"Did you hear what Mr. Pertell said to me?" asked Ruth.
"Well, he said so much, directing us, and all that--I'm sure I don't recall anything special. What was it?"
"Why, he told me that if this play was a success--I mean if we showed up well in it--he'd give us parts in a big drama he's getting ready. Won't that be splendid?"
"Of course it will. But I liked this one very much. I wish I could see the real pictures."
"You can!" exclaimed a voice back of the girls, and, turning they saw Russ. "I'll take you to see them when the positives are made," he said.
"Oh, but I mean in a regular moving picture theater," went on Alice. "I'd like to see how the public takes us."
"I'll do that, too," agreed Russ. "As soon as the pictures are released we'll find some place where they are being shown, and you can watch yourself doing your act."
"What does 'released' mean?" asked Alice.
"Well, you know the moving picture business is something like the Associated Press," explained Russ. "The Associated Press is an organization for getting news. Often news has to be gotten in advance--say a thing like the President's message, or a speech by a big man.
"The Associated Press gets a copy in advance, and sends duplicates of it out to the newspapers that take its service. And on each duplicate copy is stamped a notice that it is to be released for publication on a certain day--or at even a certain hour. That is, it can't be used by the newspapers until that time.
"It's somewhat like that with moving pictures. The reels of new plays are sent out to the different theaters, and to fix it so a theater quite a distance from New York won't be at a disadvantage with one right here, which would get the film sooner, there is a certain date set for the release of the film. That means that though one theater gets it first it can't use it until the date set, when all the playhouses are supposed to have it."
"Oh, that's the way they do it?" observed Alice.
"Yes," went on Russ. "Of course the best stuff is what is called 'first run,'" he went on to explain. "That is, it is a reel of film of a new play, never before shown in a certain city. The best moving picture theaters take the first run, and pay good prices for it. Then, later on, second-rate theaters may get it at a lower price."
