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42
Pictures and Pict\jre$uer
JANUARY 1924
ings obviously inspired by them are noticeable. Maurice Elvey has always stood high amongst directors for the pictorial beauty of his work, and, in his earliest as in his latest films, will be found distinct reproductions of famous masterpieces whenever and wherever there is legitimate excuse. There were Romneys in his Nelson film, in The Wandering Jew there was a beautiful representation of Da Vinci's " Last Supper," with an original addition of Elvey's, viz., the substitution of a beam of light for the figure of Christ. The costumes of the Spanish grandees in the time of the Inquisition were nearly all copied from paintings of the period, and Velasquez portraits inspired the fascinating attire worn by Isobel Elsom as " Ollala."
Costume plays are the order of the day at the moment, and these give great scope for pictorial effect. The Royal Oak, a recent Maurice Elvey production, contains wonderfully faithful reproductions of the Velasquez portraits of Charles I and Charles II. Henry Victor, who plays these roles, does not especially resemble either of these worthies in real life. But an olive-tinted skin, skilful aid from wigmaker and make-up box, careful costuming and correct lighting and directing, made him into as perfect a Merry Monarch as anyone could desire. The well-known " Where Did You See Your Father Last?" is suggested by a group towards the end of the film, whilst other battle scenes might easily take their places upon frieze or mural with better-known " battle pictures " on canvas.
Blair Leighton's charming canvas titled " The Portrait," undoubtedly inspired an equally charming scene in Robin Hood, but much credit must go to Fred Niblo for the beautiful effects achieved by means of curtains aided by
Above . "Before the Battle of Worcester,'
a Nezv Master, and " The Portrait," a
scene from " Robin Hood."
besides the many others who have found fame in America.
Still the States make an excellent showing with such pictures as Griffith, Niblo, Fitzmaurice and the De Milles, to name only a very few, have given the world. For the New Master works for the appreciation, not of the few, but of the many. His works do not hang in chateaux, or museums alone, but are disseminated throughout the Universe, bringing their beauty to beauty-loving eyes which otherwise might never behold them. The film reaches the poor as well as the rich, the ignorant as well as the cultured, and sooner or later, all must benefit by the artistic lessons it teaches, apart from its entertaining qualities as a story-teller.
It is in spectacular and old-world screenplays that one notices most clearly the influence of the Old Masters. Famous paintings arc often faithfully reproduced, in other instances group
Old Baghdad, as Herbert Wilcox saw it in " Clin Chin Chozv.'