Hollywood Spectator (Apr-May 1939)

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Iogue treatment which persists to the end. A woman addresses Sam Houston by name; he, in replying, calls her mother, thus in a few words are the two characters introduced and identified. But it is necessary we should know something about the past of Sam Houston. Two or three exceedingly brief lines of dialogue acquaint us with the fact of his love for the outdoors. A line which illustrates how it is done: (Mother speaking) “And who gave up his job as a school teacher and went to live with the Indians?” Sam’s grin proves he is the person. What a wealth of background story there is in a speech so short, and what a wealth of personality is expressed by the grin! Speech As Story Device In another scene, a political speech by Andrew Jackson sketches the career of Houston from the time of his first appearance to his becoming governor of Tennessee; and a series of montage shots with superimposed dates teach us history of stirring times more vividly, and in a manner to remain longer in our minds, than any printed history or professor of history possibly could teach it. The point I wish to emphasize is the method of teaching, not what is taught. That is what I would ask study groups to notice when viewing the picture. I could make a long list of points the student of film technique should not overlook. A few of them: The few speeches required to amplify the camera’s presentation of the reasons for Sam Houston’s bride’s desertion of him: the spread of gossip which follows her leaving him, shown by sharp cutting from one short shot to another until the extent of it is established: almost sole reliance on the camera to put over the completeness and the duration of Houston’s drunken debauch following his resignation as governor: the heroic stubbornness of the defenders of the Alamo registered by several cuts to the flag flying so bravely over it, each cut showing the flag still more riddled and torn, but each showing it still flying as a symbol of the determination of the handful of men to die, perhaps; to surrender, never. Camera Tells the Romance Cl Then there is the mysterious way in which the camera makes Gail Patrick’s beauty and absorption in her role of the woman in love with Houston, come to our emotions with such sudden impact. This romance, the second in Houston’s life, is left almost entirely to the camera to tell, what lines there are spoken serving more to round it out than to establish it. Notice how quietly the words of love are uttered. Notice also how understandingly are all the dialogue scenes directed. No voice is raised higher than the mood of the scene demands. That is intelligent dir.. lion, worth noticing only because it is so rare. In all the purely physical scenes in Man of Conquest, the same wise reliance on camera is displayed. An excellent example of intelligently propelled forward flow of story is presented in a sequence showing Richard Dix (Houston), Gail Patrick, her family, and a few score other people traveling from Tennessee to Texas. At this juncture of the story our interest lies in the progress of the Gail-Dix romance. Together they take seats on top of a stagecoach and start the romance which seems to glide along without interruption as their southward progress continues — from stage to steamer to train of covered wagons. The whole picture is as perfect an example of sustained filmic motion as it is possible for the talkie form to achieve. Should Be Seen Twice q Not by seeing the picture only once can the student get all its cinematic values. It is too engrossing as entertainment to permit the mind to become analytical when viewing it for the first time. For the purpose of this analysis I saw it twice, the first time to estimate its values as popular entertainment. I considered it excellent entertainment and so expressed myself in the last Spectator. I saw it the second time to discover why I liked it so well the first time, and found in it most of the cinematic virtues I enumerate here, the others being those which forced their way into my consciousness at the first viewing. We must not lose sight of the fact that motion pictures are not made for study groups to take apart in an effort to find out why they tick. They are made for the sole purpose of entertaining audiences. If they are entertaining, nothing else matters greatly. But the student of screen entertainment always should know why he likes or why he dislikes a picture he sees. That cannot be determined until he has seen a picture for the second time. But I believe those who read this page prior to their seeing Man of Conquest can be conscious of the points I mention without lessening their absorption in the story as entertainment. ★ “It’s what I’ve been preaching on this lot until I nearly preached myself out of my job. I have written sequences exactly to the pattern your book presents, only to have them sent back for more dialogue. That is what you get for working for people who don’t know the kind of business they are in.” . (Name omitted to keep the writer from getting in bad with his bosses.) A Plea and A Play, by Welford Beaton; price one dollar. Hollywood Spectator, 6513 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood. Harry M. Warner Expresses Thanhs EAR Welford: I want you to know that I deeply appreciate the magnificent attention you pay Confessions of a Nazi Spy in the current issue of your publication. In focusing interest of your readers upon a film of this type, you are rendering a service not only to them but to our nation, as well. Under existing world conditions, we who love America must do all within our power to safeguard its ideals and to foster a greater love of country. We of the Warner studio have sought to accomplish this through the production of Confessions of a Nazi Spy. You, through your publication, are lending valuable aid. With kindest personal regards, I remain, sincerely, H. M. WARNER, ( President , Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.) Weep and Like It There was an old actor Who lived on beef stew, Ran out of ingredients And was stumped what to do. He hoped for a phone call. But it never came, And he hadn't a nickel To put to his name. So rather than holler. He went straight to bed. When his landlady called To collect her month's fare, She found that the actor’s Food cupboard was bare. “If only I’d known, “I’d have helped him to thrive.” But the time to save actors Is when they're alive. And Jim. the old actor, was dead. Robert Watson. ★ People would seldom turn on their radios if the sound which issued from them were as loud and metallic of tone as that which issues much of the time from theatre loud-speakers. The sound reproduction in nearly all theatres could benefit by a modification of volume. Eyes Examined and Glasses Pitted DEVER D. GRAY, OPT. D. ... OPTOMETRIST ... 1725 North Highland Avenue Hollywood, California HEmpstead 8438 APRIL 29, 1939 PAGE SEVEN