Hollywood Spectator (1936)

Page Thirty-four April II, 1936 as a director of the John Ford caliber. That I am strongly convinced of. Aside from direction, Absolute Quiet, to be an accept¬ able offering, demanded good acting, which it has. Lionel Atwill’s performance, leaving nothing to be desired, is the finest I have seen him give. Stuart Erwin, seen far too rarely in pictures, is delightfully amusing. Bernadene Hayes, whose stage work I have viewed in various little theatres here but whom I never before this had seen on the screen, has what I am told is her first important film role, and she does splendidly in it. My conviction that Wallace Ford is one of the best actors we have is strength¬ ened by his portrayal in this picture. The death scene of Miss Hayes and Ford is played beautifully. Raymond Walburn lends the film a good amount of humor. Never has Louis Hayward made the impression upon me that he was conscious of acting. Irene Hervey and Ann Loring, in addition to their intelligent performances, contribute beauty. Robert Gleckler, in a good, fat part, is excellent, and J. Carrol Naish makes his brief appearance stand out. Had George F. Worts’ story idea, which has good points, been constructed well, this review would have been a good deal more complimentary. The film has some nice photography by Lester White. From the Editor s Easy Chair (Continued from page 15) telligently. Even the advent of the sound device should not have been permitted to affect the medium which had proved its commercial worth. It was not up to the actors to change their ways. It was up to the producer to stick to the medium which had proved successful, and adapt the new element to it. Instead of waiting for the oldtimers to catch up with them, it would be wise for the producers to go back to the oldtimers. * * * All forms of entertainment depend upon new ideas for their continued popularity. The film industry constantly is looking for something new. It is willing to pay hand¬ somely for ideas of box-office value. I have a good idea for Metro and have been trying to find time to go out to Culver City and sell it to Louis B. Mayer for enough to provide me with the San Fernando place I covet. The idea is this: Put Jackie Cooper in a picture in which he does not cry once. An innovation of that sort would be a box-office knockout. I do not wish to claim entire credit for the brilliant suggestion. My seven-year-old grandson gave me the germ of the idea. When I asked him if he wanted me to take him to see Jackie’s latest picture, his reply was: “No. That kid makes me sick — the big cry¬ baby!” * * * The Warner lot in Burbank is being dolled up with palms, shrubs and flowers. There is something more to this than just achieving beauty to please the eye. A studio’s business is one of photographing emotions. Beau¬ ty is a stimulant to the emotions. An actor can give the camera only what he feels. Passing along a beautiful studio street, he accumulates something which he takes with him to the set, something which equips him to re¬ spond more readily to the emotional requirements of the scene he is playing. All the beauty of landscaping and architecture a lot can achieve ultimately finds its way to the screen. A motion picture studio should be as beautiful as man and nature can make it. It is good business. * * * Exhibitors should give thought to the reshowing of out¬ standing pictures. Elizabeth Perkins, who for some years conducted the Little Picture House on 59th Street, New York, brought back Outward Bound no less than twenty-* two times for Monday showings. Berkeley Square played almost as many return engagements. Every Monday for years some old favorite was shown and business always was good. It suggests that instead of two new pictures constituting double programs, a new one and a successful old one might produce satisfactory results. If successful it would help to solve the booking problem. * * * Many times I have expressed the conviction that the film industry has no ills that screen art cannot cure. If motion pictures were permitted to speak their own lan¬ guage, if they were made in accordance with the funda¬ mentals of screen art, much of the story material which now rouses the ire of censors would be passed as accept¬ able. Offense lies more in the method of expression than in the material itself. The camera is more subtle than dialogue. It leaves more to the imagination. Greater use of the camera in telling stories will mean less interference by censors. * •* * “The papers report that Sam Briskin ‘tore up’ John Carroll’s contract,” writes a correspondent. “I have read many times that existing contracts have been torn up and new ones signed. I am curious. Do they ever really tear up contracts?” I asked Sam Briskin. They do not. When existing ones are terminated they are retained in the files ; when new ones are signed the old' ones stay in the files. Hitler is the only one who tears up contracts and he never could get a job in a Hollywood studio. * * * Weekly Variety, in drawing attention to the fact that there are fewer musical shows on Broadway this season than in any other season since the war, gives as one of the reasons the presence in Hollywood of most of the popular composers and lyricists. The scarcity of musicals in New York is not due to the absence of the composers and lyric¬ ists. Their presence in Hollywood is due to the fact that the screen is a better medium than the stage for the pres¬ entation of musicals. • * * On the street where I walk in the early mornings I pass a lot upon which a man cut down a great sycamore tree to make room for a house. In the general scheme of things the tree was of vastly more importance than the man and his family. Majestic trees should not be held as private property. They belong to all of us. Murdering them should be classed as a capital crime of which the law should take cognizance. # * The persistence of autograph hunters has become a major nuisance to screen personalities. We have laws for the abatement of other nuisances, even harmless little ones like throwing handbills on lawns or scattering litter in the streets. Even peddlers of lead pencils are regulated by ordinance. There should be a law compelling autograph hunters to efface themselves.