<8. 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



October 1, 1013. 



Lawi I ,nfi'it!i, ..I tin' American 



( mpany, draws » onsiderably 

 over .-. a year for his sen i es, in 



addition to .1 royalty on 61ms ; whilst 

 Sidnej [Icott, who produced Kalem's 

 "Life ■ ;>t " picture in the I [oly 

 Land, was retained at i per annum 



The tir>t cinema, play produced in 

 J. mil was " I he Soldier's Court 

 ship," which was acted on the roof of 

 the Alhan 1 tre In length was 



only .|o fe ■ suffii ienl to show for 

 about a minute! Nowadays a storv 

 film rim-, from 700 feet to sooo feet — 

 sufficient to last from a quarter of an 

 hour to two hours. 



! \ STRALIAN R H.I II 

 Tree was paid £1000 by 

 Messrs Barker for filming "Henry 

 VIII.," and on the day that the trans 

 tion w npleted the company sold 



the Australian rights of the film for 

 [OOo! Thus before a single picture 



own £2000 had changed hands 

 Twenty-four sets of films were "let 

 out " for London and provincial cinema 

 the. id each drew a weekly rental 



of £60. For six weeks the twentv-four 

 sets were fully booked up, realising, 

 omething over £6000 — which 

 gives an approximate idea of the money- 

 turned over in this business. Of course, 

 se prices were exceptional, owing to 

 the unusual nature of the pictures ; but 

 quite ordinary films command £15 to 

 ■ » a week. 



mo Vadis?" is the first cinemato- 

 graph picture which has ever been put 

 up :• The picture is 8000 feet 



in length, and plays for over two hours. 

 The sole rights for showing in Great 

 Brit ly, including but 15 copies of 



film, \ Id to Messrs. Jury for 



rd price of £7600. 



NGER TO CR( 1 



A notable film now being produced 



is that mentioned above, 



5alei I mpany at great 



:ypt and Palestine, and en- 



' From Manger to Cn -s." 



Whe ■ not the life of ('In iuld 



be p I in this way hi 



;he foremost divine Home. 



They appear to be equally divided 

 the If the film could ha 



en painted, not photographed from 

 living actors, the objection would 

 largely disappear. It is the acting of 

 the sacred drama by those who do it 

 merely for gain and in the ordinary 

 way <>f business that exception is taken 

 to. The presentation of the Passion 

 Play at Ober Ammergau was done by 

 villagers whose upbringing, training 

 and tradition had been a preparation 

 for this one object. The whole atmo- 

 sphere was deeply religious, the play 

 itself a solemn duty. The peasants 

 steadfastly refused to allow cinemato- 

 graphs of their performance to be taken. 

 Those who object to the film ought not 

 to forget that thousands who seldom 

 ©r never enter a church will, by watch- 

 ing such a performance, realise the Gos- 

 pel story as never before. 



SYDNEY'S TROUBLES. 



Sydney, owing to its unfortunate 

 small-pox scare, is almost a city of 

 dread to dramatic and vocal artists just 

 now. The looming possibility of closed 

 theatres, remote though it is, has natur- 

 al ly greatly troubled those whose en- 

 gagements call them to the northern 

 capital. The Ouinlan Company will 

 soon depart from Melbourne after a 

 successful season. The second perform- 

 ance of the Ring was technically much 

 superior to the first, but it was not wit- 

 nessed b\ such great audiences. Wagner 

 is a little heavy meat for us still ! The 

 opening night in Sydney is October 11. 



CHAMBER CONCERT. 



A specially attractive chamber con- 

 cert was given by members of the Uni- 

 versity Conservatorium and others in 

 the Town Hall, and was enjoyed by the 

 Governor-General and a large audience. 

 Herr Goll again demonstrated what a 

 remarkable pianist he is. A man may b* 

 technically perfect and yet not be a 

 great pianist, something more is needed 

 1 1 err Goll has got it. For the first 

 time in a first-class concert in Mel- 

 rne a Wertheim Grand was used. It 

 very fme instrument, and 

 ved that Mr. Wertheim's ambition 

 to make a piano in Australia the equal 

 the best produced in Germany, 

 I ranee or America is being realised. 



