Picturegoer (1923)

66 PictKjre s and Pict\jre ^ver NOVEMBER 1923 '^ITHIN the December issue of The Picturcgoer you will find many more pages than usual, some of them in colours. It is to be the best issue we Concerning have ever pub Cliristmastide. lished, and will be packed with seasonable articles and stories. A special feature is a Complete Guide to lieauty, specially compiled by a number of leading screen artists ; there are al.so interviews with Rex Ingram and Alice Terry, Gladys Cooper, George Arliss, and others; the story of Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood; Dancing Time, by Flora Le Breton, and a beautiful two-colour frontispiece of Rudolph Valentino as " Julio," in The Four Horsemen. This last in response to many requests. The charming coloured Christmas cover has been specially posed for you by Ivy Duke. ]\/TAP>I':L Forrest (Mrs. Uryant Washburn), sends us a thought the six essentials of a good These are," says Mabel, " (1). A c t i on . Sub-titles merely beg the question. It is better to reconstruct than to have too many sub-titles. (2). i:)irectness. The old adage ' hew to the line ' is a good one to follow, and counterplots only distract. (3). Naturalness. Whilst every effort should be made towards originality, naturalness shoujfi never be sacrificed to gain that end. (4). lU-auty. Too much contrast is a mistake, and tinre|)iilsive should never be allowed to submerge the biautifnl. (5). A definitf object. What is the theme? At what is tlie author driving? He must have a clear motive and aim upon movie. According to Mabel. for it by the most direct route. (6). Clearly defined characters. Inconsistent people exist in feal life, we know, but they do not count very much. Leading figures in a drama must stand out with cameo clearness." Excellent. What do you think? IN the January issue one or two old features will be discarded and many new ones inaugurated. Some of these are suggestions sent in by yourselves. Let's All Amongst them Be Editors ! were the following, and I should like to know which of these find most favour in the eyes of everybody. You can have until the end of this month to make your choice and advi.'ie me which suggestions to adopt and which to discard. It will be a lesson to you in the arduous task of editing a movie magazine, and if you know of any better suggestions, why, go to it, and send them along. Here are those waiting your approval : A critical article upon the best films of the month, pointing out high lights in acting, lighting, direction, etc. Publishing the full casts (with the film Make names as well as your Choice, those of the actors) of the month's releases in a separate column to Picturegoer's Guide. A full analysis of a movie star each month by an expert phrenologist and character reader; Their Planets and ]'(Uirs, a monthly article about the famous movie folk and their guiding stars. Astrology is a fascinating science, and many firmly believe that the planets inlluence the character of those born beneath their rule. A series of articles by famous stars upon Health and Beauty. These are five ideas which appeal to us. What do you think? CPEAKING upon Art and the Kinema recently, George Pearson, the famous Welsh-Pearson director, defineci Art as " A suggestion through Great material means of Thoughts. feelings which are formless." " That much abused word ' Art,' " he declared, " is popularly supposed to refer to some rarefied form of pleasure to be enjoyed only by cultured minds. But Art is something far greater. By Art alone is the imagination nurtured, the soul fTred, and the whole of life invigorated. It is in a resemblance between the feeling conceived by the Artist and the feeling produced by his work that the poetry of Art lies. And the moving picture is a thing of moods, not of words, of eye play, built up emotion by emotion, not action by action ; it, means tremendously more than the mechanical moving about of figures. The capture of emotion is greater than the Euclidian logicality of story so much beloved of ' Continuity ' writers." I wish I could quote the whole of the speech made by this British genius. I think we ought to feel very proud that Pearson is a Britisher. What do you think? LJERE'S a Cheshire correspondent's views upon the same subject "Phyllis (Yorkshire), is right.' W'e do want more pictures of high artistic quality," writes Thinker (Cheshire. " Films too commonplace theme which is far from interesting, for, as Phyllis says, it is no use paying to see the things we witness in our everydav lives. There are plenty of wonderful stories in history, which would make splendid films, if done by a competent producer. What we want in films is artistic quality. The word Art is largely associated with Beauty (and who does not like beautiful pictures?). More attention should be paid by film producers to pictorial composition. But in some pictures we do see an attempt made at composition, as in (iriffith's Orphans of the Storm. Nazimova's, Mae Murray's, and Swedish films. The film could and should be one of the highest and most ennobling of arts." Tin: Thinkkr. Art and the Kinema often have a