Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1926)

48 Are Every now and then, some one of im PtCtures portance raises the question of whether Cpfirna mov^es are improving or retrograd „ % ing ; whether they are a good thing or Better. an evjj_ William Allen White recently reopened this discussion in an article which characterized the movies as being distinctly not worth while. No movie fan is going to agree with Mr. White, and there is no need for us to defend motion pictures from his attack. In the interest, however, of the more discriminating fans — those who are principally interested in such pictures as meet with the approval of critical taste — it might be well, at this time, to inquire into the future prospects for the production of that type of screen material. The answer, in the main, is that the outlook is good, despite the setbacks that producers have usually had when they have seriously tried to offer to the public films made to please the more discriminating taste. It is true that many of the so-called "best" pictures have been failures, and that producers are not likely to make many films in the near future such as "Anna Christie," for example. Fortunately, however, a type has been evolved which, while meeting the approval of the great masses, appeals also to the more discriminating. That type of picture includes "The Covered Wagon," "The Big Parade," and "Stella Dallas." That type may be characterized as having great simplicity and sincerity ; its characters are real, human people, rather than conventional, theatrical lay figures ; above all, the story is convincing. And because stories of that type have reaped such golden harvests, producers are certain to make even greater efforts along similar lines. Our Entertainment is More Varied Another factor that is making pictures more interesting to the discriminating fan is the greater variety of theme, treatment, and players. A few years ago, when each picture was but a vehicle for exploiting a stock star, there was bound to be a certain sameness in films. That still obtains, to some extent. But stars are no longer forced upon the public unless their drawing power is assured ; nor can they keep their places as stars after their vogue has passed its peak. The number of star vehicles is proportionately smaller, and the most popular stars — the perennial favorites — help to keep our screen entertainment varied by appearing only once or twice a year, instead of once a month, as formerly. That is unfortunate for the fan whose interest in the screen is centered on one individual, but is better for those who are interested in varied entertainment. Still greater variety is assured in future by the reciprocal arrangement through which a limited number of the best German productions are promised for the American theaters, and though German pictures have not, in the past, caught the American audience's fancy, to any marked degree, we hope and believe that some of the newer German pictures that are to be shown, such as those that were described in last month's Picture-Play, will meet with much more approval here in America. Save Your Copies of PicturePlay With this continued variety in pictures, and because, more and more, the big special type of picture is to be made, there is more and more reason for the thoughtful fan to follow carefully the developments in the industry from month to month in Picture-Play Magazine, and to save each copy for future reference. A great deal is printed, for example, about such a picture as "Ben-Hur" or "The Big Parade" while it is in the making, yet such a film does not', reach most of the fans until months after its first showing. If you save your copies of Picture-Play, you can, when such a picture comes to your theater, look up everything that was printed about it, with verv little effort, by referring to the alphabetically arranged index which is printed twice a year, in the January and July issues. Fashionable Audiences Fashionable audiences have a curious way of doing the unexpected thing. For instance, in New York, although the big picture houses on Broadway get their quota of socially prominent patrons, smaller theaters, further uptown and nearer to the smart residential districts, are especially favored by this clientele. Also at Newport, the most exclusive summer resort in America, the movies are popular, and long lines of expensive automobiles are seen each evening, during July and August, drawn up in the vicinity of the theaters where the most expensive seats are thirty-five cents each. Men and women in evening clothes may be seen side by side with sailors from the training station or from warships in the harbor. Some of the most fashionable people at Newport are persistent movie patrons. And what sort of films are favored by these discriminating individuals ? The very sort one would least imagine ! They seem distinctly inclined to snicker at movie ideas concerning the smart set, and at exaggerated movie conceptions of select existence. On the other hand, fashionable audiences at Newport and in New York have frequently expressed emphatic approval of exciting melodramas, film delineations of Western stories, and slapstick farce comedies. Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and the other star comedians, are very popular with the Social Register element. But the average interpretations of society butterflies are not regarded seriously.