Motion Picture Magazine (Feb-Jul 1915)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 173 As far as childish roles are concerned, every one in every occupation has his or her particular line or branch of that work, and it* the characters Mary is called upon to portray savor of innocence and artlessness, surely a faithful and realistic portrayal of this role is to be lauded and admired rather than condemned and harshly criticized. Also we fail to acknowledge that Mary has ever been found wanting when called upon for emotional acting, as one of the best bits of "heavy" work depicted on the screen is accomplished by Miss Pickford in her popular success, "Behind the Scenes." Therefore we. and I speak in the name of her army of friends and well-wishers, advise all knockers to lay away their hammers, as we are pleased to believe that for every enemy of our "Little Mary" there are a hundred friends. Perhaps Miss Helen MacDonald, whose letter in the March number covered a multitude of critical details, did not realize that this department is an ' ' open house ' ' and that all of her opinions would not be accepted. They were not. At least a dozen correspondents are ready to break a spear with Miss MacDonald, and we grant the floor to Miss Evangeline Johnson, 910 Belmont Avenue, Nashville, Tenn., whose letter is well worth reading : After reading tbe letters in the March number, especially one certain letter of criticism, I found it had left a dark brown taste in my mouth. The movies and the Motion Picture Magazine have afforded me so much pleasure, and both have made such marked improvement, that (I, being a lady of moods, find myself always in a complimentary mood when the movies or the Motion Picture Magazine are mentioned) I rise up and blow my little tin horn for tbem. Both, perhaps, could get along just as well without my tooting, yet I will feel very much better, for I will have relieved myself by dumping my thoughts onto paper and onto you (if you happen to read this). It is the same way with Moving Pictures as with everything else in this world —there is the good and the bad. There are good and bad, logical and illogical pictures, and yet any one who has been very much interested in the pictures seeks the good ones and finds the ones worth seeing are in a great majority. In studying the lives of those about me (we are all actors, more or less), I find that such things as errors in drawingroom etiquette, people's dress and walk, a rich man carrying his own bag (a nine ty-nine cent one), etc.. happen in everyday life and really count very little compared to the real problems. I know of a millionaire in Kentucky who owns four handsome cars, yet he delights more often in riding about in his little Ford runabout. In Moving Pictures I suspect such would not be considered true to life. Any one spending his time hunting for the minor faults or peculiarities misses the vital point and the real theme. I have often been impressed by the realness, the life-likeness of the scenes and the make-up of the players. Now that I have become an admirer of the movies, when attending a play on the legitimate stage I feel cramped and cannot so easily get away from the fact that it is only acting. Take, for instance, that splendid play of Ben Hur. It has been wonderfully portrayed, and yet when it comes to the chariot race my imagination has to work overtime. How realistic and exciting it would be to see that race in the movies! At the movies we see ourselves as others see us, we get a broader view of mankind, and altho. perhaps, we would not acknowledge it to others, we begin to "sit up and take notice" and secretly try to mend our ways. We have a neighborhood picture show, and several homely little instances come to mind showing that the movies are for. the welfare rather than a detriment to mankind. A little mother down the street recently lost her daughter — killed in an accident. THEIR HOUR (Continued from page 50) found out we cared before I ever married Laurence Austin." ' ' Listen ! ' ' — the man bent half-way across the table and held her hand in a close, hot grip — "what's to prevent our taking this two wTeeks — stealing it from life ? After that our lives — and theirs— can go on in the old, rutted road. Are you — on?" The woman gazed at him, fascinated. Then the devil in her blood leaped to the front. "Yes," she whispered to him, "yes — I'm — on." "Your train is coming ; here is your ticket. I had to buy the new one. I tore the original one up when we — thought " "I remember. Here is the train. Good-bv, oh. good-bv — let us sav it — " "Kiss me!" "Good-by!"