Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1923 - Feb 1924)

69 Hollywood High Lights The merry-go-round of affairs in the western cinemetropolis. By Edwin and Elza Schallert IN the future the stars of the pictures may never see the settings on which they are supposed to iplay. That is what a clever and advanced thinker in the films recently told us, and personally, we believe that this is approximately true. What he meant, of course, is that miniatures will eventually take the place of actual scenes. Double-exposure photography will solve the riddle of how the acting will appear to merge with the backgrounds on the screen. Really, the technique of film-making is advancing at an astonishing pace. Some of the latest innovations are startling in their cleverness. In the photoplay, "Six Days," made from the Elinor Glyn story, the characters appear to be walking down a real street in a city in Prance without being anywhere near the place. There wasn't even a semblance of a setting, we are told, except possibly for a series of stone steps, supposedly leading up to a cathedral. For the most part, the surroundings consisted' <of what are known as white "flats" — that is, just plain pieces of white cloth tacked up on frames to cut off all signs of extraneous everyday life. Exactly how the effect of a French background was thus secured, is something of a studio secret. This much we do know and that is a photograph, or at least a picture of some sort, did the trick. We understand that it was complete to. the cobblestones, over which the players were presumed to walk, and that their feet actually seemed to touch this alien road. We hear that there is now even a scheme for inserting in the motion-picture camera itself some sort of small' contrivance, pos'sibly something like a stereopticon slide, or an artistic photographic reproduction that will transfer the locale for certain types of scenes, to any part of the world desired from Patagonia to Kamchatka. A greater actuality will thus be secured than with the constructed sets, and the players may eventually more truly seem to be picking figs in Smyrna and shopping in Paris than they could in the past, in sets built within the studio. Hush Stuff. Curiously enough, somebody is always crying "Sh-h!" whenever these things are mentioned. William de Mille, for instance, recently sent out notice that he was going to put the ban on any publicity that tended to throw light on what went on behind the scenes. He argued that he had received several letters that deplored revelations that tended to "destroy the illusion." He said, in addition, that showing the secrets of his technique would be as if a magician disclosed how he did his tricks. Of course, this is perfectly all right, no doubt, from the De Mille viewpoint. The letters possibly were also sincere, but they are rather beside the f Out at the F. B. 0. Studios Derelys Perdue is introducing water golf. point So too is the comparing of the technique of the pictures to that of a magician. It places the producers in the class of vaudeville performers rather than serious dramatic artists. It makes' their success dependent on deceiving the public. We have never seen the need for this deception. What difference does it make how much the public knows of how effects are produced if the effects themselves are good? These things are purely incidental anyway to the worth of the story and theme. They are wonderful, and tend to prove how far the pictures may go in visualizing nature and: life and phenomena, either real or imaginative. . A knowledge of what can be done in the use of miniatures, and the great vista that this opens up, will undoubtedly interest in the films more and, perhaps, even finer minds than have been attracted heretofore, and' in the end this will work toward1 a higher artistic fulfillment. No Time for Play. It has been a busy fall season. Nobody has had any time to go frivolhrg in New York, buying Frances gowns, dining at the Ritz or attending premieres as is usually in order at this time. The stars are all working harder than ever before. Several explanations may be advanced for this. The first is that picture making is proceeding at a much slower and steadier rate. The big costume productions require a lot of time, and the number of small features, outside of those made by fly-by-night concerns, is constantly diminishing. In the second place, several of the stars, notably Mary Pickford, who have been uncertain about their future, have suddenly found themselves, and are making plans to follow up their new anticipated success. Mary is now working on "Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall." She has engaged Marshall Neilan as director, and also is apparently so well pleased with what Lubitsch did in "Rosita" that she has secured him for one production a year for the next three years. Thirdly, the income from the larger productions like "Robin Hood" and "The Covered Wagon" has stimulated the producers to a tremendously increased effort. The success of these photoplays is1 proof positive that the public is interested in paying money for what is really worth while. This is, after all, the major cause for any sort of booming of endeavor. On the Preferred List. /j1 Prominent among the features now I under way are : "Beau Brummel." John Barrymore is I the star, and Mary Astor the lily-white heroine. Irene Rich will portray the Duchess of York. "Black Oxen," Corinne Griffith is to be seen in the much-coveted lead, and that's saying a lot for the welfare of the picture. "Three Weeks." Tiger-skinrug thrills, with modern elaborations. Aileen Pringle will Photo by Grenbeaux