The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1923-12-07
FILMS GO OVER BIG.
:" AGGEE /" DEPARTMENT
PICTURES PATRONIZED
Screen Haze Been Means Of Promot-
Ing Interest In the Farm
Work


actors are putting their stun
across" Such an audience Is what
the United States department Of ag-
riculture has acquired during its
short activity in the motion picture
industry, In which time 1t has act
ed as scenario writer, film director
and maker, distributor, and all
other agencies In connection with
the making and showing OF motion
pictures. All players are anxious to
know how their efforts are liked and
are immensely pleased at large and
enthusiastic audiences. Likewise the
department has measured the sue
cess Of its efforts, by recording
wherever practicable the number
of places where department films
have been shown and the number
Of people in attendance. The known
audience during the last fiscal year
in the United States numbered A.
100000, but the probable audience
number. The audience is constantly
growing, judging by the requests
for films, and according to other
evidences that reach the motion pic
ture office daily. More and more
department films are being sent out
to county agents, extension leaders
and other agricultural workers, and
more and more people are becoming
interested in the messages Of bet
ter agricultural practices which
they carry.
One Aim alone has been shown in
practically every county in the Un-
tied States and in nearly all cities,
a record for popularity which might
be envied by some of the more pre-
tentious commercial companies. This
picture, Out OF the Shadows, is a
story Of the spread Of tuberculosis
in cattle and the danger to human
health from the use Of milk from
infected herds. It is both entertain
Ing and educational and appeals
strongly for the protection OF the
health of the family. The showing
of this film has played an immensely
important part In the campaign for
te eradication and control OF tuber:
culosis in dairy cattle throughout
the United States.
The motion picture has likewise
been of the greatest service in the
tick eradication movement in the
South. For two years the department
has operated portable movie out
fit, consisting Of small motor truck
carrying a protector. lighting plant,
and a number Of reels of film, in the
more sparsely settled regions OF the
tick infested country, The cattle
tick films have been shown in school
houses and churches and many other
available places in sections where
no movie had ever been seen before,
often being taken into very inacces
sible nlaces in the country OF poor
roads and few improved farms. The
picture has been a means of impress
sing cattle owners with the neces-
sity Of Kidding their cattle of the
tick and in correcting many for
mer ERRONEOUS ideas about the, aim,
OF the movement.
The departments collection of
motion pictures now numbers 172
distinct subjects on major agricul
tural activities. A picture called
King Lacteus is story in sym
bolical form appreciated especially
by the children which tells the story
OF milk for health; then there is one
which is both educational and inter
,eSting to country and city jewellers
alike, telling the story of bees and
how they live and work: Goodbye
Boil Weevil shows the methods of
fighting that insidious pest of the
cotton country: Sir Loin of T-Bone
Ranch combines a pretty fiction
story with a wealth of educational
matter concerning the meat indus
try both from the production and
marketing end: then there are such
technical pictures as Exit Ascaris
which deals with the common sub
ject of worms in hogs in such a
simple and understandable manner
that as one county agent stated.
LAS a means Of delivering authentic
information in a clear, concise, and
convincing manner, we think the
Consider for example the compare
tive efficiency of an hours talk,
without Illustrations, on the eradi-
cation of intestinal parasites in
hogs, and the snappy, clear con-
elusive presentation Of the same
subject in the two-reel production,
Exit Ascaris. The former leaves the
audience imbued with q sense of
mystery on the whole topic, and lit
orally dormant when you attempt
to check mp on results. Not so, how
ever, If you use the film. The presen-
tation has been so easily understood
that the audience Is ready to 60
to tackle the, prcbleDn in an effec-
tive manner"
The popularity and effectiveness
with which these films have been
used is no doubt due in large meas
re to the care with which they are
produced with regard to facts and
details. The qualifications demanded
in a film by the department are that
it teach a worth while lesson clearly
and efficiently. that it be correct as
to facts, and at the same time in
teresting enough to arouse and
maintain interest; and that in every
way it be properly representative of
the institution responsible for it.
One Of the new fields in which the
agricultural films are being regular
ly used in the system of visual in
struction classes in the District Of
Columbia public schools. These clas-
ses are conducted by the school Of
ficials, in cooperation with a chain
OF commercial theaters. Department
films are being used almost ex-
clusively. and there seems little
doubt that the school children Of
the capital are better informed than
ever before IN regard to the agri-
cultural resources and problems OF
this country. .1.s.
Another new use for the pictures
is in teaching the English language
and American citizenship to adult
foreigners, members of the Amerl-
canization classes of the Washington
Public Schools. Department films
are being used for this purpose, al
SO, almost exclusively. The teachers
in charge of the classes sought the
films that, would make the widest