Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

N o v ember 22 , 1930 Studios Abused Music, Color, Critic Asserts Motion Picture News 47 Syracuse — Possible trend toward silents, in the wake of "City Lights," imminence of wide film, uncertainty over color and musical films and the need to win back kid patronage are discussed at length editorially by Chester B. Bahn, veteran dramatic critic, writing in the Syracuse Herald. "That part of "show business" best known today as the cinema finds itself facing many in important problem these fall days," he writes. "In Hollywood's executive offices and in the ornate suites of Manhattan where the film industry's money kings hold court, regal brows are creased with wrinkles as they ponder such questions as these: "Is the musical picture, commonly referred to as the musicinema or filmusical, destined to return to favor by an upward swing of the pendulum of film fashions ? "Will the color picture find a new lease on life in the success enjoyed by such productions as Paul Whiteman's 'King of Jazz' and Eddie Cantor's 'Whoopee' ? "Will Charles Spencer Chaplin's recently completed 'City Lights' so charm picturegoers with its silence that the present supremacy of the talkies will be menaced? "Can the children, lost to the national box office since the dialog picture transformed the motion picture from family to adult entertainment, be won back by such talkies as 'Tom Sawyer' in which Jackie Coogan returns to the screen ? "Will wide-film, the present advent of which was forecast by The Herald lart May in the face of the industry's professions that it was at least a year or two in the future, sweep the theater field? "For the producer or the business executive of filmdom who can answer any one of these questions correctly, there awaits a sizeable fortune, to be paid by not alone the fans of these United States but of the world "In the sphere of theater operation, with which that of production today is closely allied, there are still other problems equally perplexing. But they are problems in which the public has a lesser interest — matters which immediately affect the picture-goer's entertainment to a smaller degree although they may. and do, touch his purse. The question of chain operator versus independent exhibitor, the subjects of film rentals and score charges, and the speculative topic of television may be said to dominate such a secondary group. Cites Unsound Color, Music Use "The recent, one might almost say present, disfavor of both musical and color pictures may be attributed principally to an unwise and unsound use of both melody and natural hues by frantic producers. There is something to be said on behalf of the producers, of course. Having been caught napping when Warners pioneered with dialog pictures, the producers proceeded on the good, old theory that it is better to act first and ask questions afterwards when the filmusical and the all-color picture were introduced. " 'Hire us some song writers and some A la Mode Times have changed. Throwing custard pie in a girl's face cost Chicago man a $100 fine recently, the old days it would have meant movie contract. — N. Y. Post. a a In a composers. Ship at once,' was the almost literal order telegraphed from Hollywood to New York. New York did just that. Tin Pan Alley was depopulated over night as song writers and composers joined in the new California gold rush. "The musician, unfortunately for Hollywood, is a creative artist. He can not grind out tunes and ditties on schedule; he requires inspiration and time. Even a genius has his limitations, and in the many called to Hollywood there were all too few geniuses. "You may find the answer in the really lew 'hit' melodies contained in the scores of musicinemas. Four songs alone deserve that rating — 'Sonny Boy,' 'Ramona,' 'Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time' and 'The Wedding of the Painted Dolls.' Contributing, too, to the flop of the musicinema was the fact that little judgment was employed in selecting many stories for musical treatment. Illusion has been defined as the first principle of the cinema; it was forgotten when stars warbled theme songs here, there and everywhere, and with full orchestral setting. In the cinema, the musical number must be plausibly introduced ; dragged in by the heels, it demotes the cinema from the level of a distinct art to a mere and weak imitation of a stage musical comedy. There may be exceptions, but this dictum is generally applicable. Hollywood Has Learned Lesson "A frankly personal opinion is to the effect that the musicinema will return to favor when its score and its lyrics are the creations of other than second, third and fourth-raters ; when music is an integral part of the theme, not a grafted afterthought, and when the numbers are entrusted to trained voices. "There are signs that Hollywood has learned its lesson ; musicinemas on the way bear the names of Oscar Straus, Jerome Kern, Sigmund Romberg, Rudolph Friml, De Sylva, Brown and Henderson. And there is further guaranty in the casting of Lawrence Tibbett and Grace Moore, although Metropolitan Opera 'names' are not essential. "Color was abused as sadly as music in Hollywood studios. Perfected color, and it is well on its way, plus its intelligent use, and there need be no producer fear that all-color pictures will not be welcomed by fandom. "Mr. Chaplin's experiment with silence on the screen is most interesting. The comedian, past-master of the pantomimic art, is gambling $1,500,000 that silent pictures may be made as popular as talkies. 'City Lights,' it may be noted, was placed in production after Al Jolson's 'The Jazz Singer' had set a new fashion. For some months, Chaplin studied the problem; his decision was to continue in his own way. "Whatever fandom may decide, it would seem that these two statements may be accepted without challenge. First, there are many stories best told in pantomine. Secondly, few actors have Mr. Chaplin's elo Remake Question Still Puzzling Studio Chiefs Hollywood — "It isn't what you make but how you make it," is the belief of many motion picture producers who, in scanning the list of talker remakes, find that there are plenty of fine pictures made from former successes if they are remade in the right manner. While some studios are doing away with the making of pictures which have already been done in silent forms, other studios are buying the rights to former silents and plan on making them in talker style. Among the pictures which have been remade are "Anna Christie." "The Bad Man," "Common Clay," "Disraeli." "Raffles," "Sally," "The Virginian." "The Border Legion." "Vagabond King," "The Spoilers," "Honey," "Three Faces East," "Seven Keys to Baldpate," "Last of the Duanes," "Manslaughter," "The Aviator," and others, all of which have made money at the boxoffice. "Romance." "Mobv Dick," "Outside the Law," "Sea Wolf." "Those Who Dance" and "The Storm" have not grossed any great amount, but are out of the red. However, some remakes such as "Back Pay," "Cameo Kirby," "Eyes of the World," "Great Divide," "Her Private Life," "Peacock Alley," "Lilies of the Field" and others have not measured up to the standards of good pictures and have suffered accordingly. Most producers are going ahead with plans for remaking the older pictures which had good story material and with changes here and there, plus good direction and casts, it is thought they will bring in plenty of dough to the box-office. The producers believe that any good picture will register at the box-office regardless of whether or not it has been made previously. Publix Bolsters Texas Chain with Stage Shows San Antonio, Tex. — In an effort to bolster up its programs, Publix is now sending New York stage shows to its leading theatres in the four key cities of Texas — San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth. Since the resumption of stage shows last spring they have been sent to Texas from New Orleans. The first of the New York stage shows to play in this city was "Moonbeams," a Boris Petroff production. Jimmy Ellard was guest master of ceremonies and Eddie Lambert was the featured star of "Moonbeams." The New York shows are also designed to offset the RKO vaude-film shows. quence in that medium. "In the matter of children's pictures, this : The rising generation, largely denied the spoken drama, needs the cinema ; the cinema, in turn, urgently requires juvenile patronage. It cannot stand both the loss of the youngsters' dimes and quarters and the revenue from the foreign market ; the latter has been materially reduced by the talkies' rise."