitted tightly,
with the result sometimes that several feet
of film are ruined. 1t must be replaced
| therefore. the exhibitor is charged for 1t.