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92 TECHNIQUE OF THE PHOTOPLAY the police, the mother on her death bed while the son gambles and drinks in some bar-room, in short any parallel action in which one scene gains added strength through contrast with the other. But it is as a means of creating suspense that the cut-back has been found to possess the greatest value. The suspense cut-back at once quickens the action and delays the climax. One example of the cut-back has been given in Chapter Six, but it is capable of being handled in many ways. One familiar form is the drug clerk that dispenses poison in mistake for some harmless remedy. In straight action we would see the clerk discover his mistake and rush out, we see the mes- senger walking along the street. The clerk catches up with him and takes away the bottle. In three not particularly effective scenes the entire action has been played. Cutting back we see the messenger and the clerk in alternate flashes. Now the boy is delayed and we think the clerk will catch him, now the delay falls to the clerk and the boy steals a ride on a truck, gaining a greater lead. The clerk appeals to an automo- bilist, but in the next scene our hopes are dashed because we see the boy on the steps delivering the medicine. All of this time we have flashed between the boy and the clerk with perhaps a glimpse or two into the sick room. Now we alternate between the sick room and the clerk because the boy has become unimportant. The medicine is about to be administered when the clerk rushes in, just in the nick of time. Instead of three scenes perhaps twenty have been played and in all that time our nerves have been kept a-tingle. The number of flashes to be used cannot be definitely stated since it varies with the story, but it is well not to give too many. Some directors will cut-back six times and others may take ten. It is better to write in the six and leave it to the director to add more if he desires them. In figuring the cut-backs it should be remembered that it is not the number of scenes but their length which determines the full length of the reel. Ten five-second flashes take no more film than one fifty-second scene. Do not be frightened at the way the scene numbers pile up. Figure the length and be reassured. Let us take one more dramatic example. Judson is the object of the insane hatred of Smith, a lunatic. Judson lives alone in a house far from the habitations of others. He is sick and without attendance, utterly helpless. Smith escapes from his keepers and heads straight for Judson's home. The keepers, knowing what is likely to happen, start in pursuit. At first the pursuit lies between Smith and the keepers. Once or twice there comes a flash of Jud •