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Moving Picture
WORLD
Founded in ltyOJ by %J. P. Chalmers
This Is Oar Industry
A
TWIRL of the hand of Fate out in Hollywood and — rightly or wrongly — a player finds herself enmeshed in the headlines.
A day on the front page, a day or two on the inside pages — then out of sight and out of mind.
When the dust settles, the day for payment of the penalty arrives. In this case, on whom is the most severe punishment to be levied?
On the player? On the irresponsible whose vagrant act precipitated the situation? No! — on the distributor who has a quarter million dollars invested in the player's latest production.
A picture that is as clean as fresh blown breezes; a picture that in all justice is as far removed from the unfortunate happening as the poles from each other; a picture that was well on its way to remarkable success when Fate fired a bullet.
And struck the innocent bystander.
BUT here is a strange thing. At a time when the public's mind is shifting to the latest headline, at a time when such responsible organizations as Archbishop Glennon's St. Louis Censorship Committee are placing their stamp of approval on the picture and withholding judgment on the player — pseudo-important individuals within the industry are rushing forward to plant a kick —
On the innocent bystander!
It is a situation as unfair as it is unfortunate, as unwise as it is uncalled for.
This is our industry.
At the moment when the public is evidencing an attitude of fairness and an ability to differentiate between the PICTURE and the PERSON— we should be the last to rush rashly into words.
Words cannot be recalled; but words often prove boomerangs.
And there is no individual in this business — or any other for that matter — who can effectually and
completely protect himself from entanglement at the unlucky moment that Fate sets aim on the innocent bystander.
There is no quarrel with the ACTIONS of any individual in the industry in regard to the present situation. The actions of all of us must at all times be in willing and sincere obedience to the DEMANDS OF OUR PUBLIC.
That is flat, and fundamental.
If our public be the three thousand inhabitants of Maintown, or the five million of New York — that public is our master.
The master is satisfied with deeds. Our fawning may as often be misplaced as it is unnecessary.
In situations of this sort we ask the public to withhold judgment until all the facts are in. The public is doing so; that is clear to anyone experienced in analyzing mass reactions.
The least we can do is to be fair to ourselves — and FOLLOW the public. That is also the MOST — the best — we can do.
The public simmers and froths,, makes missteps and hasty decisions. But the sober second thought of the public was never wrong, whether it carried out the original decision or reversed an error.
-each of us, in
This is our industry.
We must live by it and with itstudio, office or theater.
In the course of the year we escape many kicks that we should get, we feel the sting of blows that we deserve, but we also cringe often under punishment that is unmerited.
So let's remember : This is our industry.
And let us be the last to indulge in the fiendish glee of kicking our own, of stealing headlines at the expense of our own.