Cinema News and Property Gazette Technical Supplement (1924-1925, 1943, 1946)

November 26, 1925. Supplement to THE CINEMA NEWS AND PROPERTY GAZETTE 21 MUSIC IN THE CINEMA. CINEMA MUSIC IN A BUT. By DB. GEORGE TOOTELL, Mus Dec Dunclm , F.BC.O. (Continued from last month.) FILM REHEARSAL. Mr. Johnson, therefore, has ample reason for his strictures, as I can testify ; and on the score of laziness, incompetence, and the rest I support him ; but I am not altogether with him on the point he raises about lack of rehearsal. It is a fact that many cases occur in the provinces where the musical director is unable to see the film beforehand ; it is by no means an unusual thing for a " star " film to be received at the cinema only an hour or so before the start of the programme. It is also a fact that many films are issued without any musical -suggestions or cue sheets; even many of Allied Artists' oroductions have been so issued. In such cases the musical director is practically helpless, especially so if he has charge of a small combination, and cannot leave the "orchestra" to an assistant while he views and fits the film. In these circumstances, his position is a most unhappy one; and this state of things not infrequently happens. I have every sympathy with the musical director who finds himself in such a position ; it appears to me that the best he can do is to arrange a " running accompaniment," but, at the same time, all this is no excuse for laziness or incompetence. MUSICAL SUGGESTIONS. As to musical suggestion sheets, I am sure that Mr. Johnson will agree with me that quite often these are really misleading. I am charitable enough to believe that glaring mistakes in musical suggestion sheets are not always the fault of the musician who compiles them, but rather the fault of the printer or editor; for one could not imagine any sane person offering such suggestions as sometimes appear in these sheets — a fox-trot for a death-bed scene, a love-romance for a jazz dance, and the first item on the sheet actually occurring half-way through the first reel of the film. These, and other things, I noted in an article which I wrote for these pages some time ago, in which I had some strong criticisms to offer, and cited specific instances. The Lasky musical suggestion sheets did not escape castigation ; but that occurred, I believe, before Mr. Johnson had charge of that department, and for some time past the Lasky suggestion sheets have been entirely reliable. INCOMPETENCE. And so I have every sympathy for a musical director who is unable to see his film beforehand, or who has to rely upon some musical suggestion sheet, carelessly drawn up and printed, which puts him "all at sea." But I have no sympathy whatever with the musical director who can rehearse his film and who provides a bad accompaniment. He is not fit for his work, and should be cast out and a better man put in his place, frankly, I have often heard better "fittings" and better performances in the provinces than in London ; for the London musical director there surely can be no excuse for bad settings to films — he has opportunities which his provincial brethren do not usually enjoy. There is no excuse for bad musicianship in the cinema ; there are competent men who can take the places of the incompetent ones, and alert and energetic men who can take the places of the lazy ones. But in many quarters bluff is a great thing, and many exhibitors are hypnotised by it. Bluff will not hypnotise the public ; nor can it be successfully carried out for long ; hence the frequent changes one observes in the musical directorship of some cinemas. A REMEDY. Mr. Johnson says that cinema music is in a rut. A cure for this is now being provided by the British Screen Music Society — a society which deserves the attention of all cinema musicians who take their art seriously. Here is an earnest endeavour to lift cinema music out of its rut and place it upon a sure foundation of its own as an independent art. In our issue dated October 2, 1924, I advocated (in an article which created a certain amount of discussion) the adoption of a universal theory and the standardising of film music by the use of " themes," modified and changed to suit the changes in the " action " or variations of main ideas in the films based upon the principle of the " leitmotif," or Liszt's practice in "metamorphosis of theme." It is a source of great satisfaction and pleasure to me to find that the British Screen Music Societf/ is not only advocating the same system, but is actually publishing " theme-sets," which have been specially composed and arranged for this purpose. In due time it will be possible for the cinema musical director to obtain a theme-set, comprising a main theme to suit the main idea of the film, and with this a series of numbers in which the theme appears in varied forms to suit varied situations. As an alternative to a complete accompaniment of original composition to a film, this system will undoubtedly prove the ideal method of providing an accompaniment to the film-drama; and, as the practice is developed, I feel sure it will become universally recognised as such. For my own views and theories upon this subject, I refer my readers to our issue dated October 2, 1924. THE BRITISH SCREEN MUSICAL SOCIETY. The president of the B.S.M.S. is Mr. Joseph Holbrooke, whose name as a composer is universally known ; and the society has the support of Mr. Cyril Scott (who is vice-president), Sir Landon Ronald, Mr. Eric Coates, and other musicians equally well known, in addition to several film producers and music publishers. The controller is Mr. Emile J. Bennet, F.R.S.A., a most energetic enthusiast, who has devoted his interests for many years to the improvement of cinema music. The objects of the society are to raise the standard of cinema music by means of the establish