Hands of Hollywood (1929)

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The Story files of old, musty stage plays, once popular, now forgotten, to find material for dialog pictures. Frequently, stage plays are chosen not merely because of their picture possibilities but because of their name values. The producers consider the great publicity which a successful stage play has received, the discussion it has aroused, etc. Then they decide that the name of the play alone means, to use a phrase from the merchants, "a portion of the market already sewed up." Another source of stories is found among novels, especially the "best sellers." Here again, the producer considers name — the book that has sold into the thousands, the book that has been widely dis' cussed. Indeed, the box-office value of a book with a name has influenced producers to such an extent that they have purchased the screen rights of well known, popular books which are not even novels, e. g., "TRADER HORN:' Magazine stories, of both short and serial length, and newspaper serials, are purchased for the screen, and again, we find the producer considering name. Artistically speaking, this is the incorrect procedure because the screen has its own requirements, its own limitations, and its own possibilities. It cannot accomplish what the novel, short story, or stage play can accomplish; it can achieve, and has accomplished, many things which are utterly beyond the scope of these other arts. Therefore, stories should be written directly for the screen. This is not also true of the Talkers but particularly true of the Talkers. However, many successful pictures have been made from adaptations. As long as the public continues to like such pictures, they will continue to be made. Many and violent criticisms have been hurled at the heads of the producers for changing novels, plays, etc., in the process of adapta* tion. Such criticisms are due to one cause and to one cause only — ignorance! But how can we call the famous critics ignorant? Because they are ignorant, or stubbornly pretend to be ignorant, of the fart that a picture is a picture, and not a play or a novel. The producers [23]