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HOLLYWOOD MOVIES 9
THE “OLD” AND NEW “TALKIES”
By I. W. ULLMAN
NO, the ‘‘talkies” theoretically are not new, nor are the instruments of the art the product of the producers in the art.
There are grave factors of speculation in presenting drama; however, the technique of presentation is one of scientific accuracy, which is not to say that all directors and their assembled staff are scientific.
The speculative factor in drama is the producer’s judgment of public interest in the author’s message, and his capacity to gauge the sufficiency of his producing staff. Yes, a proposition full of variables; — just how many? Well, the laurels have shifted time and time again, and may continue to shift. The past year, by public acclaim has been a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer year; but all producers have made notable contributions.
The wild exotic Eva Tanguay, famed in vaudeville,
screeched her mad
screen early in 1909, and one may wonder how such ambitious effort could be snuffed into silence; to which we answer, not that she was waning in her power to thrill, but rather the talkies of that time lacked the vital something which we have today.
We were quick to realize the potentials of the combination of moving pictures and the phonograph for screen speech, but it was to remain a dream until the birth of the vacuum tube which gave practical voice to the radio, as it did to the screen.
Between Warner Bros.’ “Don Juan” with John Barrymore (the first attempt to present the modern screen talking drama) and their “Mad Genius” with the same sterling artist, the whole history of modern screen talkies is written, and to Warner Bros.’ daring and foresight, the magnificent achievement of the art is largely indebted.
There is a world of fascination in the talkies of today. The problem the producer has faced, to insure such a result, is somewhat more technical than entertaining. Yet in a way the subject (in the strictly abstract sense) is an absorbing thing, a something which has a challenge for every one, so far reaching is its influence.
Quite the most fascinating thing in the world is that which proves so, but here we are faced with the problem of fixing a standard and since the answer rests in individual taste, and since this again is the result of countless thousands of things, we pave the way for argument in attempting to lay down the measure, nor shall we try to do it.
It is not our purpose to discuss the concrete sociological value of pictures, for here again far too many fac
way across the silver
Fay Wray