What about talking-pictures and natural-color films? is one of the first questions asked by the layman. He remembers that perfect talking-pictures were announced some years ago, and that kinemacolor pictures which reproduce all the coloring of nature have long been on the market. Why have they not crowded the old black-and-white and silent pictures out? Let us take the talking-picture first. The illusion of seeing the characters and hearing them speak at the same time is produced by the synchronization of a phonograph and the picture-projector. Now, while perfect timing can be secured, no way has been found to keep the synchronization perfect. A scratch on the talking-machine record, for example, can be seen to result disastrously if it jumps the conversation a word in advance of the figure on the screen. Again, motion-picture film must undergo considerable wear in the projection-machine and frequently the perforations are torn. The operator will then cut the torn piece out and paste the film together once more. The lost bit of action is not noticed on the screen; the pictures follow one another too rapidly for that. But a corresponding change cannot be made in the talking-record, and it does not require many patches to throw film and phonograph out of time. It is possible that these mechanical difficulties will be overcome, and also that the talking-picture will be perfected so that, instead of the simplest of scenes as at present, it will be able to depict the entire action of an ambitious drama, but to-day it is clear that the picture patron greatly prefers the silent drama. Natural-color films, which are taken by means of two cameras, photographing separately the red and green rays of the spectrum, the two being superimposed in projection, though more successful than the talking-pictures, have failed of being universally adopted. The brilliance of the pictures was found to be tiring to the eyes, while the depiction of rapid action without the presence of a blur or “fringe” around the characters was found difficult. Open-air stages and ideal conditions were necessary to secure the full benefit of the sun, and the requirement for a specially designed projection-machine proved a handicap. But the prophet would be foolish who would pronounce either natural-color or talking-pictures as dead because of early failures. III MOTION-PICTURE SUBJECTS The camera’s eye may roam the world for subjects; its range equals that of the newspaper or magazine. The stage and literature, travel, science, news and advertising, all are open to the motion picture. The photoplay, presenting a visualized story, is the most popular form, for the public heeds quickest the call of entertainment. But serious students of the motion picture believe that, in time, its purely amusement features will be dwarfed by the development along lines that may be roughly grouped under the heading “educational.”