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

1768 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 22, 1917
Lamberger Enlarges Activities
The Motion Picture Field Owes Much to This Pioneer,
Who Has Championed Its Struggles Since the
Early Days.
WI 1.1AM
HUMPHREY, Edmund Lawrence and F. J.
Grandon are the directors who, in the coming year,
are counted upon to carry the standard of Ivan Film
productions into the very front ranks of the industry.
Each iu of them has an organization of his own, which,
as regards perfection, leaves nothing wanted.
One of the important branches in the producing organization
of the Ivan
people is the installation
of several
"Readers," whose
duty is not only to
read submitted
scripts, but every
play, novel or romance
of any standing in
literature, be it in
foreign o r native
tongue. This department
is under the
supervision of Oscar
I. Lamberger, Ph.D.,
•who, having been
professor of comparative
literature, possesses
the qualifications
to direct the
efforts of the
"Readers" in proper
channels.
Unquestionably the
united efforts of the
organizations under
the excellent management
of I. E. Chadwick
more than augur
well for the future of
Ivan Flm productions.
Dr. O. I. Lamberger, Ph.D.
At this time it may
well be noted that
although Ivan Abramson is in no manner connected with
the company the firm will continue to do business under
the name of Ivan Film Productions, and the various state
right distributors handling Ivan product may go the limit
in heralding the standard output which these Ivan distributors
will be able to send to their trade.
At this point it might be well to devote a few lines to
the splendid career in behalf of the country-wide acceptance
of the motion picture that this forceful figure has all too
silently and modestly carved with his accustomed unselfishness.
Pioneers in the business will remember him as a
devout friend and a far-sighted diplomat, as it were. As
far back as 1906 Dr. Oscar I. Lamberger, then a member
of the lecture staff of the People's Institute, of which the
late Charles Sprague Smith was the presidential head,
championed the cause of the screen, then a distrusted and
despised business of a supposedly nondescript character.
Lamberger grasped the future efficacy of the motion picture,
and was selected to lead an investigation into the
conditions of the East Side of Manhattan, with a view of
improving the social conditions of the inhabitants of this
quarter. He chose as his main vehicle of accomplishing his
object the motion picture, and put it to the first use of
this kind that it had received. In time this led to the
doctor buying an interest in the Avenue C Theater, in the
heart of the Ghetto, which was thereafter conducted as a
model house for other exhibitors to learn from and copy
after, not only as to conditions of hygiene, but particularly
as to types of offering.
As a rorollarv to this work the doctor soon found that
he could materially assist his efforts by appealing to the
early manufacturers for the making of classic photoplays
and other subjects more worthy than the then all-to-frequent
crude type of cheap dramas and comedies. It was
through his persuasive efforts that Shakespeare's works
were first committed to the camera, as well as other of the
first productions of other standard literary volumes, which
served as the forerunner of the current vogue of visualized
literature. To further encourage productions of this kind
Lamberger formed the Ecclesia Entertainment Society, an
exchange which purchased over eighty single reel standard
subjects, and released them to the nickelodeons on the
East Side. As many of his purchases were made after
the films had lived their supposed booking life, it is noteworthy
that the Ecclesia rental price was maintained at
$5 per reel.
At this period the theaters were suffering from the
unjust political intrigues of the McClellan administration.
One Christmas period every picture show house in New
York City was closed down by the police. This furnished
the energetic doctor with new and more important fields
of activity. Swinging the full power of the People's Institute
behind him Lamberger worked to the end of preventing
censorship from falling into the hands of the police
department. A meeting was called in the Avenue C
Theater, which was attended by the first exhibitors' association,
a local body; members of the People's Institute
and manufacturers, which resulted in the formation of the
National Board of Censorship, with three members, Dr.
Lamberger representing the exhibitors, John Collier representing
the Institute and Dr. Theodore Shay representing
the public schools. At this first meeting one thousand
dollars was subscribed toward the new body's maintenance.
The further development of this organization
is known to all. As a result the campaign slogan of the
doctor, "Mayors may come and mayors may go, but motion
pictures will go on forever," was far and wide adopted as
the cry of the business.
Next we find the subject of this article directing the
earliest five-reel productions (in 1916) — "The Life of John
Bunyan," or "Pilgrim's Progress," in which he co-starred
Ethel Clayton and Warner Oland. This film is still doing
duty in churches, schools and religious lodges throughout
this continent.
The next six years finds this fighter out of the film circle,
devoting his time to civic movements of large proportion.
The early part of this year marked his re-entry into the
business with a deeply laid plan that will not come to
fruition until Dr. Lamberger feels that he has mastered
the numerous situations that are embodied in his future
plans. In order to accomplish his studies, and being a
great admirer of the ability and breadth of vision of Isaac
E. Chadwick, head of the Ivan Film Corporation, he
assumed the chair of publicity head with the Ivan concern,
and has just enlarged his activities with this manufacturer,
as the forepart of this article apprises.
Suffice it to say that Dr. Oscar I. Lamberger will be
heard from importantly in the near future.
FORMERLY AMERICAN FILM ACTOR COLONEL'S
ORDERLY.
A. A. Bonnard, formerly manager of the automobile department
of the American Film Company studios at Santa
Barbara, California, has been appointed Colonel's orderly at
Camp Lewis, American Lake, Washington. Young Bonnard
went to the training camp with the first batch from
Santa Barbara and gained his promotion for personal
merit as well as because of his proficiency in French.
Sidney Algier, former assistant to Edward Sloman, has
been made acting Lieutenant and is in charge of a rookie
squad.
i 1
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wScene from "Blue Jeans" (Metro).