If you are one of the 30,000,000 moviegoers who see THE MARCH or TIME regularly in the theaters, you may be interested in what happens to some of the films long after their theatrical runs are completed.

The negative and at least one positive print go automatically into MARCH OF TIME's huge film library. But after the necessary revision, about half the subjects are chosen by the Editors for inclusion in the rapidly growing MARCH OF TIME Forum Edition 16 mm. series. This series is designed to fill a need among study and discussion groups for films to be used as background for open forums on topics ranging from "Music in America" to "Airways of the Future," from "New England" to "India."

In the belief that the speed and complexity of events were arousing in men and women everywhere a desire to know more about the world they live in and to discuss it intelligently, MARCH OF TIME started the 16 mm. series in 1944. Selected subjects, chosen for their lasting interest and informational values, were re-edited to emphasize points of special significance to discussion groups. "Discussion Outlines," containing supplementary material such as chronologies and bibliographies, were prepared for use with the films.

Almost immediately the demand for these films, as an aid to understanding and evaluating today's world, became apparent, and already some 8,000,000 people have seen the 40 Forum Edition subjects. Most of them found, not only through seeing the films but by talking about them afterward in open discussion meetings, that even such seemingly remote subjects as "South Africa" and specialized subjects like "New Frontiers of Medicine" have a very real relationship to the problems and interests of their own community.

In fact, the most interesting aspect of the Forum Edition's growth has been the variety of uses to which the films have been put. Several large city police forces, for example, are using "The American Cop" to help instruct rookie patrolmen. A manufacturing concern, which had originally acquired prints of all films dealing with foreign countries to provide background information for their export division, discovered that interest in the world abroad was not confined to this department, but that the films were equally interesting to "the engineering, production and spare parts division as well." Churches found that foreign missionary activities received more generous support when parishioners were brought, by the motion picture, directly to the countries to be served. Banks and trade associations began to use the films to widen the broad knowledge that their employees need in their jobs. Colleges and schools found that the films made academic subjects come alive.

But perhaps one of the most rewarding features of THE MARCH OF TIME Forum Edition is its increasing contribution to a relatively new and fast growing information medium. When they were first launched, the films were directed to an audience that had access to only some 30,000 16 mm. projectors. Now, through the nation's 350 visual education dealers, the Forum films are distributed to owners and renters of over 100,000 projectors.

Cordially,

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