Moving Picture World (Sep 1916)

September 16, 1916 THE MOVING PIC] URE WORLD 1S09 Directors With Dramatic Instinct Needed ® a a William Parke, Producer of 'The Shine Girl", Discusses Photoplay Requirements Conclusions Drawn from Twenty Years on the Stage and One Year in the Studio WILLIAM PARKE does not belong to the old school of photoplay directors; rather he belongs to the new school that is not bound by conventions merely because so-and-so in some bygone day started making pictures in such-and-such a fashion. He is a progressive director who in one year of studio experience with the Thanhouser Company lias turned out a surprising number of good pictures in a surprisingly short time. And the best of them all, up to date, is "The Shine Girl," released by Pathe under the inviting line of "The Peg O' My Heart" of the screen. Picture people do not know much about Mr. Parke and his work as yet; but it is a safe venture that they will soon. Some twenty years ago he went on the stage determined to succeed, and he kept climbing up the ladder until he became stage manager for actors such as E. H. Sothern, Richard Mansfield and Arnold Daly. For four seasons he was stage director for John Craig's stock company in Boston; next he conducted the William Parke stock company in Pittsfield, Mass., on a plane that excited favorable notice throughout the country; then, to top off an energetic theatrical career, he prepared seven "Potash and Perlmutter" companies for the road. With this task accomplished, he went to the Thanhouser studio to learn how photoplays were made, and now the perseverance and energy that carried him so far on the stage are at the service of the new art. He is not satisfied with producing good pictures; he wants to make the best. Recognizing a limited exeprience with screen drama, Mr. Parke talks modestly, expressing conviction only where his theories have been tested and found practicable. "To me," he said, "the most hopeful sign in the picture situation is the fact that photoplays which were considered good enough a few years ago will not pass muster to-day. There has been improvement, but there must be still more, and a great deal depends upon the caliber of the directors. We need better acting in order to interest an audience in the characters in a story, for that after all is what counts when thrills and spectacles have reached their limit. And to get better acting we must have directors with a strong dramatic sense, which is inborn, not acquired, and has nothing to do with a knowledge of mechanical requirements in photographing a scene. "Probably you recall instances where actors you know to be effective on the stage have been disappointing on the screen. Generally the actor is blamed if he drags through a picture in a listless manner, or he is exonerated on the grounds of not photographing well. I believe that nine times out of ten the fault lies with the direction. The best way to get a convincing expression is to stir thoughts in a player's mind that will be reflected naturally on his features. A mechanical repetition of given gestures means little unless there is feeling behind it, yet in the methods adopted in most studios where the day passes wearily in unnecessary waits and protracted rehearsals there is everything to deaden a sensitive artist's emotions. He goes through the scene in a perfunctory manner and does not at all give the best that is in him. William Parke. "Then consider tin matter from another an^i"1 The man who makes a picture is at once the player's directoi and his audience. On the stage thru is the inspiration derived from the spectator! on the other side of the footlights; also there is dialogue that means something, and the atmosphere is conducive to the iiiuiicl demanded at the time. It is the business of the director to know what these moods should be, to appreciate tin: temperament of his players and to awaken a responsive spirit without which successful dramatic interpretation of any kind is impossible. This cannot be done by shouting commands to be fulfilled with slight appreciation of their meaning. "While i believe that trained players arc a requisite in the leading roles of a picture, it is often possible to get the best out of "bits' with people who possess the dramatic instinct, but know nothing about acting, something that cannot be done on the stage. I think this was evidenced in 'The Shine Girl.' A character that stands out because of correctness of type was played by an aged Italian boot-maker found on the east side of New York. When he came to the studio he had no idea of what was expected of him and he could not understand a word of English. I played the part myself, laughed when I wanted him to laugh and scowled at the proper moment, and after a few trials he followed in a most convincing fashion. In making 'Prudence the Pirate' I had a somewhat similar experience with a boy selected from a group of youngsters hanging about the studio. As soon as he had forgotten his embarrassment he acted the part far more satisfactorily than would most of our trained stage children." Mr. Parke is insistent upon the necessity of more intelligent acting in pictures because only through life-like portrayals may a photoplay become human, and it is the human quality, above all else, that he wants to achieve. Farewell Luncheon for Terry Ramsaye Confreres of Mutual Publicity Head on Eve of His Departure for Chicago Express Regret at Losing Him. TERRY RAMSAYE was the guest of honor at a luncheon tendered him at the Claridge on August 29. Mr. Ramsaye, who is the head of the publicity department of the Mutual Film Corporation, was slated to leave New York at the end of the week to take up his work at the new headquarters of the Mutual in Chicago. There were thirty-five of his brother advertising men, film men and trade press representatives seated about him when Arthur James, toastmaster, announced Hopp Hadley as press agent, Harry Reichenbach as advertising manager and Carl Pierce as business manager. Each of these, as well as Lesley Mason and Fred Gunning, paid their compliments to Mr. Ramsaye, congratulated him on the quality of his work, expressed the hope that he would be able to break down the Chinese wall around a certain one of the Chicago newspapers, and assured him there was a hearty welcome awaiting him should events so turn that he came back to New York. Mr. Ramsaye — old Terry Ramsaye, the Rewrite Man, as Hopp Hadley described him — replied briefly to the expressions of good will, saying he had not had time to get around as much among his associates in film advertising circles as* he would have liked. He wanted them to know, however, that he heartily appreciated the compliment implied by the presence of so many of his brother workers. Those present included Arthur James, Terry Ramsaye, Hopp Hadley, Harry Reichenbach, John C. Flinn, William Wright, Sam Spedon, C. Lanning Masters, Harry King Tootles, Fred Gunning. Paul Gulick, Nat Rothstein, Julian Solomon, Lyman O. Fiske, Jacques Kopfstein, Bill Barry, Benjamin P. Schulberg, W. P. Milligan, Pete J. Schmid, Henry James, Harry Ennis, Carl Pierce, O. H. Harris, R. M. Vandivert. E. R. Schayer, Lesley Mason, Wallace Thompson, James Milligan, Victor M. Shapiro, Charles Burr, Albert A. Cormier, Charles R. Condon, Gerald C. Duffy, P. A. Parsons, Allen L. Haase and George Blaisdell. CRANE IN ADIRONDACKS. Having completed his final picture for the Paragon Company, in which Lew Fields was starred, Director Frank Crane is taking his first vacation in three years and is making a tour of the Adirondacks. Mr. Crane has had several offers for his services, but will make no definite plans until he returns to the city.