The Motion Picture and the Family (Oct 1934 - May 1937)

6 THE MOTION PICTURE AND THE FAMILY May 15, 1937 IMPORTANT TO ALL READERS The very last research exhibit of the season — on RKO Radio's The Toast of New York — story of the financing of the transcontinental railroads, will be ready for distribution early in June. But it will be sent only to those who make a special request. If your school or library can display this exhibit after June 10, advise us today. Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. 28 W. 44th Street New York, N. Y. SELECTED FILM READING OF THE CURRENT MONTH What's Next In Hollywood? {Continued from Page 2) major part. It is evident that grand opera has a certain artificiality. It is based on conventions that do not appeal to mass audiences. For example, when emotion is at its highest, all action stops while the prima donna or the tenor comes to the front and sings an aria. But in pictures the action does not stop and bits of opera slip in as natural parts of the dramatic sweep. When Nelson Eddy comes swinging through the woods to the rescue of Jeanette, he sings as he swings. It was not the music that made the difficulty to the mass audience — "There is no such thing as high-brow music." The difficulty was in adjusting music and drama. Pictures are making strides in bringing harmony between the two. The realization of this and the consequent outreaching to a wider public is what is bringing distinguished musicians to Hollywood in greater and greater numbers — Stokowski signed up as co-worker with Deanna Durbin in A Hundred Men and a Girl; Oscar Strauss came from Vienna to write the music for Make a Wish for Bobby Breen. With the increased musical interest has come, also, a realization of the heroism and drama of the lives of many of the great musicians of history, so that music flows out into biography, and we have the lives of Beethoven, of Wagner, of Chopin, of Victor Herbert, in preparation for the screen. Of the biographical pictures now on the screen, easily leading are Parnell and The Life of Zola. It takes an Irishman to be as picturesque a public character as was Parnell, a man whose private life was of as great interest to the world at large as was his spectacular fight in Parliament for Irish independence. In the picture, thanks to MGM, we have Myrna Loy, ethereally lovely, and Clark Gable, an ideal combination for this adroit compound of thrills, love and politics. Pasteur and The Good Earth have given us something of the scope of Paul Muni's genius. In that Austrian temperament of PACK some of these film articles and books in your vacation trunk: Famous Figures of the Screen Saturday Evening Post, May 8 : one of the best of screen biographies, The Great Goldwyn, by Alva Johnston, in which the writer describes one of the most picturesque figures in Hollywood. Pictorial Review and Delineator, June: He's a Tough Guy, by Myrna Loy, She's a Softie, by William Powell, a duo of very human character sketches of each other by members of one of the most popular teams on the screen ; Collier's, May 15: Don't Call Me a Stooge, by Kyle Crichton — in which some of the tribulations of the Miss Dumont who feeds the Marx Brothers the lines on which their gags are based are described; American Magazine, May: Norma Shearer's Noisy Brother, by Jerome Beatty — a sympathetic character study of the man who is conceded to do the best sound recording in filmland. For Those Who are Serious Minded About Pictures Educational Screen, April : Services of the American Council on Education, by Charles F. Hoban, Jr. — a detailed account of the achievements and plans of the Council with regard to motion pictures; same issue: Test Questions of the "Thought" Type in Visual Education, by H. K. Moore of the Thomas A. Edison High School, Cleveland — pertinent suggestions to teachers as to how to use pictures for thought production instead of mere learning ; Atlantic Monthly, May: The Errors of Television, by Gilbert Seldes — in which the problems attached to The Life of Zola at Warner's, his finds a congenial medium of expression in the character of the famous French novelist who dared to take the unpopular side when his country went mad, with characteristic madness, in its hatred of Captain Dreyfus. As history records, Zola's passion for justice did not end when the courts had pronounced sentence and the victim had been sent to the hell of Devil's Island. Not until he had won his battle for right, brought Dreyfus back for retrial and restored the man to all his ancient honors, was Zola's fight ended. There was a delightful episode during the filming of the picture. On the stage, for five minutes, Muni made an impassioned plea before the Court. Three hundred of the cast and the extras listened. They were supposed to boo and hiss the allegedly unpopular side, but they forgot their part and burst into applause— so the director had to do the scene all over again. Now we turn to history. Cecil De Mille goes south to study the bayous of Louisiana and the ro this "off again, on again" experiment in motion picture and radio development are described. Books on Films Coming in September — Writing and Selling the Film Story, by Frances Marion, one of Hollywood's most talented screen writers, published by Covici, Friede Company; available now — Four Star Scripts, a collection of noteworthy scenarios, collected and edited by Lorraine Noble, published by Doubleday; The National Visual Education Directory — a valuable handbook telling where to get visual education materials, compiled by the Motion Picture Committee of the American Council on Education in the United States Office of Education and published by the American Council on Education. Film Reading of the Lighter Variety In Pictures; Hollywood Satire, by Nunnally Johnson and Others, published by Morrow, New York; Sabu, the Elephant Boy, (illustrated with scenes from the film) by Frances Flaherty, who helped in the filming, Oxford Press, New York; Maiden Effort, by Samuel Hopkins Adams, — an entertaining "behind the scenes" romance of moviedom, Liveright, New York; Present Indicative, by Noel Pierce Coward, published by Doubleday, in which one of the most successful authors of stage and screen destroys the illusion that his fame was achieved without effort ; Midnight on the Desert, by John B. Priestly, the author's autobiography during his recent visit to America, punctuated at intervals with descriptions of happenings in Hollywood. mance of Jean La Fitte, the famous pirate in The Buccaneer, while from the same studio, Paramount, Frank Lloyd goes north for much of the picturesqueness he will bring into An Empire is Born, a film touching upon those pioneers of business, Wells-Fargo. One episode concerns a hurry-up order sent from San Francisco to forward two million dollars in gold from New York, without fuss or undue publicity. Says the studio: "Two men piled the ingots into a sleeping compartment in Manhattan and all the way West they took turn and turn about, while one slept or dined, in the car or at the station. And when the metal got to San Francisco, it was loaded into a van drawn by one sleepy horse, and nobody aboard but the driver. Lloyd opines they do things better nowadays. The gold would be carried in an armored tank, with a Big Bertha at each end and a machine gun squad in the middle. High, Wide and Handsome, with Irene Dunne, is a tale of the war between railroads and Pennsylvania farmers, when the discovery of oil spurted life and plot. Lessons From The Movies (Continued from Page 2) mild cases constitute a source of unhappiness and even misery to a multitude. The picture seems to urge people to keep themselves sensitive to human needs and concerned for the happiness of others as a sure safeguard against mental and emotional derangement. THE GOOD OLD SOAK (MGM) Such a picture as this ought to be as effective propaganda for temperance as Ten Nights in a Bar Room. The waste of human life caused by excessive drinking is a growing tragedy in America for which socially-minded people must find some cure. Even the drink-clouded mind of the "old soak" had moments of intelligence, as when he blamed himself for the weakness of his son. While the "soak" did force a crooked banker to make amends, father was still a blight on the decency of his family. WHEN LOVE IS YOUNG (Universal) In life one either grows up or blows up. Wanda grew up, but she never got away from certain childhood ambitions. She went back to her home town and was disillusioned. On her return to the big city she said to Andy, "In the races they never let the dog catch up with the rabbit because if they did, he'd find out he'd been chasing a phoney all the time. Well — I caught up with the rabbit." Most of us are chasing phonies of various kinds, and after a waste of much time and energy we discover how silly we are. The growing up process is partly the development of judgment in discerning what has real value. Schools Cooperate With Film Committee An extremely cordial relationship with school authorities is reported by the Better Films Committee of Anniston, Alabama, Miss Lelia M. Jones, chairman. From data furnished by the manager of the leading theatre a weekly list is compiled by the Committee of the pictures which are to play in Anniston the following week, together with comment as to their audience suitability. This information is forwarded to the principal of the city schools, who is keenly interested in encouraging attendance at the best pictures, and relayed by him to all schools. That this fine cooperation is not without result is indicated by Miss Jones' comment to the effect that "Our young people are attending all the outstanding pictures and reading the books from which films are made. We feel that we have definitely built up an appreciation for high class pictures."