Motion Picture Magazine (Aug 1928-Jan 1929)

Forecasting About (Continued from page 66) to give Schildkraut center-stage. He will be surrounded in these scenes by players who are equally agile linguistically. Then Movietone will record their dialogue in English, French, German, and perhaps several other tongues. It goes without saying that all the big pictures of the season will have sound. Not only is this true, but it is also a fact that the specials already made, some of which are now' released, have been recalled for synchronization. One of these, for instance, is "The King of Kings," which in a revised edition, having sound, will be shown simultaneously in some three hundred cities. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is another. And several epics of the calibre of Emil Jannings's "The Patriot" will surprise the public with their sound effects. Director William K. Howard is fighting hard for permission to set up a Movietone device on a New York dock some dark night to capture the eerie or Erie, sounds of the river for his picture, "The River Pirate." If he sells his idea to Fox, the opening sequences which have been filmed through a studio fog, will give you the chill thrill of mournful waves breaking against the piers, the uncanny call of river boats, the deep warning of larger craft, the splitting alarm of police sirens, and the staccato bark of gangmen-guns. Truly the picture will open with a bang! SCREAM TESTS OF course, talking pictures have their drawbacks, too. Out at the Hal Roach studios, where custard pies are ordered in truckloads, the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy are practicing the art of yodeling, or, if you will, yodeling. Perhaps it remains for the squeakies to give the Tyrolian Bell-Ringers a new lease of life. Roach insists that all screen tests be accompanied by scream tests. For even the tworeelers will be noisy. In a recent conversation Jeannie Macpherson, brilliant co-worker with Cecil B. De Mille, stated that the advent of sound in pictures has set back the development of cinema technique about ten years. But, she says, in the end it will be beneficial. Charlie Chaplin agrees that talkies have retarded the progress of pictures, although he is a bit more conservative regarding the length of time. Charlie says a setback of five years. So sound does not seem to be universally appraised as an unmitigated blessing. Warner Brothers, whose Vitaphone pictures were the first of the sound films, are sticking close to their idea. All their feature productions, including Rin-Tin-Tin starring vehicles, will have Vitaphone sequences. And in addition to these there will be numerous two-reel features including playlets and musical numbers. Warner plans to film all sound that takes place in the action of their film-stories. Whether it be the rustle of garments, guarded whispers, or pistol shots, the noise, slight or loud, will be in the picture. In one ghostly picture, the mysterious playing of an organ in some unknown chamber of a haunted house plays an important part in the story. The Warners now plan to enter the field with a Vitaphone newsreel. Fox's Movietone newsreel is now in wide circulation. Hut the Warners will be second in line, for Paramount and Metro, who also plan their own sound-newsreels, will not issue them for some time. The sound-newsreels are obtained by having fleets of trucks equipped with sound devices, held in readiness in key-spots throughout the country. These are rushed to the localities where events suitable for newsreel reproduction take place. A BABY OCEAN BUT while sound goes marching on, there is no dearth of unique accomplishment in other departments of the world's greatest art-industry. One of the largest and most interesting miniatures ever erected may be seen at First National's Burbank studios. It will be used for certain sequences in "The Divine Lady," in which Corinne Griffith plays the role of "Lady Hamilton, " fair inamorata of Admiral Lord Nelson, the British seadog. This set includes a miniature ocean covering an area equal to four city blocks. This studio sea is peopled with exact reproductions of the battle squadrons of conflicting nations. The Lilliputian ships blaze away at one another until there is little left to be salvaged from First National's fifty thousand dollars' worth of sea craft. There has been a lot of buzzing through the length and breadth of Hollywood about a feature-length film directed by Paul Fejos. It is called "Lonesome" and has the smallest cast yet used in a photoplay. To be exact, there are just two people in it, a girl and a boy. Fejos, who also must be credited with "The Last Moment," is in the way of becoming the current cinema sensation. He has given repeated evidence of unique genius, a quality which occasionally finds quick recognition in movieland. Another youth who is getting himself talked about is Robert Florey. He has directed a short picture called "The Life of a Hollywood Extra." It is a dramatic subject having some forty-five sets, said to have averaged one dollar and sixty-seven cents in cost. No scene exceeds three feet in length. The sets were made from cardboard and cigar boxes. The only locations were the kitchen and bedroom of a friend's home. The lighting was a 400-watt lamp, and the camera was the type used by amateurs. Still another of the young idea that has learned how to shoot is Sam Jacobson. Like Fejos, he is a Universal product. Jacobson, in addition to other studio duties is making a series of novelties which are already conceded among the most unusual bits of artistry emanating from Hollywood. One of his pictures is told entirely with shadows . . . another with hands, another with dolls, and so on. The first of these has been shown in the Roxy Theater, New York, which paid for it the highest price ever accorded a film of similar footage. If you have movie ideas and ambitions, and wish to emulate the youthful geniuses mentioned, there are cameras for home use now in the market equipped with speed lenses effective in interiors without the aid of artificial light. The fast lenses make slow-motion photography possible on a hundred foot roll of 16 mm. film. PAPER FINERY THE bizarre costuming of many pictures has caused production costs to soar. So now they have evolved a process of using paper costumes, especially in chorus scenes where unique effects are sought. The costumes are painted to conform and harmonize with the pictured interior, and both time and money are saved. The latest development in color process is known as color modulation. It is used in filming color subjects and will register all hues accurately. Heretofore red has been one of the most difficult colors to photograph. Used with other colors it would interfere to an extent which would impair the entire sequence. The new process does away with this and shows each shade in true proportions, (Continued on page 119) wee How Easy You pan Qet... a Business ofifourOwn 'this New Way! SEND your name and address for an amazing FREE book which gives facts that will surprise you about Modern Photography. It tells of an amazingly easy way to start your own business quickly, with very little capital. It also shows how hundreds of other men and women are making real money in spare time taking pictures. 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