Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

ence of children this must and for anv optience this should he greatly reduced. The producers should re-edit this part of the film without delay. Otherwise, the sympathetic im- agination of the adaptation has created a picture which will appeal for years to come. Huckleberry Finn is one of the exceptions which reconcile one to the screen's adaptation of a story instead of its use of material built especially for it. Huckleberry Finn. Produced by .Mark Twain (."onipan.v. Distri'.iuted by Famous I'la.vcrs. 7 reels. [Ill [Ml THE GLAD, GLAD, GLAD GIRL "This is really not a story" begins the first caption, and however much it is to be regretted the reviewer must agree uilh the statement. Pollynnna on the screen was a disap- [lointnient. Kven if one preferred to the original the ribald parodies and sallies thereupon, still one expected that "The Glad Book" would at least carry as much conviction on the screen as on paper. Only praise can be given the acting of Mary Pickford and her able cast. In retrospect the personalities of Aunt Pollv. Jimmv Bean, and the friendly maid stand out as remarkable bits of work. Mrs. Porter should be grateful to Miss Pickford for the charm with which she invests this indomitable heroine. But one carries away a consciousness of having spent a rather lugubrious hour after seeing the production. We wish that the pleasant and positive incidents of the book A ll:-.\^l'- iHuniciit Iroin the British Actors' production of "Lady ■^ Clare," based upon the Tennysonian ballad of the same name. (if such there be), like Pollvanna's success in cheering the hypochondriac Mrs. Strong, or in winning permission for Jimmv Bean to sleep in the cellar, had been chronicled, rather than the long succession of mishaps and sorrows which befall this angel child. "Gladness" rather than meekness and long-suffering is what one looks for. The screening of Pollyanna makes clearer than ever the mistake of adapting novels to screen use. In the case of a classic, where the director dares lake no liberties with the original, where the structure of the story is firm and clear, where the movement is so rhythmic and steady that it cannot be tampered with, success is more nearly possible. But if we are dealing with the usual level of mediocrity, let us at least have it at first hand. To catch a mood, give an impression, as in the interpre- tation of a brief poem, is possible and sometimes most successful. But to attempt to express the elaborate indi- viduality, color, and movement of a novel by a means which necessarily leaves out so much of it, is apparently a mistake. The motion picture might be said to bear somewhat the same relation to the novel as marble to tapsstry. It must be simpler, sav more by connotation and less bv detail, choose different figures and different poses, discover rather 22 than weave. Who would try to reproduce one form in the other? For the sake of familiarizing the masses with the classics, the effort is worth making in certain cases. But why not start fresh in most cases, and give the screen a fair chance? Fo!'\anua. Produced and Distributed by United .\rtists. 6 reels. "Back to Nature," a one-reeler shown recently in Lon- don, records the adventures of a man who. for a wager, goes to the woods in a state of nature and finds for him- self, without the aid of food, clothing, shelter or tools, save such as he can get by his own unaided efforts, for a period of six weeks. He is shown building himself a hut, snaring birds and animals for food and clothing, and the final scene shows him returning to civilization in the strange garb that he has managed to make for himself, 9 © "SOMEHOW GOOD" In Other Mens Shoes, an Edgar Lewis production dis- tributed by Pathe, are scenes depicting a great new play school in full swing, the result of a poor child's remark on returning to his tenement street, "There ain't no place to play there, but we gotta go back there just the same," There is also a man who dares defy a blackmailer, a thing far above the moral reach of must screen characters thus far. This picture unfortunately reflects the conception of ministers expressed by Pollyanna in her screen incarna- tion, "They are easy to cook for because they don't eat much,'' The clergyman needn't have been so bloodless, and a few changes in the story would have made it ideal for church use. Although a great opportunity is lost, the choice of subject matter proves that church relationships afford a splendid field for drama, and more pictures using this material would be acceptable. Other Men's Shoes. Produced by Edgar Lewis. Distributed by Pathe. 7 reels. 9 9 MAKING NATURAL COLOR FILMS Prizma explains itself to the public in a reel with the above title. By means of a rotating gelatin disk, various parts of which cover the lens during exposures, red-orange records and green-blue records are made. In printing the positive these records are combined, giving the colored picture as a result. Two complex views are given to prove the unlikelihood of the use of stencils or hand coloring. An artistic shot in sea tones of a hydroplane skimming over the water, an impression of the rainbow over Niagara, and a brilliant coast view similar to the old stereoscopic effects are par- ticularly striking and reveal a wide range of color and mood. The gem of the collection, however, is a bubble in which the camera has caught every play of color. Making Natural Color Fihnj. Produced by Prizma. Distributed by Re- public. 1 reel. 9 9 "NINES-AND-A-HALF" .\ good example of an industrial picture is Nines-and-a- Half, a Ford weekly distributed by Goldwyn, It makes patent the elaborate complexity of supplying daily needs in the twentieth century. The subject chosen is the mak- ing of silk stockings, and when one learns that it takes 22,000 yards of raw silk and the work of 6,319 needles to make one pair of silk stockings, "it is to think," Stock- ings are carefully inspected and all defective ones are ravelled out again. The operation of complex machinery tnd the ironing process show the most modern methods " in industry, A trip to the stocking factory would interest particularly school children who are studying manufac- 'uring, Xines-and-a-Half. Produced by Ford Motor Company. Distributed by Cloldwyn. 1 reel.