Hollywood Topics (Oct 1926-Feb 1927)

HOLLYWOOD TOPICS i WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS By JOHN McCORMICK General Manager of Production , First National West Coast Studios 1 m Studio Executive and Production Manager Talks on Motion Picture “Gags” and “Humor.” The mechanical “gag” in motion pictures is giving way to constructive humor, in the opinion of John McCormick, producer of all of Colleen Moore’s pictures for First National. McCormick, who as general manager of west coast production for First National is one of the important figures in the film industry, does not necessarily think that the mechanically-produced laugh is doomed, but does believe that movie audiences are rapidly turning to more subtle from of humor. “Human interest humor is rapidly coming into its own in motion pictures,” McCormick says. “This type of humor is constructive because it builds a character and aids in the logical development of a story, whereas mechani< al ‘gags’ are usually in the form c f asides, or diversions from the main theme. “Of course, the mechanical ‘gag’ will always be with us. Just as long as people continue to slip on banana peels, other people will laugh. Carefully contrived bits of business, well timed, well carried out, and containing the element of surprise and usually of discomfiture to someone else, will always produce laughs, and hearty ones. “It is, however, a peculiar thing that the loudest and longest laugh is usually the one most quickly forgotten, while the quiet chuckle is generally caused by some human touch, some turn of character or acting which is long remembered by an audience. This type of thing is what I mean by the term constructive humor. The Katzenjammer kids and Happy Hooligan type of laughter is a transitory thing. Constructive humor is something which remains. It sticks in the minds of the audience, and eventually is woven into the character of the person who sees it. “Colleen Moore’s pictures have always exemplified clean fun. Constructive humor has been mingled with mechanical gags. But to a steadily growing degree audience reactions have convinced us that she owes the lasting quality of her popularity to the constructive quality of the fun, rather than the mechanically de JOHN McCORMICK Producer of Colleen Moore Pictures for First National vised bits of business which often produced more spontaneous bursts of laughter in the theatre. “Very often we received letters from fans specifically mentioning some human or subtly humorous touch in one of Miss Moore’s pictures, often a picture made three, or four, or five years ago. This indicates that the person who saw that picture retained as a pleasant memory some touch of this sort long after the mechanical ‘gags’ in the film — and we used many more of them then than we do now — had been forgotten. “Basically, of course, all great humor is great because it strikes a responsive, human note in the observer. That is why Shapespear’s humor and Chaucer’s humor have survived centuries of changing conditions. Both struck chords that are the same in human character in all centuries, rather than basing their laughs on current conditions, or through the use of mechanical devices which today would be lost in the limbo of antiquated things. “The old adage contains the real truth about humor, whether it is on the screen, or anywhere else — the best humor is that in which we laugh with others rather than at them.”