Motion Picture Classic (1923, 1924, 1926)

It Is To Laugh called Mr. Pollock's attention to it and he had the uniform changed. This mistake, I am informed, was entirely due to the costumer. In that delightful musical comedy of German life, "The Student Prince," the military uniforms and court costumes in it are purely fanciful ana not in the least accurate. They would have been just as brilliant and much more effective had they been correct. The most common error seen on both the stage and the screen in connection with military uniforms, is that of side arms worn with foreign military dress. It rarely seems to occur to a producer that each army has regulations of its own regarding the form of the sword and the manner in which it should be worn, so they provide U. S. sabres for all types of foreign officers, and the actors wear them hooked up in the manner prescribed for our officers, regardless of the regulations of the army of which they are supposed to be members. Once in a while a striking exception to this rule is seen. The thing which I enjoyed most in "The Phantom of the Opera" was watching the unconscious ease and correct manner in which the actor who played the part of the lover wore his sword. I wish that I could remember his name so that I could mention it here. In one of the "Zenda" pictures there was also a group of officers who wore their swords in the Continental manner, hanging from a single sling, as if they had so worn them all their lives. Military Mistakes Just because our army officers wear their sword belt outside the coat is no reason why producers should consider that officers in all armies do so. As a matter of fact, with many types of uniform, the belt is almost always worn under the coat, and our officers are about the only ones who hook up the sabre when dismounted. With all service uniforms, the belt is, of course, worn over the coat, but the sword in many armies, when worn with it, is passed thru a frog. Foreign military equipment, other than side arms, is another thing which is often incorrectly worn. Of course, no actor should be expected to know how to wear such articles as arynillettes, sabre-taschcs, despatch pauches and sashes, but someone connected with the production should know and see that they are worn properly. Foreign uniforms, other than those worn in the World War, are rarely correct as shown on the stage or the screen. I have seen "Carmen" several times, both on the stage and in pictures, and I have never yet seen it presented with real Spanish uniforms showing the proper insignia of rank. The usual method of marking the rank of the corporal who is later reduced to a private, is to have him wear a pair of two-bar {Continued -from page 41) chevrons in the first act and leave them off in the second. Now in the Spanish army, rank for both officers and non-commis.sioned officers is indicated by means of bands of gold or silver braid, or scarlet cloth, encircling the cuff, a corporal having three stripes of scarlet cloth. From about 1750 until 1812, it was the custom in most armies, including our own, for officers to wear one or two epaulets according to rank ; general and field officers wearing one on each shoulder ; captains, one These two officers of the guard imagine they are settling their feud with rollingpins instead of swords. Such combat is not of a very high order in the films on the right shoulder ; and lieutenants, one on the left shoulder. In all of the Colonial and Revolutionary period plays and pictures which I have seen, I can only recall one instance in which all officers, regardless of their rank, did not wear two epaulets. The further back the supposed period of the picture, the greater seems to be the percentage of error. "When Knighthood Was in Flower," the scenes of which were laid in the time of Henry VIII, was well costumed, while "Robin Hood," a picture of the time of Richard the Lionhearted, Mr. Blakeslee, the author of "It Is To Laugh," is a Consulting Costume Expert. He is an authority on detail and nothing escapes his vision. Where the rest of us may discover a few irrelevant points, he discovers many. There is scarcely a picture or play which does not need "doctoring" to carry out a similitude with realities. But the producers continue to err — and this calls for him and the rest of us to ask — "What's wrong with this picture?" Mr. Blakeslee is one of many brilliant writers who have been engaged to write feature articles for the Classic. He knows his subject thoroly — and our readers may look forward to future numbers which will carry his entertaining ideas. was full of technical errors. One of the most noticeable of these was the wearing of quivers for arrows suspended from the shoulder, instead of from the hip. Imagine the difficulty of trying to draw quickly a cloth yard shaft from a case hanging down the back ! Sword play and knife fighting as seen in motion pictures is not usually of a very high order, but sometimes really remarkable work is done along these lines. The duel in "Scaramouche" was an excellent example of small sword play, while the fight on horseback in "Under the Red Robe" was certainly a thriller. The best knife fight which I ever saw on the screen was in "Orphans of the Storm." No real knife fighter ever places his thumb on the pommel and strikes downward from the shoulder; he puts it along the flat of the blade and thrusts straight out from the hip. The fight in "Orphans of the Storm" was done by the latter method and was most realistic. Oh, For the Styles of Yesterday Pominc down to modern days and civil dress, I wonder why it is that in most pictures all clothing since the Civil War is the same as that of today. When I was a boy, the hoopskirt had gone out, but the ladies wore in its place the bustle, and their dresses had long trailing pleated skirts. Men of standing in the community wore high hats, frock coats and striped trousers, and often carried goldheaded canes. As a young man, I remember wearing a short tan overcoat reaching scarcely below the hips, a stiff-bosomed white shirt, and a straight and very high collar. Trousers at that time were rather large and without a crease and the soft hat of today was practically unknown in the East, the derby being the almost universal head covering for the male sex, except in formal dress when the silk hat. or opera hat, was worn. The ladies at that time favored gowns with large puff sleeves, and wore wide-brimmed hats. In the 90's, when the bicycle rage hit the country, the men took to knickers and the ladies to ankle-length skirts, shirtwaists and straw sailor hats. When the bicycle craze had run its course, the men resumed their long trousers and knickers were not seen again until the popularity of golf brought them once more into use. About 1890, the soft shirt with turn-back cuffs replaced the one with the stiff bosom and cuffs, as an article of wearing apparel for the male sex ; and early in the twentieth century the ladies began to tighten and shorten their skirts and reduce the size of their hats until eventually the abbreviated skirt and small head covering of the present time was evolved. Very few of these changes in dress, which have all occurred within the past fifty years, are shown in motion pictures. 70