Chapter XXII: Appendix: B

THE SCREEN AS A NEW LIFE GIVER TO LITERARY CLASSICS

The following quotations are culled from recent reports made by librarians in various parts of the United States:

“The filming of books always causes a great demand for them. A
call comes immediately after the advertisement appears in local
newspapers and lasts months, and, in cases where pictures are
extraordinarily good, years after the film has been shown.
Before the exhibition of the pictures, ‘Peter Ibbetson’ stood on
the shelf. Dumas was read by few, and interest in ‘The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ lagged. Since the films have been
shown here, these books are circulating constantly.

“Not only do the films increase the demand for a particular
book, but interest is aroused in the time and setting of the
story. For instance, after ‘The Three Musketeers’ was shown,
calls came for the life of Richelieu and the history of the
reign of Charles First. Dumas is now in great demand. ‘Orphans
of the Storm’ brought calls for the life of Danton and the
history of the French Revolution. ‘Passion’ overwhelmed us with
demands for the life of Dubarry and the life of Louis XIV.”

_Walnut Hills Librarian, Cincinnati, Ohio._

“I can say, most emphatically, that the filming of literary
classics does have a very noticeable effect upon the reading of
the books filmed. The increase in the demand and use of these
books is noticeable from the very moment they are announced.
‘Robin Hood’ is on here now, and long before it first appeared,
every scrap of our information on Robin Hood was out in use.
Recently this was true of ‘The Prisoner of Zenda,’ a subject
which has been dead for quite some time in library circulation
and all at once it was revived with a tremendous demand. Not
long ago we had a sudden call from many parts of the city for
material about ‘Fanchon the Cricket’ and later learned that the
film had been running in an obscure community moving picture
house.”

_Charles E. Rusk, Librarian, Indianapolis, Ind._

“In some cases there is a demand for the books in foreign
languages such as Italian and Hungarian, and the showing of ‘The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ brought requests for the book
in the original Spanish.”

_Librarian of Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio._

“Very often not only the story filmed is called for, but others
by the same author. In the case of ‘Monte Cristo,’ it has led to
a great demand for all the works of Dumas. ‘A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur’s Court’ has revived the interest in others of
Mark Twain’s works.”

_Report by a New England Librarian._

“The screen creates a new demand on the part of those who have
not themselves seen the picture. A middlewestern librarian tells
me that many of their calls for the book come from those who
have seen the advertising of the picture, or who have heard
their friends talk about it, or who assume that a book which has
found its way into motion pictures must be out of the ordinary.
By way of anticipating and satisfying this demand, that
librarian has kept a display rack of books in constant
circulation by placing the sign above them: ‘These Books Have
Appeared in the Movies.’”

_Ralph Hayes._

------------------------------------------------------------------------