Again, whether or not the producing concern releases a weekly or semi-weekly current-events reel, every company at times makes use of portions of such pictures, either made by themselves or procured from other firms.  In the same way, educational pictures of every kind are made use of—­certain parts of them, that is—­to provide fitting and convincing atmosphere for original stories.  When the Whartons put out their very fine patriotic serial, “The Eagle’s Eye,” written and produced with the intention of exposing the plots formed in the United States by agents of the Imperial German Government, the first episode was called “The Hidden Death,” and showed on the screen exactly how, in all probability, the sinking of the Lusitania was brought about by Count von Bernstorff and his various agents.  The actual advertisement placed in New York City newspapers by the German Embassy at Washington, warning all travelers that they sailed on steamers belonging to Great Britain at their own risk, as a state of war existed between that country and Germany, was shown on the screen, as were several photographs of newspaper first pages with news of the crime after it had been perpetrated.  Also, the Lusitania was shown sailing down the North River toward the Upper Bay, starting on her last voyage.  This picture, of course, was at least three years old at the time the film was shown in the theatres, and may have been much more than that, since many pictures of this and other great ocean liners have been made in years past, and at times when no one could possibly have guessed their ultimate fate.

Practically every photoplay of the Great War that has been released up to the present time has been made up in part of scenes taken on one of the fighting fronts, at the American, British or other training camps, or during street parades and military reviews, these pictures having first been made for news weeklies, official war pictures, or for patriotic propaganda purposes.  Fitted in as a part of a war story, they greatly enhance the effect of those scenes which are entirely the creation of the author’s brain.

On one occasion, a certain Edison director was putting on a feature which showed—­as originally written—­the sinking in mid-ocean of a great liner.  While rehearsing the scene on deck which showed the passengers taking to the life-boats, he made repeated experiments with certain lightning effects, none of which quite satisfied him.  He also had some trouble with one of the made-to-order life-boats.  Finally, rather disgusted with the way things were going, he decided to cut out the lowering-of-the-boats scene and to have a fire at sea instead of a mere foundering.  In a very few minutes, with the aid of “smoke-pots” and “blow-torches” a thrilling burning-ship scene was made, with the people scrambling toward the life-boats.  Later, several long-distance views of the burning of a real ocean vessel, made by the company several years before,