Hollywood Spectator (1938)

Page Four April 30, 1938 than its San Francisco ? Can Sam Goldwyn give us anything more overwhelming than his Hurricane or more joyous than his Follies ? Earthquake, hurricane and fire already have done their darndest. In Gold Is Where You Find It, Warners have turned loose a flood and there is only a volcano left, and no pro¬ ducer yet seems to have discovered what to do with one if he had it. Becoming Too Colossal . . . ND is more money per picture the way out? Scarcely. Hollywood producers must stop doing what Jack Warner so aptly describes as “turning out pictures for their own amazement." That is what they have been doing. Each one has been trying to beat the other fellow. Spectacles have bulged from square yards to acres and seem destined to end only with the range of vision. And the cost! Whew! Only a few years ago a million-dollar picture would have been as colossal as an undertaking as its press agent could claim it was as entertainment. But today it seems that production only has started nicely when the first million has been spent. Conquest, the most recent Garbo picture, cost a little this side of three million, Goldwyn Follies a little the other side of two million. And still you never saw even one million dollars on the screen. You have seen pictures against which one or more millions have been charged, but you have not seen one upon which that much has been spent in creating what you see. Why Costs Are High . . . OMETIMES a dozen scripts are written before one is decided upon for production. The dozen appear on the cost sheet. When stars are waiting for a pic¬ ture to begin, their salaries while idle are charged to it. When the picture emerges, it leaves on the cutting room floor whole sequences which were shot expen¬ sively on the off chance of their being used. But the public pays for them with its dimes and quarters. There is the main weakness of the Hollywood sys¬ tem of handling picture finances. Instead of paying for its own mistakes, it assesses the cost of them against its customers. A picture upon which one mil¬ lion dollars has been spent and another million wast¬ ed, is bally-hooed to the world as a two-milliondollar production and charged for accordingly. Can it go on? It cannot. * * * WILL ANNOY MARTIN QUIGLEY . . . HEN the suggestion is made that Hollywood should produce a picture which would be a plea for universal peace, it is met with the argument that the sole mission of the screen is to entertain, not to indulge in propaganda. The Quigley publications break out in a rash every time peace propaganda is mentioned. The Spectator, in urging the making of an anti-war picture, has not challenged the argument that the mission of the screen is to entertain. Its plea has been for a producer to make the peace plea enter¬ taining; but even that is opposed by those who share Martin Quigley's total lack of comprehension of the opportunity the film industry has to make money by giving the world what it needs so badly — a picture which will reveal the complete futility of war. “It can’t be done," says Hollywood, even in view of the fact that it already has been done in the case of Cen¬ tury’s Four Men and a Prayer reviewed in this Spec¬ tator (page 6). It is not the anti-war picture, but it is propaganda against the munitions evil. I trem¬ ble at the thought of the convulsions there will be in the Quigley offices when it is realized that in spite of Martin’s anti-propaganda proclamation, a propagan¬ da picture has been made. * * * SOMETHING WILL WOULD APPROVE . . . PAUL MUNI, appearing in a Warner short reel, will tell audiences in most of our film theatres that in honor of the late Will Rogers institutions to care for under-privileged children will be founded with the money contributions the audiences are in¬ vited to make. “And," says Paul, “that is something Will would like.” The short is an entertaining little thing which the studio made for free distribution to exhibitors, four hundred prints now being distrib¬ uted. * * * ALEC TEMPLETON, GREAT MUSICIAN . . . ITH over one hundred pieces of printed music al¬ ready to his credit, twenty-six-year-old Alec Templeton, now appearing at the Cocoanut Grove where he is accorded the unusual distinction of a night spot audience remaining absolutely silent while he entertains it, is destined to be recognized as one of the really great musicians of the day. His memory is astounding. Seated at the piano, his nimble fingers pour into ears of his listeners his own interpretation of any composition asked for — symphonies, ballads, popular songs of the day, works of his own, come from the instrument as great music. Although he cannot see what appears on the screen, he is a regular attendant at film theatres. In England he has com¬ posed scores for pictures. A script is read to him and he proceeds to write the score to match the scenes as he interprets them. He has played with symphony orchestras in Europe and this country, his appear¬ ances at popular resorts being limited to the Rainbow Room, New York, and the Grove here. He plans to devote himself to composing. He is a charming young man to meet, a happy, kindly, human person, with keen intelligence and a lively sense of humor. One of his greatest pleasures is playing for his friends. Such a brilliant musician should be kept in Holly¬ wood. The screen is the ideal medium for the exploi¬ tation of his genius. * * * APPROVES THE SUGGESTION . . . ROM Charles P. Jervey, Hartford, Connecticut, I received this letter; “Once again, I have occasion to address you and express my appreciation for a fine article on the need for more realistic work for peace and against war. I am referring now to your com¬ ments beginning ‘Each morning the newspapers dem¬ onstrate afresh that, of all His creations, Man is the