Many Attend "Movie" Talk at Local Club

A suggestion that Evanston take the initiative by installing motion picture apparatus in all its public schools and an earnest plea for th esupport of the Evanston Stock company that clean and well-supervised amusement may be offered in the city, werefeatures of the open meeting held under the joint auspices of the Drama Club and the Woman's Club of Evanston in the Woman's Club building Monday night for the discussion of the moving picture proplem and other theatricals. More than 250 persons attended the meeting and a deep interest in the topic was manifested. After talks made by Harry Minturn, manager of the Evanston Stock Company, Major M. L. C. Funkhouser, seond deputy superintendent of police of Chicago, and Miss Harriet Vittum of the Northwestern University Settlement, several questions pertinent to the production of film shows were asked by persons in the audience. Continued appleause was given each speaker when emphasis was made on clean and moral amusements.

Mrs. Dawes Opens Meeting
On behalf of the Woman's club of Evanston Mrs. Rufus C. Dawes opened the meeting with a brief introductory speech stating that organization was always willing and ready to join in any movement which tended to reform and for that reason had joined hands with the Drama Club in the meeting for the discussion of the motion picture topic. She was followed by Mrs. Eugene H. Garnett, a leading member of the Drama Club, who presided. Mrs. Garnett in an interesting manner told of the co-operation needed to further the work of providing clean amusement in Evanston and made a statement co ncerning the poor financial support given the Evanston Stock company this season and the possibility of that organization leaving Evanston soon unless the citizens rallied to its support. In a brief address Mr. Minturn gave facts about the state of affairs at the Evanston theater. He lamented the poor attendance during the season and suggested that the only logical plan to keep the present stock company there is an annual subscription list. This guarantee, he stated, should be $1,400 a week. He declared that the owners of the theater were not grasping for a large return on their investment but since the receipts of the present season did not maintain the company, it would necessarily force the owners to lease the theater to [unclear] in which event a cheaper form of entertainment would be substituted for the Evanston public. In detail Mr. Minturn explained that the weekly expenses of the present company, including the large prices paid for royalties for the plays produced, totalled between $1,500 and $1,600. Recently he stated that the loss to the owners of the theater has been between $400 and $600 each week due to poor attendance.

Gave clean plays
"We have always tried to give clean plays and expect to produce this same class of offerings if we continue," he said. "However, we must have the support of the community, else the theater will be leased to others and no policy can be dictated by the owners on the class of entertainment. Comedies have proven popular and while all of our plays may not have struck a popular chord with every patron, we have tried to present a variety of offerings. The North Shore villages [unclear] have been more liberal in their patronage than the residents of Evanston, which shows the interest taken by people residing in villages along the North Shore. Our patronage from the north side of Chicago is limited on account of the ten cent railway fare. Thus it is readily seen that support must be forthcoming from Evanston else the stock company will disband.

Miss Vittum Speaks
From her experiences in settlement work, Miss Harriet Vittum entertained the audience with her clean forceful remarks concerning the motion picture problem. She asserted that the [unclear] theater has been overlooked [unclear] of the educational advantages and since no national supervision has been granted, many films picturing horrors and scenes that create an unfavorable impression on children, are being displayed in theaters all over the state and in other states. She recounted the experiences in trying to have [unclear] pictures stopped in Chicago and commended the work being accomplished by Major Funkhouser and his work in censoring such pictures. Instead of the "thrillers" which many film concerns are now manufacturing. Miss Vittum suggested that fairy stories, scenery, achievements of the day such as the building of the Panama Canal and many other interesting subjects could be substituted. "The Motion Picture speaks to all nationalities," said Miss Vittum. "All of the foreigners of our great cities can understand these photoplays whether they speak English or not. Thus it is imperative that the class of American amusement be supervised. By bringing about a high standard of pictures, we can mold better citizenship in all of our foreign-born boys and girls, the citizens of the next generation."

Maj. Funkhouser Speaks Last.
Major Funkhouser closed the meeting with an interesting talk telling of the difficulties which have beset him since he has started war on the film concerns which produce sensational pictures, "I'm about as welcome as a carbuncle on the end of your nose in the position I now hold," he said in prefacing his remarks. "I have gained a good education in the work thus far in experience working with Miss Vittum, Mrs. Gertrude Howe Britton, Mrs. Landaer, and others. And now we are beginning to get the censorship in good working order. There are twenty-five film rental concerns in Chicago and daily I send men from my office to view the new pictures they receive. Since I have discovered that fully 85 percent of the audiences at the motion picture play house are women and children it is vitally important that nothing but clean and moral pictures be shown. Now I have a small theater in my office and daily I ask representative social workers to act as a jury in passing on many of the pictures before they are shown to the public. Out of the 85 percent between 40 and 60 percent are children who comprise the "Movie" audiences." Most Expense Involved
Major Funkhouser recied the details and expense attached in making many of the films which are stopped in Chicago. He told of the two suits filed in the Federal court against him which questioned the censorship established in Chicago. One of these suits has been disposed of by Judge Carpenter favorably to the Chicago police. "I have been notified by the moving picture trust that they have $15,000,000 to fight me," he said, "and that they are not going to have their industry curtailed by one man. The cases in the court are based on the proposition that a censorship on motion pictures is not any more legal than it would be on stories to be published in the newspapers. "The theater offerings in Chicago during Christmas week were deplorable, " he continued. "There was "The Fight," "The [illegible]," "Help Wanted," "Follies," and others. Think of those productions to be offered our children while they are home from college on their vacation. We have recently stopped [illeglble] aggregating in cost about $100,000 which related in such performances as the foregoing offerings and that is the reason the [unclear] have against me. "It is high time, I believe, for the parents to grab their children by the necks and keep them away from such dreadful performances. They have not the reverence for parents that children in the years past had and that is the reason I suggest the parental slipper to make them behave. "I don't enjoy this work for if fI keep at it I won't have a friend left. Every friend I ever had I believe is a friend of someone in the moving picture business. They call me over the telephone and beseige my office telling me to go easy. But I am going to enforce the ordinances in Chicago regulating the film shows. I do not believe that the film trust threat will separate me from my job."