ent parts, and then showing how these parts are
both constructed and assembled so as to form a strong, well-built,
attractive and salable manuscript.

_The Photoplay Defined and Differentiated_

_A photoplay is a story told largely in pantomime by players, whose
words are suggested by their actions, assisted by certain descriptive
words thrown on the screen, and the whole produced by a moving-picture
machine._

It should be no more necessary to say that not all moving-picture
productions are photoplays than that not all prose is fiction, yet the
distinction must be emphasized. A photoplay is to the program of a
moving-picture theatre just what a short-story is to the contents of a
popular magazine--it supplies the story-telling or drama element. A
few years ago the managers of certain theatres used so to arrange
their programs that for four or five days out of every week the
pictures they showed would consist entirely of photoplays. On such
days their programs corresponded exactly to the contents-page of an
all-fiction magazine--being made up solely to provide entertainment.
The all-fiction magazine contains no essays, critical papers, or
special articles, for the instruction of the reader, beyond the
information and instruction conveyed to him while interestedly
perusing the stories. Just so, the all-photoplay program in a picture
theatre, at the time of which we speak, was one made up entirely of
either "dramatic"[1] or "comedy" subjects. Films classified as
"scenic," "educational," "vocational," "industrial," "sporting," and
"topical," were not included in such a program.

[Footnote 1: The photoplay has come to have a language of its own,
which we must observe even when, as in this case, we lose somewhat in
finer word-values. In their lists of releases (photoplays released or
made available for public presentation at a specified date),
manufacturers usually classify as "comedy" subjects all photoplays
which are without any serious dramatic moments or situations. Thus, in
the lists of releases published in the various trade journals, what
are obviously "comedy-dramas"--some of them, such as certain of the
Douglas Fairbanks productions, even bordering on farce--are classed as
"dramatic" subjects, and this, apparently, because they are strongly
dramatic in certain scenes. Thus, again, genuine farce (as
distinguished from "slap-stick" comedy), social comedy, burlesque and
extravaganza are all classed under the hea