Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

72 Admirable examples o£ modernistic furnishings were seen in "Our Dancing Daughters." EMEMBER how the movies used to expend rC reels and reels of good celluloid showing the heroine, surrounded by squads of attendants, getting ready to take a bath in a rnarbleand-crystal apartment as big as a hotel ballroom? And do you recall — not so long ago, either — that often a heroine who was supposed to be a simple, village maiden, or a poor, little shopgirl or something, used to sport garments of cut and material that any woman in the audience knew could only have come from a dressmaker who was expensive enough to be called a modiste? Interiors used to resemble wellstocked furniture stores, and a lady's bedroom — well, really ! It frequently looked like the interior of a cathedral. Or a corner of the sultan's harem in an "Arabian Nights" tale. But those days are gone. Another symptom of the growing-up process, of which we hear so much, is that producers and directors have discovered that sets and costumes may have something to do with telling the story. Max Ree, who designs costumes for First National, says that a picture is made up of concentric circles. The large, outer circle is the setting. This establishes the mood and atmosphere of the story — places it. The second, smaller circle is the costume of the character. This establishes characterization. From his appearance and clothes you gather something of what sort of person he is supposed to be. The center of the circle is, of course, the actor's face. This depicts the emotions which tell the story. Your set designer, therefore, must differentiate nowadays between realism and the art of suggesting atmosphere. Cedric Gibbons, of Metro-Goldwyn, has done some interesting things with modernistic sets — all angles and flat, shining*surfaces. Even? Little Touck Has This interesting article explains why settings and cos aid in telling the story B$ Helen One knows at once, from the first shot of these exaggeratedly sophisticated interiors, that the story will be farce-comedy. One is not to take it too seriously. One is merely to be amused by it. Interesting — that comedy and sophistication may be suggested by the shape of a chair, or the curve of a staircase ! "For instance, in 'The Cardboard Lover,' " Mr. Gibbons explained, "The story was laid in Monte Carlo. But it was an ultrasmart comedy about ultrasophisticated people. Now, the real Monte Carlo is not sophisticated architecturally, and the interior of the casino is heavily overdone. It would have been impossible to make the frothy characters of this story convincing, against the stuffy, ornate background of the actual locale. "Therefore we created a background to suit our story. It became an imaginary Monte Carlo, suited to such people and their tastes. In this manner we could design backgrounds which would fit the story, \ and suggest the atmosphere we were tryj ing to establish. We could, in other words, suggest the mood of Monte Carlo more . easily with imaginary settings, than by imitating the actual ones." I found Edward Jewell, of Pathe, expending much care and thought upon designs for the apartment of a lady of somewhat loose morals and tawdry ideas. "You see," he said, "it is as important that we should know what is wrong in a Ultramodern interiors put over the frothiness of "The Cardboard Lover." The dignity of the Napoleonic era expresses a change of character, as played by Corinne Griffith, in "The Divine Lady."