Motion Picture Classic (May 1921 - Dec 1927)

CLASSIC The Dollar The daily actions of most of us are influenced by the messages received over the telephone, and yet few of us stop to think of the men and women, and the mechanisms, which help to make that daily service possible. Maintenance, repairs, and the work of handling calls, must constantly be carried on in good times or in bad, and they must be paid for, in order that your telephone service may be continued. The average dollar will buy to-day less than two-thirds of what it would buy before the war. This means that it costs, on the average, half as much again to buy most of the things that are necessary for keeping the country going; but the advance in telephone rates is far less than this average. In fact, gauged by the present purchasing power of the dollar, telephone service in the country as a whole is costing the subscriber less than it did in 1914. The Bell System generally has been able to meet higher commodity prices and increased wages by means of new economies in operation and the increased efficiency of loyal employees. “ Bell System " American Telephone and Telegraph Company And Associated Companies One Policy, One System, Universal Service, and all directed toward Better Service 1 BATHASWEET TRADE MARK REG. Bathe with Bathasweet. It adds the final touch of dainty luxuriousness to your bath — it refreshes and invigorates. Bathasweet keeps the skin soft and smooth. PERFUMES YOUR BATH SOFTENS HARD WATER INSTANTLY Three sizes, 25c, 50c and $1. At drug and department stores. Send 10c for miniature can. Bathasweet imparts the softness of rain water and the fragrance of a thousand flowers. m ■ttt Genuine Diamonds Guaranteed' THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT' OF ALL — A GENUINE DIAMOND. WHY PAY MORE THAN LOFTIS ASKS > , We import Diamonds direct from European markets and sell direct to you / i by mail. Our immense BUYING POWER is a great saving to you. f ~ SEND FOR FREE CATALOG w There are over 2,000 bargains in Diamonds, Watches, Wrist Watches, m Pearls, Mesh Bags, Silverware, etc. Select as many articles as you wish 13 and have all charged in one account. Catalog explains everything. \ Sylvia" Diamond Ring here shown, _ _J-k Solid White Gold, $75. Wedding f Ring, Platinum, $25; solid gold, $5 up. f Wrist Watch, 1 8k White Gold, 17 J., r$39; 14-k, 15 J.,$32. Our Diamonds are magnificent blue -white, perfect cut gems, set in Solid Gold and Platinum. Liberty Bonds Accepted. IOFTIS ■hbros.&co. l|s8 17 JEWEL ELGIN — Open Face.', Green Gold, engraved, guaranteed x 25 years. 12 Size, gilt dial. Assorted patterns. Big value. THE OLD RELIABLE ORIG ,NAL de PT.DC^G 1 S W E L E R S CREDIT TERMS on all articles: One-fifth 108 N State St Chimen III down, balance divided into equal payments Stores in Leading Cities’ * within eight months. Send for Catalog. “From Harmony, From Heavenly Harmony” ( Continued from page 41) Arroyo Seco, I nearly always see the sun rise. “It is a very gorgeous sight. To me. it is the whole answer to the problem of making motion pictures. “The usual bromide expression that people make on seeing a sunrise is, ‘If a painter put those reds and golds in a picture of a sunrise, the public would say he was crazy and not buy the picture.’ Of course this is not true. Nature is primitive, but she is also subtle. She has stark, flaming colors, but surrounds them with an opalescence. Between me and the sunrise, as I come over from Pasadena, there stands a big cement post and a dead tree. They supply the under tone that makes the scene one of flaming glory. “That is what the motion picture producer must do. “The critics are wrong in making fun of so-called hokum. Hokum really means a situation with primitive, fundamental elements. If stripped to the mere skeleton of the plot, Shakespeare was full of hokum. Every great classic is based upon hokum. “The difference is that the master mind places around his hokum the same opalescence with which Nature accompanies the flaming reds of the sunrise. “The theaters have been worse offenders than the pictures. “In the old days of the theater, we used to come in thru a pleasant lobby decorated with the pictures of famous actors. We sat in our seats waiting for the curtain to go up while an orchestra played for us. In my own company I used to spend the most painstaking care on the preliminaries to the rising of the curtain. I carried special rheostats and employed a special member of the crew to see that the house lights faded off as the stage lights came on with so soft a glow that the eye could not detect the fading of one and the flush of the other. I went to the most endless pains to regulate the exact speed at which the curtain should be raised and lowered. In that way I tried to supply the opalescence that Nature lends to the sunrise. “Theater managers have been inclined to reject these little touches of late years. In many cities you go into a theater lobby lined with cold onyx like a soda fountain. There is no orchestra in many of the houses and the curtain is just yanked up when the time comes. “This is all part of the campaign for maximum efficiency. They will all discover, like the automobile manufacturer, that maximum efficiency isn’t always real efficiency. The cars are hammered out like lightning — and the public doesn’t buy them. “I imagine,” said Mr. Post, lighting a cigaret, first yanking his angel sleeve out of the way, “that I have explained how it is that Mr. Tully and Mr. Young and myself get along so beautifully.” ( Seventy-six) it