Camera (April 1920-April 1921)

Oopyriffhted 1920, by Raymond Ca.immi ^ T/iaffigosi of t/ia Motion Pictura Musiijr DEVOTED TO THE NEWS OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY LOLA B. ROBBIN8 AND RAYMOND CANNON, PUBLISHERS Bntered as second claas matter. August 11, 1918. at the postoffice at Los Angelea, Cal., under act of March S, 1I7». F«Bch»n Royer Editor Scott Macnicoll Adv, Manager Al Risley Studio Representative Lola B. Robblns Business Mana«er Ora Brook Circulation Manager Price 10 cents per copy, $2.00 per year in Los Angeles County. Outside Zone One, $2.50 per year Bdited and printed on Saturday afternoon of each week at 4613 Sunset Boulevard, in Los Aneeles, California. (Holly ISSS.) X V*L HI SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1921 No. 42 Morbid Pictures For some unaccountable reason, even in the face of the present general popularity of the spiritual theme for the photoplay, some of ouu foremost producers are still offering us, in the way of entertainment, the morbid that belongs to another cinema age. True, this type of thing has had its day, and a very flourishing one, but, with the war over, humanity, or at least American humanity, has firmly settled itself to the pursuit of happiness in peaceful progress, and the elimination of those forces that can only retard advance. As a result, war tragedies, heavy sex plays, tales of the supernatural when they are weird and unreasonable, etc., are not desired by the public, Avhich is expressing its dissatisfaction with such entertainment quite significantly at the box office. Once in a while, as has recently been the case, however, a universally popular star or producer passes something of this kind upon a loyal and unsuspecting fan world, and it is, of course, his privilege to do so if he is not fearful of the reaction. For many reasons his work is assured a good market. Even at that this might seem to be a poor policy. Another observation which has obviously not been made in various quarters is the fact that the best production and most finished performances in the world will not redeem an umvholesome story in the eyes of the people. They are simply sick unto death of the types of pictures that at one time seemed hei'oic or sensational, as the case might be, and the producer will do well not to cram such material down their throats. If he finds a market for it in Europe sufficient to .iustify him in its handling, well and good. He will not find it here ! The great pendulum, public favor, in its slowly steady swing is indicating as its choice in entertainment, happiness seriou.sly considered, and if history repeats itself, it will receive what it orders. With the foregoing we do not mean to give the impression that the depiction of sin and tragedy in their various forms are offensive to the aesthetic spirit of the present-day picture goer. Few worth while dramas are without them; but the spectacle of sin for sin's sake has been declared taboo. It occurs to us that when more original screen stories by reputable authors are produced, making it unnecessary to film so many half century old novels for the box office attraction of one-time big names, this problem will settle itself. Meanwhile it might be kept in mind to advantage. F. R. Methodists Use Pictures Another interesting milestone in the development of the church is related in a recent article in Variety. Incidentally it proves to be a further victory for the cinema. "Pictures and electric signs as means to salvation are a part of the plan of the Methodist Episcopal Church in its centenary evangelistic campaign. That the chur ch is going into the picture business in earnest is evidenced by the following facts : "Headquartei-s of the church's picture enterprises are to be moved from New York to Chicago. "The church is taking over a four-story factory structure on W. Erie street for the manufacture of religious and missionar'y films for church, Sunday school and community center work. "An expert picture man is to be placed in charge of the work. Photogr-aphers already have been sent all over the world for the making of films. "All the producing films in the picture industry have been invited to submit films for the church's approval. From the films submitted a 'white list' is being compiled of films which are recommended for church use. "The first 'white list' to be compiled was made public today. "Indecent dressing on the part of film actresses is one of the things on which closest watch is kept by the censors. Dancing scenes, if not otherwise objectionable, are not cut. Pictures with plots centering about divorces are taboo. "It was explained that one or two Pickford pictures have been viewed and approved by the censors, but that they have not yet been incorporated in the list. "Among the actors and actresses who do appear are William S. Har-t, Lillian Gish, Charles Ray, Robert Harron (now dead), Gloria Swan^on, Elliot Dexter, Wallace Reid, Mary Miles' Minter, Shirley Mason, Robert Warwick, Marguerite Clark, Bryant Washburn, Roscoe ("Fatty") Arbuckle, Forbes Robertson, Dorothy Gish and others. "Among the pictures which receive whole or partial indorsement are: 'The Greatest Thing in Life,' 'Alarm Clock Andy,' 'Something to Think About,' 'Homer Comes Home,' 'The Toll Gate,' 'The Love Flower,' 'Shepherd of the Hills,' 'Excuse My Dust,' 'Over the Hill,' 'Old-Fashioned Boy,' 'Sweet Lavender,' 'Girl of My Heart,' 'Eyes of the Heai-t,' 'Jack Straw,' 'Easy to Get,' 'Behold My Wife,' 'Always Audacious,' 'All of a Sudden Peggy,' 'It Pays to Advertise,' 'The Life of the Party' (Arbuckle), 'Red Hot Dollars,' 'Par'is Green,' 'Heliotr-ope,' 'Guile and Women,' 'The Courtship of Miles Standish,' 'The Sin That AVas His.' "Film companies whose productions ar*e among those approved by the censors are the Famous Player's, D. W. Griffith, Ijea-Bel, the Fox, Goldwyn, Argonaut, Associated Pr'odueers, Harry Levey Film Service Cori)oration, Realart, Pioneer, Charles Urban, etc. "D. W. Griffith, it is stated, is pr'ei)aring a special production for the use of the church."