Picture Play Magazine (Jul - Dec 1929)

58 Tke Stroll er Shrewd comment on the idiosyncrasies of the movies and some of their people. By Neville Rea? Illustrated by Lui Trugo IT'S all a question of credit — or credits. From time to time the industry has heen agitated hy moves to eliminate credits on the screen, the idea being that the extra reel of film would give the producers something to play with in their effort to achieve entertainment. An extra reel of action would be room enough for a glittering, gorgeous galaxy of emotional play by Sarah Heimer, the most scintillating beauty on the screen — with a tintinnabulous voice as full of meaning as an assistant director's promise of stardom. My opinion — having seldom written anything that could get screen credit — is that these beautifully molded titles with strange names, that sound like a passenger list on the combination freightpassenger local to Centerville, could be eliminated without loss. And I further suggest that this footage be not filled by action, but be used for the philanthropical purpose of shortening the show. I further hope that this will not encourage exhibitors to toss in another painful talking short of some third-rate vaudevillian, who needed the one hundred dollars for giving his act away to save himself from starving. We didn't have to go to vaudeville unless we wanted to, in the past, but now if we go to pictures at all, we must take it or leave it. Film editors, assistant directors, wardrobe designers, and prop boys probably insist upon the credits, under the illusion that they have fan clubs all over the country adoring them and picking out the pictures they work on to honor with their attendance. To become logical for a moment, what do their names mean, even in Hollywood ? They have nothing to do with whether a picture is good or bad. They have to work on whatever picture is assigned them. The work is the same on a flop as it is on a hit, so far as these people are concerned. However, it does help some of them personally in Hollywood. If, by chance, they work on a hit, they flash a copy of the title on some producer and maybe get a job at some other studio. Not to complicate this matter too much, let's use the screen for these credits only in Hollywood. Use a slide like the following: New shows on Broadway are lacking in fresh music, because the first, second, and third-rate song writers are all in Hollywood cleaning up. Wardrobe— Joe Shoe. Fired Sept. 15. Tel. Gr. 9999. Props— Sam Cohn. Fired Aug. 10. Will take $20 a week. Tel. Gr. 2070. I feel certain no one would ever telephone a studio. But this is all a bit futile. Talking pictures have more than 'doubled the credits, and color photography has added its line. Now we include the names of sound engineers, recording experts, song writers, music publishers, the electrical company, and we even know which of several methods is used to produce sound — provided we read the titles. Since the thing has gone to such ends, I am in favor of putting the thing on the up and up. Let's be honest and give credit where credit is deserved, even if it adds to the length of the reading matter. Let's do it this way. SIMON PURE PRESENTS "ORANGE PASSION" STARRING CACTUS BLOSSOM Face Mr. Blossom Voice Otto Schultz, Jr. Feet, in dances W. Nathan Tobriner Hands, in pantomime Jim Thomas Body, in fights Donald Kirby Double, for stunts "Longshot" O'Brien Double, for love scenes E. L. Davis Then when all that's done, let's form a fan club and go gathering nuts every Saturday afternoon. For some one to compose an eighteen-day-diet crossword puzzle would be one of the heights of something, combining, as it would, two forms of common insanity. The only thing I hope is, that the diet won't get space on the printed page as long as cross-word puzzles have. I am printing herewith The Stroller's special diet for Western stars' horses. Breakfast — one wisp of straw, two grapefruit seeds, water ; lunch — two munches of fresh grass, one quarter carrot, water, one grapefruit seed ; dinner — ten grains of oats, one grapefruit seed, tea. When the horse has come through this, send him to President Hoover for exercising — or eating.