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The Unspeakable Photo-Play Harrison Grey Fiske New York City THE reasons that justify con- sideration of the puerile thing called the photo-play are that it is pervasive, pernicious, and in the aggregate represents an incalculable waste of energy, time and money. As an article of frequent consumption by a mentally normal adult this twisted travesty of the real drama is about as nourishing as a diet of dog-biscuit would be for a hod-carrier. There flourished twenty years ago what were known as the "popular price" theatres. They stretched in a circuit through all the large cities of the country. They formed a distinct department of theatrical amusement. They had a large clientele composed of the humble people, and the plays given in them were either ultra melo- dramatic or outrageously comic. For- tunes were made by the managers of this circuit and by several of the authors who provided the material. The nature of the entertainment offered is sufficiently indicated by the titles of a few of the plays that found favor, such as "Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model," "No Wedding Bells for Her," "Did She Go or Was She Led Astray?", "No Mother to Guide Her," and "Her First False Step." They made no pretence of being anything except what they were: cheap thrillers, concocted for low-brow patronage. When the movies were established the "popular price" theatres lost th< popularity and soon disappeared coi pletely. The pictures satisfied t same taste, offered a greater varie of choice and cost less to see. Furth< in casts, settings and other extern? they carried an assumption of som thing better. But they represent the same treatment, the same sort j appeal, the same inherent spuriov. ness. Strange to say, their public w augmented by a class that would ha recoiled in disgust from entertai ments of the "Bertha, the Sewing M chine Girl" order. The fact that many photo-plays a based on esteemed plays and nov< is no recommendation, since the r stricted field of the camera compels reduction of the action to the sile form, with sub-titles to take the pla of human utterance. That in itsc negates any attempt to express ad quately thoughts and ideas that it possible to convey only by the spok* word. And so rank distortion f( lows, pantomime serving as a barn substitute for the presentation human psychology through the amp medium of speech. Necessarily, tl "movie" treatment is unsatisfactor although it frequently gratifies tl crude and elemental mind or furnish a lazy device for the more intellige spectator who wishes to send his bra on a vacation. 172