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The Shadow Stage
A Department of Photoplay Review
By Randolph Bartlett
and Kitty Kelly
In '" Cleopatra " (Fox) Theda Bara rises to heights of tragic expression hitherto unsuspected.
By Mr. Bartlett
SPECTACLES were invented as aids to defective vision. Moving picture spectacles serve much the same purpose. Through the medium of these elaborate and costly productions, producers of photoplays, one by one, are beginning to see clearly this great basic truth:
Public interest in a story, whether told in poem, story, painting, drama or photoplay, is in direct ratio to the recognizable human qualities portrayed therein. Similarly, public interest in a star is in direct ratio to that star's ability to portray recognizable human emotions.
Before pictures had found themselves, when everyone was experimenting, a certain passing interest could be aroused by informing the public that a production cost a million dollars. After viewing a few of these gorgeous affairs (most of which cost not more than one-fourth what was claimed for them) the public ceased to care whether a production cost a million dollars or a plugged nickel. As photoplays began to take their place as a big factor in the social life of the world, the world began to demand that the photoplays reflect life itself.
"Cabiria" was a huge success, in spite of the absence of personal interest in the story, because in its day it was a novelty. "The Birth of a Nation" was a success, not because it was spectacular, but because its theme came right out of the heart of America's greatest
In "A Daughter of Maryland" (Mutual) Edna Goodrich, lithe, petite, sustains her reputation.
crisis. "Intolerance" fell short of great success because it was too darned educational. "A Daughter of the Gods," despite its marvels of beauty, fell short, because the tale was purely artificial. '"Joan the Woman" related an epic fable, but fell just a little short of the intimate, human touch.
Meanwhile the comedy of life was progressing. A Pickford story took in dollars where the spectacles accumulated dimes. The Fairbanks-Emerson-Loos satires leaped into favor. Such mirrors of contemporary life and character as
"The' Pinch Hitter," "Skinner's Dress Suit," and their counterparts, swept the public to their celluloid hearts.
Yet the producers were not satisfied. They wanted to command the admiration, rather than appeal to the affection of their public. So they continue spending vast sums upon magnificent creations, in the sincere belief that they are serving Art with a capital A, not realizing that this elusive goddess has built her altar in the temple of life itself. Not yet have the spectacles served their purpose.
THE WOMAN GOD FORGOT— Artcraft
This is not adverse criticism. It is an attempt to place the spectacle in its own particular niche. "The Woman God Forgot" is a creation of magnificent visas