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28 CELLULOID
contain any new ideas for film story-material. Not only this, but story competition in America has become so keen that practically any suitable novel is bought before publication, or in the case of a play before it has been produced. Every attempt is made to obtain galley-proofs of novels from agents and the rights are often secured after the first few thousand words have been read.
An unmistakable indication of this dearth of storymaterial is found in the number of subjects which are being remade with new titles, fresh casts and younger directors, all variations on the age-old themes of love and passion and the other man's wife. One by one all the old favourites are reappearing with new faces, and in every case the talking version is less effective than the silent original. Three good examples of this redressing of old wares are Moby Dic\, Three Faces East and Resurrection, none of the present versions containing one-tenth of the force of their mute ancestors. Added to which, numerous old films are being reissued with synchronized accompaniments and ingenious sound effects. Once again we have Ben-Hur and The Birth of a Nation amongst us. All this goes to prove how hard up is Hollywood for story-material and how short-sighted is its search.
In England, scenario-departments appear to rely almost entirely on the stage for their story-supply, probably because the manner in which British scenarios are written so closely resembles that of plays that two birds are killed with one expenditure each time a fresh play is purchased. The shortage in England is so great that our clever scenario-editors are delving into