Harrison's Reports (1928-1928)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison’s Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: United States $10.00 U. S. Insular Possessions 12.00 Canada and Mexico. . 12.00 England and New Zealand 14.50 Other Foreign Countries 16.50 25c. a Copy 1440 BROADWAY New York, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service by a Former Exhibitor Devoted Exoiusively to the Interests of Exhibitors Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. Published Weekly by P. S. HARRISON Editor and Publisher Established July 1,1919 Tel. : Pennsylvania 7649 Cable Address : Harreports (Bentley Code) A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. X S ATU RD AY, JU LY 14, 1928 No. 28 MOTION AND SOUND Under the heading, “TALKING FILMS TR\ MEN’S SOULS,” the Sunday, July 8, issue of the New York Times prints the following dispatch from Los Angeles: “It is the movies . . . just now that are all in a lather over the ‘talking film’ situation. In a recent trip through the manufacturing areas of Hollywood and elsewhere I found many corrugated brows. The manufacturers don’t know just now how far to go. The}' realize that the next year or two will see rapid developments in the ‘talkies,’ and naturally they hesitate to install expensive equipment which may have to be scrapped before the newness has worn off . . . “The corrugations in the brows of the scenario writers come from the fact that a new type of story must be devised — something that will bridge the gap between action and talk. The present sound films are interesting because of their novelty, but as pictures they are Hops, and the abrupt change of tempo when the words stop and the action resumes is a terrific strain on the credulity of the customers ... “Most of all, the performers’ brows are lined with worry make-up, because they see their fat contracts slipping away into the hands of actors who can make language behave. The zero hour of the ‘beautiful but dumb’ is about to strike. Hollywood is filled with pretty little girls who have learned to do exactly what the director tells them to do at the precise moment they are required to do it, and a lot of them never have found out what it is all about beyond that. Now they are to get parts which must be learned letter perfect and then they are to be shoved into mid-stream where the voice of the director must never penetrate and where, if they rock the boat, overboard they go. And that is where most of them are going. “The beginning of a new era is recognized by all, but no one yet knows what it portends. In the meantime, the whole industry is nervous and inclined to jump whenever any one says ‘boo!’” * * * In reading every worth-while article on talking pictures; in straining my ear to catch any whisper that might give me the clue as to what is to be the future of the motion picture under this new invention, I have yet to read an article that puts the matter so clearly as does this Times article by Chapin Hall. If he had included the exhibitors, this analysis of the situation would have been complete. Every exhibitor should study and digest it, for Mr. Hall gives the elements that should enable him to determine what is to be his policy for the coming picture season. Mr. Hall says that the picture producers hesitate to install expensive equipment lest they be compelled to scrap it when the newness is worn off. In other words, to take care of the present demands for pictures synchronized with music and with “voice,” the producers are going to adopt provisional methods. So the quality of the product will naturally turn out to be in direct ratio to the quality of the equipment used for its manufacture. Another important fact Mr. Hall reveals is that the scenario writers will be compelled to devise new stories so as to “bridge the gap between action and talk.” My observation so far has been that, where the characters are made to talk, the story value is sacrificed to the dialogue value. The best proof of this is “Lights of New York,” which has started its New York engagement at the Strand, this city. The story is one of those wild melodramas that were produced on the stage in the days of the 10-20-30. Without the “voice,” it is a pretty good crook melodrama, suitable for other than first-run down-town theatres, and deserving, perhaps, no higher than program prices. With the Vitaphone, it will naturally draw while the present “craze” lasts, just as have drawn other mediocre pictures so fitted. It is the first film that has the characters talk all the way through. How wild a melodrama it is, and how unsuitable for high class audiences it would have been without the "voice” may be judged by the fact that on the stage, this drama would have perhaps been laughed off it b} intelligent people. In the key-cities, it would have “starved to death.” But the novelty of having the screen shadows talk naturally changes the complexion of the thing. Another important fact Air. Hall reveals is that the parts must no longer be entrusted to the “beautiful but dumb,” but to actors who either have had stage experience or have natural inclination for the new work. How many stage actors are available? And of those that are available, how many are screen box office attractions? It is true that, among the actors of the silent drama, there are many who are highly intelligent. But it was not intelligence that made the screen stars popular; it was youth and beauty, first. Acting ability has, with an exception here and there, as in the case of Emil Jannings, for example, been of secondary consideration. The great demands of the picture theatres, then, must be supplied with pictures that are acted by actors of no box-office value. This, every exhibitor, whether he has installed the new device or not, must take into consideration this year, and no doubt the next. * * * Not only the producers and the actors, but also the exhibitors are “up in the air” about the talking pictures. They don't know what to do. No one is in a position to give them the information they want to enable them to judge accurately the value of this new device in proportion to the original cost of the installation, the cost of maintenance, as well as the cost of the new type of film, and to help them determine whether they should install it at once or wait for further developments, and if they should decide to install it what type of instrument to install. Pictures in which the characters talk all the way through will naturally come into competition with the legitimate drama. But at best they will be but an imitation of the real thing. It does not take much imagination, therefore, to predict that the shadow-speaking drama will never be able to compete with the flesh-and-blood drama. If so, one cannot help coming to the conclusion that the new device ought to confine itself to singing subjects and to comedy acts, as well as to musical accompaniment of films. It is on these branches of entertainment that it should be developed. Even then, this mechanical music is but a poor imitation of the real thing. Next time you see and hear a screen orchestra play, pay close attention to the bass drum, cymbals and bass violin; you will not hear them. They do not record. The reason for it is the fact that, the bass sounds being of low frequency, haven’t the power to overcome the resistance the metallic diaphragm of the microphone offers so that they might register. This resistance, in physics, is called inertia. It is true that the sound is amplified, but the amplification takes place after the vibrations of the voice have set the diaphragh into motion, not before; therefore, the resultant tone quality is nothing but a reproduction of what the diaphragh first “felt.” This lack of power affects the quality of the sound. The sound is, in a ( Continued on last page)