Ivy Films Drops 17-Movie 'History of Cinema' Series

Ivy Film Society announced the cancellation of its 17-movie series, "The Rise of the Cinema as a Significant Form of Art," yesterday in a surprise move.

The first movie was scheduled to be shown today.

Directors of Ivy Films voted Wednesday to cancel the series because of contract difficulties with the Museum of Modern Art, the suppliers of the films.

The Museum had recently added new financial requirements to the original agreement with Ivy. In addition it had informed the Ivy directors that several of the originally scheduled films would not be available.

No Patched-Up Program

"Rather than present a patched-up program," Ivy Film President Walter M. Ulin '54, said, "we felt we owed it to the subscribers to cancel the whole program."

At the same time Ulin announced that a free showing of "Tight Little Island" and two short subjects would be given tonight for everyone who had already bought membership tickets or was planning to do so.

The closed film plan was arranged this year after several months of negotiations. Its purpose, according to Director Leroy S. Huntington '53, would have been to provide a "living course in the evolution of movies."

Tickets were sold to students throughout the Greater Boston area. The intensive drive for subscriptions at the College was scheduled to begin this week.

Planned were pictures starring Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Harold Lloyd, Greta Garbe, W. C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers.