Show I PERCY HAMMONDS HAMMOND'S LETTER Tin ore rj i INFLUENCE ox ON THE TIlE IRAM DRAMA Among Amons the th New ew Note Notes that hate e recently crept Into the tho Theater Is one concerned with the criticisms of or the night first au- au aud au d l used to be bo that dur- dur durl luff dur-luff l g the the th Intermissions little HUla groups of 01 drama discussed the th technique e of the th play its exposi exposition tion devel ent tension suspension Mon sion preparation probability chance coincidence logic and Those were the 1 when Aristotle and were In scholarly walk side con con- conferences con conference ference upon the works of Sam Sam- Samuel Samuel uel tiel Shipman and nd Avery Aery Hopwood Sero ere the tho circumstances ot of the t tale lo propelled Inevitably from It it characters and was the Obliga- Obliga Obligatory tory tory Scene climatic Was the speech to those who spoke It and th doubt doubt- proof doubt proof A multitude ot of similar t were debated between the acts and Broadway a 1 premier re- re rei re i a session of Professor Bakers Bakera Yale theatrical ium lum TILE S-TILE S PLEASE SE No Now the the th principal question talked about In tn the th foyers loers Is l Will WIll It melee make a good movie movLe We W e oak ask one another not If It the pia play Is te life like but It If It I Is fitted to be b photographed photographed d Subjected to the Cinemas Cinema's magic amplifications will 11 ill It Its morals moral and manner hear bear scrutiny when exposed In the th Paramount the th Rl and the The answer usually Is Yes Yea Dramatists nowadays are arc as 1 much under the Influence of ot the Camera as any other class clans ot of hu- hu human humn hu human man mn being Everyone Everone Is being photographed from Irom the th elder eider Rockefeller to the latest set et of E East st Side Sido triplets from Irom tho the ne near near- near nudo nude nudo debutantes In Miami to Q a suIcide In the morgue Eastman is hi made the nation con camera cloua If 4 T Te Th e playwrights naturally lly fol- fol follow fol tol follow low ow the tb trend ot of jho ho times a andas and d II as they create their thel creations theY pose peso for tor Famous Pl Lasky tits the Verner Bro Bros or Gold Metro Meyer wyn-Meyer They have more n- n ex excuses cusce for tor their postures th than n most of us have h vo I can imagIne a dna dra- dra dramatist matist at work ork In his hi studio doIng 11 s I best hest to compose a fine tine drama O 0 r r one on shoulder peers peera no nd ov over r th other other Cecil Do Mule Mille both of ot them goo goading him on to tor IU lul m film stuff In hi his plays 1108 and t promising rewards reward beyond the ot of o avarice What can he hodo do but to say with the th questiOn questiOn- 1 1 v ar in 11 King Kinc John E 13 I II 1 book and nod candle shall not drive me m back Mn gold eold and silver lher beck me to come corn on THOU I JILOT When Ml 3 Zoe Zoc kina wrote Thou Desperate Pilot she sh must th thi th for have 1 been I suppose that In th raya film tUm reincarnation th hi little American girl Birl who sinned with an English nobleman nobl ro n and whO jumped thereafter Into the M Medi Mediterranean dl- dl will have hav to be b clean j 1 hr br h up III a bit In order to make m kr understandable to the r hole om motion picture public Zelda Zeida Deale Beale Ml Miriam touring the th RIviera Rivier with her mother Miss Helen Ware are and her r mothers mother's elderly par paramour Is I not apt a an n object for tor oha observation by bythe bythe the Imperilled cinema spectatOrs A mercenary shallow and nd I a at I virgin she comes between Lor Lord Eric and Lady Lisa Lila and causes cames lolk lalk and disturbance In th the h wherein French wagering place thi hi seena scene Is set She Sho I Is cold enough and hot enough to lah to marry n her hel mothers mother's Ignoble protector so 80 that she ma may enjoy I the h handsome Lord rord Eric as aa a lover lo Th That l sacrifice revolts tho th English nobleman and after hr hp h Sh lids s kept poor lila Z-lila out oil all II night V h he thrusts her hr aside asid Whereupon ie 1110 Romeos Romeo's desperate pilot to the J suicides suicide's cliff curt and jumps oft off ot of o It as the tails falls Which it if I know the typo type as 08 portrayed by lUss Hopkins she ohe would not hot do After the the National Board hoard ot of Censors haa hM plastered this charac charac- character character ter ten with Its it purIfyIng poultices Thou Desperate Despe at Pilot should beDo bea be Do a gorgeous motion motion pl picture ture A gambling casino on the Mediterranean and duchess duchess- duchesses es winning Inning and losing fortunes upon the whet l Champagne on the t terrace rac and quick kisses snatched softly safely In public pla es Zel a and Lord Lord Eric Erie speeding In Ina ina ina a swift motor car to their naughty rendezvous and the carnival 1 In which songs Arc aro sung and confetti ti tossed to an and fro The death death- deathbed deathbed bed of or Louis Brant Drant a bestIal American capitalist an Italian gamblers gambler's theft of a s pearl nock neck necklace nock lace lace from the tho throat of the co- co cocotte cocotte cotte co-cotte cotte who loved od him sunrise on the Cote Cole dAz re and lovers bill bill- billIng bIlling Inc Ing cooing and worse BAD D PLAY Y GOOD COOl PICTURE All of ot these things are done dono or hinted at in MIes Al Akins Akina ln's Thou Desperate Pilot at the But compared to what the Cinema will do with them they are but awkward struggles confined to th the little limits ot of the Dramas Drama cage MIss IllS Miss Miss-Akins Akin Akins like Augustus Augustus Aug Thomas Is a Missouri drama dramatist 1st and nd she looks with wide startled eyes on the frenzied life Ule of Cannes Cannee and 1 Monte Monto Carlo The result of her observation Is a sprawling ornate and aM parvenu fable Thou Desper Desperate te Pilot may be a bad had play at t the e but but alter after Its name has been n changed and the movie directors have haTe fixed It up It should be a In the C an l n |