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THE "SILENT" REACHES ITS ZENITH 387
me in the belief that we were on the right road. The Exhibitors Daily Review, in an issue of March 20, 1926, giving its whole issue to the Association and its whole back page to pictures of eighteen of our leading staff members, ran as a banner headline— Industrial Harmony Greets Fourth Milestone of Hays Association— and a full-page editorial under the caption, "Picture Business Has Made Real Progress." The editor echoed my own appeal in his words: "A mighty change has taken place in four years. Don't hold back in your co-operation with Will Hays in the next four years, for far greater progress must be made/'
On the excellent theory that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, I want to mention a few of the great pictures and fine actors that made these last years of the silent era notable. Some of these pictures have never been surpassed in appeal and quality.
Taking the years 1923 to 1926, and analyzing the "Ten Best Pictures" of each year, I find that of the thirty-six stars listed, the names of Douglas Fairbanks and John Gilbert appear four times each; Lon Chaney and Harold Lloyd, three times; John Barrymore, Monte Blue, Rene Adoree, and Emil Jannings, twice. The list is studded with memorable names. With many of these fine actors, like Milton Sills, for whose child I served as godfather, I formed deep and sincere friendships. The same can be said of directors like Cecil B. De Mille, D. W. Griffith, Rupert Hughes, and Fred Niblo. And this was the era of the first big budgets— The Covered Wagon at $800,000, and The Ten Commandments at $1,600,000.
Of the pictures themselves, it would be easy to rhapsodize. It is an astounding list, considering that color was in its infancy and sound not yet born. But these products of the true dramatic techniques of the silent film, devoted in many cases to themes of imperishable value, demonstrate better than any words of mine the inspiring progress our industry was making. It is only fair to say of the Association— whose members produced the majority of these pictures— that its ideals and its efforts contributed substantially to the excellence of the results reflected in the following list.
TEN BEST PICTURES OF THE YEARS 1923 TO 1926
I922 Down to the Sea in Ships
The Covered Wagon Little °ld New York
Merry-Go-Round
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 19M
Robin Hood The Thief of Bagdad
The Green Goddess The Sea-Hawk
Scaramouche Monsieur Beaucaire
Safety Last Beau Brummell
Rosita Secrets