The Film Spectator (Mar-Dec 1928)

(June 23, 1928 reason, weigh and consider. A step further in the way of sense and reason should tell that same invested capital that at this time, and for some time to come, the motion picture is a medium of force and power, perhaps the greatest, to help insure the safety and security of its wealth. Propaganda has been played to excess and has little advantage because the public has learned to discern it and pass it by. The old, old method of subjection in ignorance has ever failed in its purpose to continue seicurity. Enlightenment is the safest . security and the motion picture is one I' happy medium. If that particular Invested capital ■ which is dominant in the affairs of the country and exerts a controlling influence is timid and afraid of the motion picture as an investment there should be something to give it courage in the reasoning that if a trader whose ; instinctive bent is to tui^ a suit of clothes for, maybe now, an overcoat can make a profit in the production of motion pictures, certainly an executive trained to build a smoothworking organization and to produce at the lowest cost consistent with the highest quality, certainly such an executive should be able to show more profit in a motion picture than the trader. It is a proper time to discard the old nonsense, featured from time to time, that only those who have a sense of art developed to a temperamental imagination and extravagance can win success and profit in the theatre and now in the motion picture. A circus, similar in its purpose to the theatre and to the motion picture, is an enterprise in art and exhibition, but, differently from the motion picture, it is backed and operated by hard-headed, hard-boiled business and is one of the smoothest-running organizations that was ever established, operating at the lowest cost consistent with getting the work done right. It would seem that the dominant capital of the nation should be able to see money profit in motion pictures, together with opportunity to serve their own kind and benefit their country. JAMES BRANT. GETTING BACK My dear Mr. Beaton: May I give a wail of anguish, followed by a chortle of joy? I am very fond of reading your criticism and up to date have taken it quite seriously, so it upsets my equilibrium to have you spend a whole column of excellent writing upon a wrong premise. In your criticism of Easy Come, Easy Go you state that the conductor is only put in to furnish Richard Dix with a disguise. To quote exactly. . . . "He gets a hurry up call and leaves the washroom in his shirt sleeves. This is the last we see of him". Now, as a matter of fact, we see him several times after that. The emergency that calls him forth is the sudden stopping of the train at a nonstop station. He turns and speaks two THE FILM SPECTATOR quite important titles to the men in the smoking compartment. He then, as you say, dashes out. A few shots later we see him coming out, breathless, on the rear platform and meeting the detective who shows a most important telegram informing him that there are bank robbers on the train. We then get a shot of the conductor assisting the detective to line up the passengers. For a moment we stay with the lovers, then the conductor comes into the shot and orders them to their seats ... a bit of action which is most important for our story. Previous to the washroom business we used him in two quite necessary shots. Really, Mr. Beaton, unless we made him either the heavy or the character lead, I don't see how we could have used him much more ... do you? As a matter of fact, the conductor was already an extremely necessary part of the cast when we had the idea for using his coat. Previous to that we had planned quite a different bit of business in that spot. I wouldn't explode this way if I didn't hate to see something go into print which is so absolutely unjust . . . especially in your paper! Now for the chortle! Your remarks about Something Always Happens and the way the story begins, squarely instead of "easing in" for a reel or so, delighted my soul. I've been making futile efforts to write that sort of story for several years, and Paramount is the only place I've found where they don't want their hero and heroine's pedigree through three generations. . . . You noticed, didn't you, that we also used the "crash in" method in Easy Come, Easy Go? FLORENCE RYERSON. Page Twenty-five THE OTHER SIDE My dear Mr. Beaton: When I read Upton Sinclair's Profits of Religion some years ago I was tremendously impressed by it. When I read his Brass Check and saw him distort facts of which I had firsthand knowledge, my confidence in all of his deductions was shaken. I have read practically every number of The Film Spectator. Sometimes I have thought that you twisted facts slightly to suit your ends. But not until the issue of March 3, did I see an instance which would lead me to question you. You know newspapers thoroughly. Do you honestly believe that The Times would deliberately attempt to harm the business of a consistently big advertiser like the Carthay Circle Theatre because a possible one-time advertiser like John Ford refused it a contract for |250 worth of space, or because two or three or four members of his company refused it such contracts ? Notice that I am not arguing Ed Schallert's intellectual honesty. Like you, I have had enough experience around newspapers to know that even an honest man sometimes has to choose between his income, his future and the wishes of his publisher. Schallert's review sounded sincere to me. I have not seen the picture, but I have talked with several people whose opinions I respect, including one critic who praised the picture, who agreed with Schallert. Personally, I don't believe that damning criticism interferes with the making of good pictures nearly as much as indiscriminate and gushing praise. I wanted to see what sort of performance Gloria Swanson and Gifts and Greetings For All Occasions ^ '7'Aousamt (Bifis of Distinetiat' SHOP AV BALZER'S— "TWO SHOPS"— JUST WEST OF VINE iiiiiiiiiiiEiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiniimiiiQiiiiiiiiiiHHiiiiiiiiimniiiiii iniiiiiiiiiiiKiiiimiiiiiiHiiiiiiHiiioiitiiiiiiiiEJiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiniiiiBiiiiiiiiiiiiEiii THE FILM SPECTATOR 7213 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood, California $5 Per Year $6 Foreign Please enter my subscription to The Film Spectator, and herewith find my check in payment. Name Address City State iniiiiiiiiEiiinniinuDiuuiiiuiiDinniuiHinniiiiniiiiEiiiiiiiiiiinDiiiiiiiiiinEsuiiiMiiiiiDiiiiniuiiiiiriiiniiiniDiiiuiiiiiiiciiuiuiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiulun