Film Spectator (1927-1928)

August 6, 1927 THE FILM SPECTATOR Page Seventeen the most important in the production. It is not the great dramatic moments that make a picture outstanding. Its f degree of perfection is the degree in which the little scenes, which reach from one big one to another, are presented. It may be the manner in which a man hands his hat and stick to a butler, the way in which a waiter serves the soup, or an ofSce boy signs for a telegram — *little things, but they are links in the chain and must be as strong for their size as all the other links. At present there are many missing links in pictures — and some of them draw large salaries. * * * The screen could do with a few more character women as genuinely funny as Marie Dressier and Polly Moran. As long as these two hold the center of the stage The Callahans and the Murphys is an amusing comedy. There is no other woman that I know of who can put over so much comedy by facial expression as Marie Dressier. Truly she is a scream. When sanity comes to production and really clever writers are allowed to put wit on the screen. Miss Dressier easily could become one of the best box-office bets in the business. Such a vehicle as the present one will not advance her prestige a great deal. It is richer in promise than in performance. But screen promises seldom are realized. If M.-G.-M. can not scare up a better story than The Callahans for Miss Dressler’s return to the screen it is unlikely that it, or any other similarly conducted studio, will do better the second time. When the picture departs from the really amusing low comedy of Miss Dressier and Miss Moran and takes itself ^riously it becomes very blah indeed. All the story there is in it endeavors to create the impression in the minds of viewers who can not recognize obvious movie tricks, that the daughter of one of the families has had an illegitimate child. It is a beautiful thought and presents accurately the studio’s conception of a good story. That is what the supervisor system has done for Metro. I have no objection whatever to immorality on the screen, for it is by contemplating immorality that we value morality, but as it is presented to us in this picture it merely is cheap and vulgar. To the intelligent mind it is obvious all the time that the audience is going to discover that, after all, the girl is married, making the whole thing merely a silly attempt to be something that it isn’t. * * * Road-shows are born, not made. I am repeating something which I said in The Spectator one year ago. To give a director one million dollars and a script and tell him to make a road-show is one of the craziest things the industry does. To announce an “epic” in advance is y--. . . . .... DUDLEY MURPHY ORIGINAL STORIES IN CONTINUITY Now Doing Another Original for De Mille . equally crazy. The public makes road-shows, not the producers. Witness Old Ironsides and Seventh Heaven. The latter started off as a comparatively little picture and became a great one. The former started off as something great and became a very poor thing. At their inception all pictures should be of equal importance. The best possible scripts should be prepared, thus giving directors an even break to start with. The best of the ensuing product then can head the producer’s releases. Baldly announcing that a certain picture is going to be a roadshow merely because it is going to cost a stupendous sum is ridiculous. * * * Perhaps the most extraordinary thing Terry Duffy and his players are demonstrating at El Capitan is that it still is possible to see a good show for one dollar and a quarter. Don’t let the price keep you away. Many times you have paid two or three times as much to see a performance not half so good. Laff That Off is more than just a comedy. It is a story of the beautiful love that exists between three men, an appealing theme for play or picture. Terry has brought to Hollywood a splendidly balanced company, and if he keeps up the pace at which he started off he and Dale might as well buy a bungalow and send for the rest of the stuff. * * ♦ They say that Tom Mix is considering a proposition to go with a circus. That would account for the manner of his arrival at the Banky-La Rocque wedding. Apparently it was his first dress rehearsal. PAUL SCHOFIELD ORIGINALS AND ADAPTATIONS GENUINE NAVAJO INDIAN RUGS in your town or country home are very appropriate and make your home more alluring. Our Navajo Rugs are native wool, handwoven, direct from our trading post on the Indian reservation, and are the best. The variety of sizes and beautiful patterns will make your selection a pleasure. The prices are moderate. ❖ LORENZO HUBBELL Navajo-Hopi Indian Shop GRanite 5098 6719 Hollywood Blvd. A