Moving Picture World (Dec 1917) - Learn About Movie Posters

1796 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 22, 1917
Meeting the War Tax in the Studio
Economy in Production Without Decreasing Quality Will
Solve Problem, Says Scardon.
ACCORDING
to Director Paul Scardon, the Federal war
tax on motion picture films can be made up in the
studio by everyone "doing his bit." Mr. Scardon has
studied the problem from the angle of the studio and in an
interview on the subject said:
"I believe from personal experiments in facilitating production
can
that the tax imposed upon the production of pictures
be made up to the producing companies in their own
studios, if all directors
and heads of departments,
who are given a
free hand, will inject a
little patriotism and a
deal of system into
their work. If they
do," says Mr. Scardon,
"the war tax will not
only be met, but the
business efficiency of
the studios will be increased
as well.
"A company of players
remaining idle for
one day, as a result of
the failure to plan the
work ahead, results in
the loss
money to
of enough
pay the war
tax on at least thirtyfive
reels of film. This
loss can be avoided if
the director is given his
script in time and the
work is intelligently
planned, and if the errors
in system are corrected
as a result of the
Paul Scardon.
present emergency, the
war' tax will eventually
be classed as a blessing
in disguise. The aver-
age in the personnel of the producing forces is hardworking
and conscientious, but improvement is always possible,
and if we all get right 'on the job' with a firm resolve
to 'do our bit' by increasing efficiency, the present menace
to the industry will be met and conquered at its source.
Delay exists in all studios and all efforts should be directed
to eliminating the evil.
"Many difficulties that beset the director are beyond his
control, such as the indisposition of the star, the inclemency
of the weather, the lack of studio space for his sets, or the
failure of lights. But even these obstacles may often be surmounted
by a quick change of the plans for the day—other
scenes that are possible under the circumstances may be
taken or work started on the next script if available. To meet
just such difficulties, I recently started work on three different
subjects, going back to and finishing each one when
the cause of the delay had been overcome. The war tax was
not a consideration at that time, but the cost of production
on each subject was held at a minimum.
"The war tax must be paid, and the money with which
to pay it must come from some source. The public will not
tolerate a decrease in the artistic or the dramatic value of
the pictures and so, without taking into consideration the
business office viewpoint, but speaking solely from the viewpoint
of the director, I suggest system and greater efficiency
as a possible and practical solution of the problem.
"As a concrete example of my ideas, I may mention -a recent
lime-saving emergency. I had planned to work on a big
v< t on a specified day, but when the time arrived all of
the studio floor space with the exception of a strip about
ten feel wide was in use by other directors. All of my exscenes
were made and only interiors remained to complete.
The script called for some important action in a hallway
that 1 had planned to do last, but to meet studio conditions
as I found them I had a hallway set placed in the
available ten feet of space and so saved a dav's time.
"It is now recognized that the conservation of our resources
and the preservation of our industries are vitally
important to the success of our arms. Everything that we
save helps the cause indirectly and ourselves directly. To
help meet the war tax is a patriotic duty and if it is met by
increased efficiency its benefits will last beyond the successful
termination of the war."
Methods in Mexico
Exhibitors Give Promissory Notes as Change and Translate
Titles in Record Time.
THERE'S
a marked scarcity of copper coins in the United
States, but it isn't a marker to what it is in Mexico.
Down in Chihuahua, in the state of that name, in the
district where Pancho Villa is being man-hunted by Mexican
federal troops, a Mexican silver dollar is about the smallest
metal coin a fellow sees, and the girls in the ticket windows
of the moving picture theaters make change with printed
promises to pay. The Carranza government has come to
stay, and will make good if Villa can be caught and put
where he will not throw any more bricks into the machinery.
So says J. de la C. Alarcon, manager of the Alcazar
Theater at Juarez, and who, with his associates, is interested
in other theaters located at El Paso, Juarez and Chihuahua.
One of his partners is Francisco Aldareti, American citizen
and member of the registration board for El Paso county.
"Despite the rather chaotic condition that the dispatches
picture in Mexico," says Senor Alarcon, "business is on a
much better basis than one would suppose. We are conducting
our theaters in Chihuahua in much the same fashion
as you do in the United States. The great difficulty is finding
small change. There is a marked scarcity of metal coins
of a value below the Mexican peso. For some reason there
is an apparent hoarding of such coins, and practically all of
them have been withdrawn from circulation. Our admission
charge is 30 cents in Mexican money, and we make change
by issuing a sort of 'promise to pay,' which is redeemable
at a local Chihuahua bank, or in the shape of additional
admissions when the moving picture devotee cares to
witness a subsequent film."
American films are used, just the same as folks see in any
American city; but by an ingenious bit of mechanism the
"editing" is changed, so that along with the American inserts
there goes a translation into Spanish. The Mexican audience,
therefore, keeps right up with the trend of the
picture, just as do those who read English. Senor Alarcon's
concern maintains a staff of translators, and the
"script" is rendered from English into Spanish in rapid
fashion. Full translations of an ordinary five or six reel
film can be made within a few minutes.
The Spanish rendition of the script is typewritten on to
a small film, which, passing through a projecting machine,
is shown in one corner of the picture roll, simultaneously
with the regular script in English. This obviates the necessity
for changing the original films, which are returned to
distributing houses in just the same fashion as is done in
the United States.
"Transportation facilities are another problem at the
moment," said Senor Alarcon. "Every business man in
Mexico—theater men. as well as all the others—will welcome
the day when Villa, the trouble-maker, is finally eliminated."
And, bv the way, the senor pronounces it "Vill-ya," sounding
the l's with the "1" and vowel "y" sound.
C. W. BUNN GIVEN BIG POST WITH PATHE.
C. W. Bunn, formerly manager of Pathe's Chicago Branch,
has been appointed special sales representative. Working
under the direction of Sales Manager F. C. Quimby, he will
visit the various Pathe exchanges.
Mr. Bunn got very excellent results in Chicago because
he realizes that the highly efficient Pathe system is of
great importance in the successful operation of an exchange.
Mr. Bunn was selected for the important position
of special sales representative because he appreciates fully
the value of this system and because he has demonstrated
his ability to put it into successful operation. His first
stopping place on a long tour in the interests of the Pathe
organization is the Kansas City office.
DE MILLE WILL TAKE COMPANY TO MISSISSIPPI.
The first of the Cecil B. De Mille series of Artcraft superproductions
will be staged around the Mississippi River,
and an entire producing organization will leave California
for that territory shortly. Miss Jeanie MacPherson is now
working on the script of this production, which is to be
an adaptation of Perley Poore Sheehan's novel, "The
Whispering Chorus," a gripping story of the Middle West,