The Moving picture world (April 1920-May 1920)

April 17, 1920 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 397 Hugo Riesenfeld, Director of Rialto, Rivoli and Criterion, Seen at Close Range THE achievements of Hugo Riesenfeld are well known to everyone who makes any pretentions to keeping in touch with the development of the motion picture. As managing director of the Rialto and the Rivoli Theatres, on Broadway, New York City, his face is familiar to the patrons of both houses. But of the man himself and the method by which he accomplishes a task that requires not only thorough knowledge of music but of showmanship in all its branches and imposes a vast amount of mental and physical application, only his intimates have any conception. And on the twenty-fifth of this month he takes up his additional task as supervising director of the Criterion Theatre, in Times Square. Evidently he belongs to that highly organized class of select souls whose one system of relaxation consists in accumulating new responsibilities and thereby lengthening their hours of work. Quiet Efficiency Marks Riesenfeld. In looking for the hidden springs of a man's nature, it is always well to begin by giving his temperament careful study. When Hugo Riesenfeld comes quietly through the door at the Rivoli or down the steps at the Rialto and takes his place at the conductor's desk, he reminds me of a man whose profession it was to perform the most death-defying feat known on the stage. This sounds like a strange statement; but I am referring only to temperament. In this, the cultured musician and the man who relied solely upon his nerves of steel and his powerfi<lly developed muscles have much in common. Curiosity took me back on the stage one night when my friend, the acrobat, was filling an engagement at a local theatre. His turn had just started and I stood in the wings and watched him do the first part of his act. It was hard, nerve-wracking work. When this was finished, he stepped into the wings and gave the motorcycle used in the act a last inspection, while the stage hands wheeled into place the lattice-work steel globe inside of which he was to ride. As he ran his eyes carefully over the machine, we chatted lightly of one thing and another, and not for an instant did he betray any quickening of the pulse from fear or doubt of himself. His attitude was that of a person who had made every necessary preparation and had himself so well in hand that his one thought was to accomplish the desired result with quiet eflfectiveness. When his music cue came, he bade me a pleasant g«od night and stepped out before the audience with that same air of unobtrusive efficiency that is Hugo Riesenfeld's chief characteristic. His Reputation in Europe, It is told of Mr. Riesenfeld that when he came to this country he was actually diffident about seeking an engagement on the strength of his past associations. A member of the Royal Imperial Opera Orchestra, Vienna, and numbered among Richard Wagner's musicians at Bayreuth, he was content to let his ability speak for him, and soon found recognition. As assistant conductor of the Century Opera Company and next as concert master and assistant conductor of the Manhattan Opera Company, he gained the reputation that made S. L. Rothapfel select him, in 1915, as musical director of the newly-erected Rialto Theatre. The first musician of any promi By EDWARD WEITZEL nence to go into motion pictures when others of his class spoke of them as "cheap" and "vulgar," Mr. Riesenfeld revolutionized the presentation of the silent drama by using the best music of the masters to accompany the features and the other screen numbers, instead of improvising, as had been the fashion hitherto. Other innovations of Mr. Riesenfeld's in the presentation of the moving picture are: Working out the theme in music as it developed on the screen; giving new music and new life to the program each week in Hugo Riesenfeld Managing director of the Rivoli, Rialto and Criterion theatres. New York. Stead of playing the same worn-out pieces over and over again ; establishing a music library which has 20,000 numbers and is still growing; making the program numbers harmonize with the feature; using real artists — Urban, John Wenger, Pogany — to decorate the stage and make the picture stand out as it should. In other words, combining art, music and pictures to make a real theatre instead of a movie house. Sunday Afternoon at the Rivoli. The managing director's office at the Rivoli is a spacious, handsomely furnished room, with a large fiat-topped desk near the Broadway windows and comfortable armchairs scattered about. A grand piano stands in one corner. It is the custom of Mr. Riesenfeld at times to serve afternoon tea in this room on the opening day of each week to those of his friends who care to drop in upon him. Very frequently the tea is attended by one or more of the better known film players. Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan were present the Sunday "Male and Female" was first shown at the Rivoli. and Dorothy Dalton came during the run of "Aphrodite" at the Century. Mary Miles Minter and Jeanie Macpherson, the scenario writer, have been among the director's guests. Friendly, informal affairs, these teas, with now and then an interchange of opinion on the merits of the program at either the Rivoli or the Rialto that is enlightening to both persons in the conversation. Nearly all the guests have arrived by the time Mr. Riesenfeld has seen that the bills at both houses are in good working order and he is at liberty to sit down and store away a sandwich and a cup of tea where they will do him the most good. He comes quietly along the hall, enters the room with no indication of having just completed six or seven hours of the closest application to his arduous duties and is ready to discuss any and every subject that may arise, with a calm and cheerful tolerance of the other fellow's views that makes him an ideal host. Trapping an Interview. Last Sunday afternoon Mr. Riesenfeld was seated at the piano when I entered his office, running over a selection from the musical setting of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" to illustrate his answer to a question from one of his guests. Without the slightest intimation that I was trapping him into a short interview, I engaged him in conversation at the first opportunity. Words of wisdom followed — to which I listened and made mental note of. Presented in the form of aphorisms, their terse discernment stands out like an electric light sign in front of the Riesenfeld theatres : The day is coming when Broadway from Times Square up will be a street of lights, illuminating practically nothing but motion picture music houses. The public is demanding music — but the exhibitor must not mistake that demand as meaning more and more music. You can give the public an hour of music for the same price that you now give twelve or fifteen minutes. Don't try it — it takes more art to keep your numbers down to twelve minutes or, better, five minutes. Don't let praise of your music numbers turn your head. The music, after all, is only the trimming; the PICTURE IS THE THING. Foolish critics talk about high-brow drama and low-brow pictures. Moving picture audiences form a world of their own. They do not judge pictures by drama standards nor dramas by picture standards. Nor do they go to the two kinds of entertainment for the same reasons. The motion picture is the best friend music ever had. Donald Crisp Will Direct Wanda Hawley's New Picture PRESSURE of other work has forced Sam Woods to resign the assignment to direct Wanda Hawley in "Miss Hobbs," her first production for Realart Pictures Corporation, and Donald Crisp, well-known director of comedy dramas, has been obtained in his place. Mr. Crisp has directed the last five pictures in which Bryant Washburn has appeared, the last of which, "The Six Best Cellars." has been reported to have enjoyed unusual success. He has for some time been known as a character actor for the screen, but recently has devoted most of his time to directing. In the Griffith production of "Broken Blossoms" Mr. Crisp played the role of the prize fighter, and his work was described by dramatic critics as a masterpiece of screen acting. He is equally proficient as an actor and as a director, but in the later work has had his best success with comedies.