Screenland (Nov 1929-Apr 1930)

(MOVIES in the SCREENLAND Motion Pictures and Radio — Two Great Industries Allied. Latest Developments of Interest Reported By Julia Shawell MOVIE fans who have been waiting for Greta Garbo to walk into their living rooms by way of wireless, flappers who have anticipated the sudden and realistic apparition of a smiling John Gilbert on their boudoir walls some rainy night, must hold their hopes longer. Television, in spite of optimistic reports to the contrary, is still in its elementary stage and is due for a long period of experimentation before it is commercially marketable. That much was indicated at the Radio World's Fair held in Madison Square Garden, New York, recently. THE intense interest of the public in Television and the extreme optimism, partially warranted by glowing accounts of new discoveries, was emphasized at the radio show. Many new devices and improvements in the industry were slighted by visitors in favor of the radio television demonstrations. Announcement that Bebe Daniels, Irene Bordoni, Estelle Taylor and others were actually to record visibly as well as vocally on the new invention drew thousands to the exhibit. These stars did appear and their appearance was interesting but the recording was not what might have been expected. Leo Reisman, whose syncopating rhythms are the rage now, broadcasts for the RKO hour on the National Broadcasting Chain. WHAT the public supposed it would view was suggested by the inquiries and comments. People interested had been led to believe that Miss Daniels and her associates would be seen in lifesize moving figures projected by radio on a screen that might be installed in theaters or in any home. THAT is the ultimate aim of television but the present condition in this new link between moving pictures and radio is far from its intended purpose. The idea of having Richard Dix obtrude his athletic form into a Kansas parlor some harvest night is a swell idea for the Kansas farms. And a lumber camp in Oregon might be considerably cheered by the sudden appearance of Clara Bow in one of her hulahula moments. But right now, the unsatisfactory substitute is a foot-square likeness which can be broadcast from especially equipped wireless stations and received on rare and highly expensive contraptions. These pictures are being sent out frequently from Schenectady and Pittsburgh but they are quite like the television broadcasts which were tried out during 1927 and 1928. IF the demonstration at the Radio World's Fair represents the latest phase of the television, then few or no strides have been made in the past year. There has been the intimation that recent progress in both size of the picture which may be sent and the clarity and range of the broadcast were not shown at the Fair but may be expected at a later special demonstration. STILL on the subject of television, it is just as well that ardent radio and movie fans may not see some of the singers who croon their favorite theme songs over some of the most popular wavelengths. The idea of getting the combination of a microphone voice and a camera face is going to present some problems when visual radio finally arrives. In one of the big Manhattan studios the other night a divine voice was lilting lyrics of The Pagan Love Song and it was fortunate the enthralled listeners didn't see the fat Don Juan who was broadcasting. The Pagan Love Song, by the way, which Ramon Novarro so romantically sang in his picture, "The Pagan," topped all other sellers among the music publishers a month ago. A good song injected in an entertaining picture became such a favorite radio number that every set owner knew the tune by heart before Novarro's vehicle had reached his town. Bebe Daniels' voice, broadcast from California, was a major attraction at the Radio World's Fair in New York. Bebe sang three songs from "Rio Rita." FOR the first time a motion picture producing company with air affiliations has had an official radio orchestra to interpret its own music on a national hook-up. Leo Reisman, whose syncopating rhythms are the rage in New York, moves over from the exclusive Central Park Casino every Tuesday night for the RKO hour on the National Broadcasting Company chain. Reisman, who introduced a new note in dance music, provides a musical background for the broadcast presentations, and gives his own renditions of the songs sung by Radio Pictures stars in their screen productions. THIS is the year when the union of radio and the cinema is proving almost a monoply in the entertainment world.