The Moving picture world (January 1926-February 1926)

262 MOVING PICTURE WORLD January 16, 1926 Woodhull Tells Radio-Picture Fans About the Serious Side of Furnishing Comedy in Address on "Laugh Month" TIE furnishing of laughs tiirough selection of good comedies and proper balancing of his program, is one of the exhibitor's biggest concerns today ; and comedy is fast coming to a position of predominance on the screen — R. F. ("Pete") Woodhull, president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America, said so in a fifteen minute talk to a vast audience of radio and picture fans listening in to the program broadcast from the Radio Corporation of America circuit of stations Wednesday afternoon, January 6. "Pete" talked from station WJZ in New York. "The Art of Making You Laugh," was the subject of Mr. Woodhull's talk, in which he told the fans a -little of the serious side of comedy-making and explained why he was so heartily in favor of the celebration of "Laugh Month" in January. I trust that the folks listening in will pardon me lor a moment while I pay my respects to the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Western Pennsylvania, who are meeting today at Pittsburgh. I say "pay my respects" because it is with the highest regard that I always think of the personnel of that organization. Knowing their sincerity of purpose and the honest endeavor they make to serve their patrons, I trust that their deliberations at the present time will be productive of unlimited good to the motion picture theatre-going public of that vicinity. Explains Industrial Units At the outset permit me to explain for the benefit of those not thoroughly conversant with out industry, that it Is made of three distinct departments; namely, the producer, the distributor, and the exhibitor. In other lines, these departments parallel the producer, the jobber and the retailer. I am speaking for the latter unit — the retailer — or perhaps, as you know him, the motion picture theatre owner, who retails to you, the public, the product or picture produced and distributed by the first two units. It is my thought that a theatre just as much as any other institution has its own important part to play in the rendition of community service, and is one of the five great educators, namely, the pulpit, the press, the school, the radio, and the screen. The latter is an universal language. No printed word or wonderful oratory can be understood in every language and in every country, but a picture depicting mother-love, comedy, drama, or any other situation, registers with all the people throughout the universe. All this is merely a foreword to the message it is my pleasure to convey to you today. Why "Laugh Month" The month of January has been dedicated to laughter by an association of gentlemen in our industry who devote their efforts to the production of the shorter subjects of the motion picture programs; and may I say, speaking for the theatre owners, that the time has arrived when it has become necessary for us to pay quite as much attention in the planning of our entertainments to these most important featurettes as to the longer features, and I am quite sure If you will ask the theatre owner or manager in your community, he will tell you that one of his greatest worries Is the art of making you laugh. It is a very serious matter, and while January is being celebrated as "Laugh Month," and the theatre owners all ov«r the country are making a special effort R. f. WOODHULL Pr( sident, Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America. to keep the brighter side of life foremost, one of the principal reasons that I so hearily welcome this promotion of laughter el because of the fact that it is directing the attention of the movie fan quite seriously to the matter of comedy. If there is any group of workers In motion pictures who give much to picture lovers and I am afraid receive little in the way of recognition, it is the splendid group of fine men. and women who are devoting their lives to making you happier through laughter. You may not have realized it before, but comedy is an absolute essential to a wellrounded bill of entertainment, and yet too often you have perhaps accepted it as a matter of course, and when the laughs are over, and you have been one of the many to write admiring letters to the stars, you have perhaps overlooked forwarding a little word of encouragement to the comedy artists who, for a few moments, at least, lifted the weight of worry and tears, of which our average lives are all too full, and made these lives happier with a laugh. It is perhaps due to the fact that you have neglected to tell your local theatre manager how much you enjoyed the short subjects that he has in many cases devoted his entire time to the selection of his feature, and purchased his short subjects with the idea of their being fillers instead of featurettes. Putting it to Test The best test of the Importance of comedy, novelty or news reels is for you to attend a theatre, if possible, where the entire evening is devoted to showing of a long dramatic feature. Fortunately, all of this is being changed, and "Laugh Month" is the best evidence of the new position of importance which the comedies and their makers are taking to the march of screen progress. After all, in this regard the screen is Just following the course of the stage, only doing it very much more rapidly. Early stage productions were tragedies. All productions in the famous old Greek amphitheatres were tragic productions, the majority of them most gruesome. Then, in later centuries, we began to have drama, then the comedy drama, and so on, until today in America, the most successful of all stage productions are in the comedy class, either musical comedies or some other form of comedy performance. Vaudeville, long recognized as one of the most successful entertainment institutions of our country, depends almost entirely upon balance of program, and by balance I mean a large percentage of laughter. And so comedy is fast coming to a position of predominance in motion picture entertainment. Many of the big feature productions of this season have been out-andout comedies, and the dramatic director today who fails to Inject into his picture a plentiful supply of comedy relief has put forth his creation under a most terrific handicap. It is, however, the briefer comedies In which we are most interested during January, "Laugh Month," and I do not feel I have to direct your attei;tion to the Improvement in quality manifested in the shorter subjects during the last few seasons. Not so many years ago these comedy subjects were often a contest of rude falls and pie throwing. The man on the studio lot whose funniest face would stop the most pies in one reel was generally the star. Some of these pictures were made with the rudest sor*. of simple settings, or were made with scenery just abandoned by some dramatic company and turned over to the comedy director for his use for a short time before the carpenters tore it down to make ready for the next dramatic feature. Differs from Early Shorts The comedy featurette of today is just as different from this type of picture, as the greatest spectacles showing in our finest theatres are different from "The Great Train Robbery," that crude and simple subject which really marked the dawn of the motion picture drama. Many of the two-reel films that make you roar with laughter represent six to eight weeks or more of constant work by huge studio organizations and in their making It is often necessary to photograph 8,000 to 10,000 feet of film to get the 2,000 feet of finished product, in order that you may laugh for twenty minutes. At the present time a large number of the greatest studios in Los Angeles are devoted entirely to comedy production, and a number of others, both on the "West Coast and In the East, are devoting much of their effort to the making of laugh pictures. In the West the great Christie, Educational, Hal Roach and Mack Sennett Studios are comedy producing plants exclusively. Other great studios such as those conducted by Universal, Fox and Film Booking Offices, put much of their time and effort into the short comedies. So you see the art of making you laugh is a serious problem, not only with the producers and distributors, but with your own motion picture theatre owner — the man who arranges the progrrams for your entertainment and actually presents them on the screen. I sincerely hope that during this month of January you will secure an unlimited store of healthful laughter, and also that in the future you will remember that your local theatre manager has a problem that has never dawned upon you before. Help him by telling him if you like the short subject section of his program, because after all his one and only thought is to please you. Thank you.