CINEMA THEATRES 235 



3,000 less profit in 1911-12 than they did in the preceding 12 months, and a similar 

 drop would be shown in the theatre receipts if the figures were available. Many of the 

 local theatres and halls in the London suburbs have either closed or been converted into 

 picture palaces. Unfortunately the cinema theatres have shown less desire to use their 

 opportunities for high-class educational purposes, and more to provide simply sensa- 

 tional entertainments, than they did three years ago. Then it was the custom to include 

 at least one educational picture in each programme; it might be the growth of some well 

 known flower, or perhaps the circulation of the blood, or a tour round some foreign city, 

 or the manufacture of a familiar article, while now it is the exception to find such a film 

 included. A wearisome round of pictures are exhibited, farces based on crude practical 

 jokes, and melodramas mixed with maudlin sentimentality; the only leaven is an oc- 

 casional historical play. 



The cause of this failure to take advantage of the enormous educative possibilities of 

 the cinematograph is twofold. Firstly, the majority of the leading film manufacturers 

 are self-made men who have made all their money out of the business ; and secondly, 

 until lately it was fashionable to ridicule the cinematograph picture. The fact that the 

 leading actors and actresses of Europe, for instance, Sir H. Beerbohm Tree and Madame 

 Sarah Bernhardt, have not considered it beneath their dignity to act before the film 

 camera shows that the second no longer applies. Time no doubt will remedy the first, 

 and when the men arrive who will raise the tone of electric theatres in the same way 

 as the late Sir Edward Moss and others have done for that of the music halls, the 

 cinematograph will become a great influence for the public good. 



There is a great field open too for the use of film pictures as an aid to teaching. 

 Children are always more interested in the concrete than they are in the abstract; les- 

 sons in geography, history, natural science, etc. , so illustrated, would interest and instruct 

 them to a far greater extent than mere text-book teaching, and knowledge so acquired 

 would be much more likely to be retained. The inflammability of the film has, how- 

 ever, up till now prevented any serious move being made in this direction. The Home 

 Office and County Council regulations in England have rendered electric theatres very 

 free from danger; but it would be difficult to apply these rules to schools. Children are 

 highly susceptible to panic, and a fire-and-smoke-proof operating box would be a necessity, 

 especially as school teachers could hardly be expected to be expert operators and so 

 would be more likely to fire the film. The London County Council and others, how- 

 ever, have recently taken steps to consider how these difficulties can be overcome. 



Many attempts have been made to make a non-inflammable celluloid film, but so 

 far without success. Films have been made with tanned gelatine as a basis instead of 

 celluloid, and inventors have also endeavoured to denitrate the nitrocellulose from 

 which celluloid is manufactured; but in both cases the film has lost transparency and 

 also strength. This is one of the problems awaiting solution. Another is that of ob- 

 taining a film in natural colours. G. A. Smith and Chas. Urban in their Kinemacolor 

 process show very beautiful colour effects; but the film is not in itself coloured and so 

 must be shown by special apparatus. Relying as it does on persistence of vision, 

 much higher running speed than usually employed is required and considerably more 

 light. The ideal colour film should consist of a series of pictures, each a complete colour 

 rendering of the subject in itself; so that the film could be exhibited on any machine at 

 the normal speed. No film fulfilling these conditions has yet been produced on the 

 market, but of the numerous inventors who are investigating colour cinematography 

 one, at least, is working on these lines and the problem should shortly be solved. 



Another problem is the synchronising of the gramophone and cinematograph. This 

 had been done but with very partial success, but late in 1912 seemed to have been suc- 

 cessfully accomplished by Thomas A. Edison. .,..*... 



The one thing certain is that ten years ago the moving picture was an object of ridi- 

 cule, yet to-day it has effected a revolution in the world's amusement; and its influence 

 will continue to increase as more theatres are opened and better programmes are pro- 

 duced. (T. P. MlDDLETON.) 



