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Show -pc Jk rn notion 'PiptiifiaA- " 1 AIME -was, and that not so long I ago, when there was attached to the mere mention of the words "motion pictures" at ! least tho suspicion of opprobrium. Presented as an inexpensive form of amusement motion pictures made their first tremendous appeal to the masses, and Inevitably tho classes made an effort to hold aloof. Today theaters 1 of the most expensive constiuction are devoted to animated photography, millions mil-lions of dollars of capital and some of I the best brains in the country are de voted to the production of the silently visualized drama, Broadway favorites are delighting to register their emo- Jj tions before the camera, and liniou- I sines are hauling men and women of wealth and distinction to the picture theaters for hours of entertaining and instructive amusement which the public pub-lic could secure in no other manner i'l quite so agreeably as through the mc- diuin of the projector and the screen, j Magazines and newspapers the world over are devoting columns of space to the motion picture industry because i animated photogiaphy, or the photo play which, in the last analysis, still J1 remains a "motion picture" has be ll come more firmly established in popu- m lar favor than any form of entcrtain- (I ment ever devised. J Of particular interest in the develop- ment of the industry which now ranks j- third among the industries of the world in point of money invested has' - -been the changing attitude of repre-i repre-i sentative artistes whose Ideas of "high S art" originally made them look upon motion pictures as far beneath them. I Today the dignity of the photo play is j established. Today from Bernhardt down artistes of international reputa-j reputa-j ( tlou are not only willing, but anxious I to trust their best efforts before the camera. In the very near future the American Ameri-can theater going public will bo given i the opportunity of witnessing a par- Iticularly pretentious screen portrayal which is in itself the proof conclusive that "high art" has capitulated capitulated, capit-ulated, that is, if there ever existed any reasonable argument to the effect that the art of a Bernhardt, with a I limited appeal, was greater than the art of any conscientious director of motion pictures with an appeal as broad as the world is wide and as long as time runs on. The picture in question ques-tion carries the title "Midnight at Mnx-' Mnx-' im's," and the "capitulation'' In it is ,' ;. . seen in the fact that an artiste of no ;- ' iTr 111 LEO PIRN KOFF M ' vi, ? -&h W Wm w& m&mM im$Mm THE CAHEROti GIRLS BETHEL rose JJ ; j f 1 ' Wl' Ifcf ' less imporlancp than the Baroness Im-gard Im-gard von Hoclenlh.il, internationally known among people of tho highest culture, has enthusiastically contributed contrib-uted her best efforts to make is a success. suc-cess. The Baroness Roltcnthal is a member of the Austrian nobility by blith, her father having been the Baron Yuscf von Itottcnthal, now dead, but during his lifetime a well known figure in Austrian military circles and quite close to the king of his allegiance. For years she has occupied an enviable position po-sition among the exponents of classic dancing, both in this country and abroad, an artiste so situated that she has been able to devote her life to the realization of an ideal, an artiste who has been able to keep herself absolutely absolute-ly free from the smirch of commercial-Ism, commercial-Ism, an artiste whose appearance in motion pictures needs no other justification justifi-cation than her fieely given expression of opinion that the development of cinematography has afforded her an opportunity to pass along more rapidly and more surely the beauties of rhythmic rhyth-mic motion which she has been striving striv-ing for years to develop. The Baroness Rottenthal Is most widely wide-ly known in this country by reason of her work in tho homes of the best society so-ciety people In such cities as New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Ucr dances have been the star attraction at many brilliant affairs given in the homes of Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Mis. Taylor Pyne, Judge Elbert II. Gary, Mis. Benjamin Guinness and Prince Troubctzkoy in New York city and in the show homes of Nowport, Including that of Mrs. Mitchell Clark. In addition addi-tion to a number of similar engagements engage-ments In Chicago, during a period of three or four years, the baroness appeared ap-peared as an attraction extraordinary with tho Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded by tho late Theodore Thomas, now under the direction of Frederick Stock. This engagement, which attracted at-tracted the best people in tho Windy City, was for fourteen evenings at beautiful Ravin ia park. In many respects the Baroness Rot-tenthal Rot-tenthal is one of the most interesting figures in the world of art today. In no sense of the word is she an imitator. imi-tator. In spite of many temptations she has persistently refused to give up her ideals. Although, wedded to the art of Interpretative dancing, she has found no justification for the popular practice of appearing in public in n state of nudity which, though possibly justified by the subject matter of the dances, is more calculated to appeal to those in search of a "thrill" than to those with an eye for art for art's sake. Her ci cations thioughout have been characterized by purity and simplicity. Iler costumes, which she designs and often executes herself, are as surely studies in art as are the rhythmic motions mo-tions with, which she interprets the compositions of the great masters, but yet they are made subservient, not overshadowing, to the more important art of dancing. The baroness, too, has steadfastly refused to pander to the popular demand as expressed in the vogue of the modern dances despite the fact that her peculiar abilities would have made it possible for her to achieve distinction in this line of work. As her contributions to "Midnight At Maxim's," which has won her to the world of the photo play, the baroness has executed two of her most popular classic dances, the first entitled "Sea Mist" and the second "Snow Flurry." She appears as the stellar attraction in the realistic representation of a characteristic char-acteristic New York city cabaret entertainment enter-tainment in which are also enlisted the services of carefully chosen beauties fiom such nationally known "Broadway "Broad-way palaces" as Rector's, Buscanoby's and Maxim's. Her dances before the camera were done on a mammoth" outdoor stage at Woodside, N. J., to the accompaniment of a full symphony orchestra, and it was in discussing this incident of her tern if -T n-Ti-mimmi1 work In motion pictures that the baroness bar-oness waxed most enthusiastic in her praise of the new line of endenvor to which she has been converted. "Although "Al-though I have been dancing for years, and in public ever since I had turned fifteen," she said, "the glamour of stage life has never appealed to me. Indeed, I have done practically no stage work in the gcnernlly accepted sense of the term, having entertained at society functions in this country and abroad and in conjunction with big musical organizations. The little annoyances which I have alwa3Ts felt would hamper ham-per my work were I to follow a stage career I found very agreeably absent when I consented to dance before the camera, and, Indeed, I was greatly surprised sur-prised to find the 'tone' of the motion picture woik so high. "I am enthusiastic over the possibilities possibili-ties of animated photography not only for myself, but nlso for othcis who have taken their work, oven Plough it be classic dancing, as seriously as I have taken It, I think the public will concede that the rhythmic interpretation interpreta-tion of the spirit of the old masters depends for its success upon something within, rather than without, the artiste. ar-tiste. If this is true, then, the lack of an applauding audience is rather a help than a hindrance, and there is consequently conse-quently no reason why any classic dancer should not do her very best work before the motion plctuic camera, to be enjoyed more widely on the scieen than it could possibly be enjoyed enjoy-ed in any other way. "I have been gratified, too, and made more confident that there is a gtcat future fu-ture for dangers In motion pictures by the care "nhlch has been exercised by those producing 'Midnight In Maxim's.' Max-im's.' The nirangemcnt, you know, embodies the identical selections which the orchestra played the afternoon I did my dances before the camera, with tempos fitted to the pictures of the diuces ns they it' " the screen. ".hcn I lit&t si .v k.i , ,.uure, with its musical accompaniment, It was easy for me to foiget that the figure before my ej cs was not flesh and blood and to drink in the spirit of the dances. "I liked the outdoor feature of the work, too, and I hope that some day I will be given the opportunity which, only motion pictures make possible to do some of my dances in those pretty pret-ty fairy dells and majestic forests which arc too often burlesqued In ordinary stase settings." The Baroness Rottentbal has always been an enthusiastic contributor of her talents for charity. For a long time it has been her rule to appear at least onco each year about Christmas time for the benefit 'of some deserving charity. These appearances during the past few years have been in the larger cities of the country not only in New York and her return to these cities, "x v where she is gloved for her art and devotion de-votion to the' cause of humanity, even on the picture screen, will b& welcomed. |