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Show I iUTTLE YARNS ABOUT 9 FILMS, STARS, PLAYS j AND LIFE IN MOVIES I By JAMES W. DEAN. i V YORK, Jan 2S. I VU talking with Rex Beach about the movies the other day. Or rather ho was talking (0 mo because I was a very Interested listener interested chiefly because Itla views on the motion picture ary so much from my own. This is what Bench said about the , 111 cries The LifTKefit. development Immedl-, t( 1 uhe.nl In the movies is the -li.io-ir-r feature. 6torloa will be told In lengths of 20 to 30 reels In Install- , merits of five or six reels. The most Important feature of r"P-ular r"P-ular magazines is the serial Btor They create continuous interest. The Installment feature film will stand fori ; the same thlnK in the movies. There isn't much In this talk about I ; the movies developing a distinctive form of art. Most pictures nov are too short, They are simply separate episodes j 1 With little sequence of action A motion picture actor, lacking voice, cannot definitely establish his or her character in two minutes a: is lone on the atago. The motion picture varies only from 1 tho printed story In that It tells Its story with captions to suuj!y what incidents in-cidents or atmosphere Is lacking In the I I picture whereas the printed story usee I pictures to supplement what is lack- 1 ing in print. I' I believe the development of the Chapter serial the first of which will be "The Mistress of the World." will 1 be an Important development in the , movies, but not the most Important j 1 I'opulnr periodicals would l"Si- heav- I ily In circulation If they carried only j continued stories. I believe many plays today are too Ionic Rome of the best I have seen 1 have been In two reell "The North- ern Trail." for instance. I I believe the motion Picture will create a distinctive form of art. That was promised in "The Cabinet of Dr. I Callgarl " A character on the screen can cs-fablish cs-fablish Itself in two minutes. Pola .Vegrl. George Arllss and Tin OdOre ' Roberts do It consistently. Loll Wll- ' son established herself us "Miss Lulu f Bett" at a single gllmnae. A photoplay is more than a series of pictures with explanatory subtitles. "The Journey's End" and "The i ld Swlmmln' Hole" contained no sub titles. Lubitsch. the German dircctor-:il dircctor-:il genius, told lnt- that he thought the day was not far distant when a f form of motion picture would be f evolved that would require no sub- - title, I Tills M l;l M. P Tall. Heavy. . v. u . Muscu-' lar neck. Weathered face. A hand : that entirely envelopes the ordinary ' man's hand ApdtHbosia of masculln- ' Ry. Velour hat. Rig fur coat. Fat cijrar In the corner of his mouth after the manner of a Tammany Hall politician. Ml Affable. Jovial, A twinkle playing in the eye. At first frlnnee, a politician. At see-nud see-nud glance, the mused outdoor man Hint ho is. At hundredth glance, you'd still not think hltn a literary man When writing he starts at 8 o. m. Works steadily till 1 p m. Says one enn't do ereati o ' wrltlnc more than five hours a day. Quits In middle of episode or development of an idea. Bays he can start better next day, like engine picking up speed while running'. run-ning'. Travels to all ends of the earth for sport and story material. Going walrus wal-rus hunting in Bering S'iralt next summer sum-mer with Kred Stone. ii A S BIG JOB. The fight In the motion picture Industry In-dustry on the matter of a protective tariff" may be the flrt thine that Will Hays will have to settle ai the big . ii of the movieSi it is really a case of ' Commerce vs. Art." Those who are for a high tariff on all Imported films Bay It Is needed to protect the American industry in-dustry and the millions now Involved In it. as well as the thousands who earn their livelihood In the Industry Those who are against a high tariff say that art ( international, that if the movies are to be elevated to a position eoual with the other arts they must not be hampered by commerce They point out that Americans welcome wel-come paintings, sculpture, drama and literature from other lagd The weight of logic seems to this writer to rest in the latter argument The foreign pictures so far exhibited in this country amount to a very small percentage of all the pictures shown and to a very small perci ntage of the pictures imported. Those already shown have acted as a spur to American producers. It is doubtful if Griffith would have made an historical pageant of the "Two Orphans" Or-phans" story l( the foreign historical films had not proved that the American Ameri-can public welcomes such films. And thll Is said in full consideration of the fact that Griffith Is responsible for :, ore innovations of ,lhe screen than any other person. American or European. Euro-pean. I was talking the other day to David I'. Ho Wells, the man who xent "Passion" "Pas-sion" to this country. It was the m-t of the German pictures to be shown ii r. . i.ii Williams, who was responsible respon-sible for Its American exhibition, was with him. 'How did you happen to buy tho picture?" I asked Howella "Because I realized It was a masterpiece mas-terpiece of art and something of a different dif-ferent nature than anything being shown in America." lie answered. I asked Williams what Induced hltn to show the plciuro at a time when tho slogan "Made In Germanv" was vor-boten. vor-boten. "Because I realized that art Is " I something that transcends wars ana racial feelings and art pays," Williams Wil-liams annwerod "Some day. tariff or no tariff, there will be shown in America pictures made in India, Germany. China, . ilea, Italy. Australia wherever tho locale of tho story Is sot. Then the are of the motion pleturo will be international. in-ternational. Then the motion picture .will rank above tho other arts." Tho bent polite comedy shown on the screen in many months is "Three Llvo Ghosts." It is In truth an international inter-national film. It was produced In London in scenes In which the plot was net. It was directed and photographed photo-graphed by Americans and tho cast was English and American. I It will be Interesting to see what sort of a picture has been made eif Tennyson's poem, ' ividy Qodlva." it was filmed partly In Europe and ! partly in America. 1 Some day we may seo a film In which the action takes place in many different countries with the action bc-lng bc-lng filmed In thoso countries. OX LOCATION. Andree Poyrc, French avlatrlx. Is playing opposite Reginald Denny in the fourth episode of "The leather Pusher Jack Holt and Bebe Danlell will bo co-starred in "A Stampede Madonna." an Alaskan story by Monte M. Katter-John. Katter-John. Aghes Ayres, Jack Holt, Wnlter Hlers and Eeah Wyant have the prln-loipal prln-loipal roles In William DeMllle'S screen Version of "Bought and Paid For." . . . ST1 LES r DB M Styles of drama constantly change The chief Influence bringing about changes In dramatic styles Is the ever changing moral standard of tho public. pub-lic. What was generally condemned yesterday yes-terday Is generally condoned today. If not condoned. Is overlooked as a commonplace. Take, for instance, smoking by women. This 1b apropos of Penrhyn Stan-laws' Stan-laws' screen version of Clyde Piti h'a old stage play. "The Woman In the Case." Its screen title Is "The LaW and the Woman." When that play was a success on the st-ie clgaret -moklng by women, short skirts and exposed shoulders wire risque things. They shocked the audience. Thus when a faithful wife resorted to those things to win the confidence of the vicious woman who had caused her husband's conviction for rnurdei she won the sympathy of tho audience. She was doing a heroic he-roic thin? In" tlofylng convention to Save her husband. Today, a woman may smoke a cl-garet, cl-garet, expoa her shoulder and wear knee-length skirts with Impunity, in fact she Is looked upon In some circles cir-cles as a bit of a frump If she doesn't. So In faithfully transferring the Fitch play to the screen Stan laws has produced a mediocre picture. The Fitch play on the stage today would fall because It would not arise above the commonplace. The plot of the play, loo. has been overworked. When an Innocent man Is in the death chamber and his wife is gathering avidl nc to save him. you know that he will bo saved about the time he is to be electrocuted. electro-cuted. The Innocent never die in plays. ABANNE'8 Ki t I RD William Christy Cabanne. the dl-' dl-' rector, is one of those who believes that the screen will soon develop a form of ort that will set It apart from drama, literature and portraiture. portrait-ure. I watched him at work tho other day. Although! he had a scenario he, lover referred to it. That Is because! he writes tho scenarios of almost all tho pictures he directs Cabanne sold his first scenario to Crlfflth when the latter was directing direct-ing for Blograph He wrote ilm more scenarios ami then became a director. Among those who huvo acted under his direction are Lillian and Dorothy Glsh, Jack and Lottie Plckford Douglas Fairbanks, WalUc Held, Blanche Sweet. Henry Walthall. Walt-hall. Mac Marsh, Bobby Vernon,' Francis X. Bushman. Beverely Paine, j I Dona Id Crisp, R. A. Walsh." John I Emerson. Miriam Cooper, Elmo Lincoln, Lin-coln, Montei Blue. Besslo Lovo. Secna ' wen, Elliott Dextor, Jewel Carmen Mary Thurman. Mabel Normand and many others whose name hnve been displayed In electric lights. And you'd think from that ho Is a patriarch. He wan born In St. Loult in 16SS. Ho rot into a young bust-i nese w hen a young man. FL1CKERGRAMS Clyde Cook's noxt comedy ' Th Explorer." ' ' I King Baggou will direct Marie Prevost in "Cllffed " Lillian Rich will he Hoot Gibson's leading woman In "The Slngln' Kid." Mae Buch and Eileen Percy support sup-port Charles Jones in "The Heart of the Range." Luplno Lane, English comedian, has begun his first comedy for Fox. It is called ' The Broker " SAB Ml Mi. Surah Bernhardt, foremost aclies of the world, may come to America next mouth to participate in a natli n.il movie celebration. The appearance of "The Divine ! Sarah" as "Queen Elizabeth" in a' five-reel photo-drama ten years ago marked the greatest advance that has yet been made In the industry. Indeed, In-deed, it was aha who played the most Important part in the movement that lifted the photoplay from a show busl- ; ncss to the level of other arts. Ten years ago only western thrill-j ers and plo-sllnging comics graced the ' screen. The motion picture faced destruction de-struction through Its own mediocrity.' Stag- ft u-- sTie.-red at offer-; fr pit -ture engagements. The movies? Why., there was no art in them Some pla-' ers acted for pictures under assumed names. Their stage reputations would J have suffered w ere it known that they , were m pictures ThenVdolph Zukor, with the co-1 operation of Daniel rVohman. Induced Bernhardt to appear in a dramatic! film. Well' If the movies were good' enough for Bernhardt, they were good enough fe.r other stage stars! From that time on the motion pic-1 tore was in an upward swing.' The nickelodeon became something mpre , ,than a "pitcher show" in 0 vacant store room. And now the leading stars, dlrcc- J tors and producers of the cinema have ' asked Bernhardt to come to America! to participate In the tenth anniversary i I of the making of feature photodramaa, I The Divine Sarah is now more than "0. but she still possesses the dramatic ! fire that made her tho greatest actress ac-tress In the world, if not the greatest woman of the century. If Bernhardt comes to tho United States she probably w 111 appear pub- ' 5 liaSSHHBP!' l gSBSl MPJMJ llcly in several cities. Tho anniversary anniver-sary celebration will be observed the entire month of March. - rWO "ROBDi 1 1 n 1 1 1 i - A serial depicting the adventure? of Robinson Crusoo Is being made by Universal With Jack O'Bilen In the title role. Thin writer met Eddie Polo at the Astor the other night. Polo WSJ to have done tho serial for Universal. His contract with Universal had G2t-plrad G2t-plrad md now he's going to Florida to make his own "P.orunson Crusoe." Kathllne Meyers will bo his leading lady. s I lOLISH I ES "Foolish Wives," cost a million dollars, dol-lars, ll.103.7JC.38. to be exact, ana bookkeeping is essential In a consideration consid-eration of thlu picture. Considering this film as a financial venture that feature of It has been Stressed in Its exploitation one Is led to analyze It from the Standpoint Of profit and loas. assets and liabilities This Is how the account rdada: III JUTS General technical advancement. Masterful characterization by Eric Yon St rem elm. Tapestry effect In pictures something some-thing new. Reproduction of scene of action, perfect. per-fect. Thrill scenes capably don WORTHIi ss STORY Worthless story- Episodic, jumpy sequence lacking; continuity. American diplomat slurred by Austrian Aus-trian director, illogical denouement-Incapable denouement-Incapable cutting of film Tho account Jirst about balances and that tells the story A fabulous sum has been spent to make an ordinary ordi-nary picture from extraordinary material, ma-terial, an ill-fltllng garment made Ol broadcloth. The technical advance lies mainly in the photography. .Long shots aro made of night scenes. Unimportant characters are allowed to move occasionally between came ra and Important figures, a natural situation.' In some instances clossups aro con-flned con-flned to ono feature portraying the emotion of the moment. Early morning morn-ing scenes are In Indistinct outline. Silhouettes Sil-houettes are effective In pantomime. If the element of action is of paramount importance It Is subordinated to characterization char-acterization that Is, action of obscure figures Is clear cut. Von Strohelm introduces many new tricks before the camera. He wets hLs lips in anticipation of another conquest. con-quest. He s a great villain Many scenes lacking action appear to be worked in tapestry This effect evidently was obtained by photography through burlap. It is an artistic novelty. nov-elty. The detail of running firo horses that attracts most attention Is tho pounding of hoofs. In one close-up that wa3 all Von Strohelm showed hoofs. The punch was In the simplicity simpli-city of arrangement. The same attention atten-tion to detail Increased other thrills. A more worthless story could hardly be conjectured. The film deals with tho exploits of a hlnh-grade moron, a depraved man shrewd enough to win women of intelligence and brutal enough to attack a defenseless, halfwitted half-witted girl. Strohelm tried to cover so much ground that each episode in the picture pic-ture attracts the attention momentarily momentar-ily but fails to build sustained action. He had to reduce oO reels to 14. An Austrian director holds up t Americans an American ambassador as an uncultured numbskull, the laughing stock for the court hangerson of a petty pet-ty principality. Many episodes are started and not finished. This is dueo Incapable cutting-Tho cutting-Tho ambassador go.-j to the bedside of his wife two days after she sustains sus-tains Injurious in escaping a fire Into Which she had been led through a clan destine meeting with the villain. "What have you to say for yourself?" he asks. In answer tho nurse turns down a coverlet and shows him a newborn new-born babe "Why didn't you tell mo months ago?" asks tho ambassador. For answer many In tho audience laughed aloud. Others loft. That was the denouement of a million dol'ar picture! STOpp. III ( Mm K "His face is so ugly It's stop a clock." "His mug's so hard it'd crack a rnir-I rnir-I ror." I You've heard both of those expressions. expres-sions. Ben Turpln turns them to practical prac-tical use in "Bright Eyes." his recent comedy release. He looks at a clock and its pendulum stops swinging. That surprises him. He looks in the mirror. mir-ror. It breaks into smithereens. mm BEFORE Till, VM1K Harry Beaumont will direct Shirley Shir-ley Mason In "Up the Back Stairs." . I Jerome Storm, who used to direct Charles Ray comedies, -a ill direct John , Oilberl in "The Land or Beginning I i i jfjf BBS FILMING HUGO. Rex Ingram is to make a special 9RIH production of Victor Hugo's "Toiler ot yet been do- b...-' rmlned whether it will bo made hero RH or abroad. '.. Incram demonstrated his ability Erll with The Four Horsemen of. th" Hn 1 Apocalypse" and "The Conquering i Power " He h:is just completed '"Tfte bbbbu and Ibanez the classic element in H 1 ' 9SS I Nazlmova has completed "A Doll' bbbbi 1 House" and Is to do "Regina." They 9 ! ire the works of Ibsen and Suder- ; H'l I mann. rHsJ The fact that works e.f these flvo Hft . . .ii . . . te.j . , i ),. aE'tt Cr i Btory merit In American fllmi h, J SI A The Vltagraph production of "The bbbbIU Little Minister." starring Alice Cil- BBBll houn, played In 110 theatres In N spQrva I York City in one week. isbbm ' 11 Judge J. V. Summerf ield. of 'he Bl Los Angeles domestic relations court, BBYrfl j collaborated on the scenario of "r - Hl mestli Relations," Catherine Mac- f-l c Donald'a next film. Hnl |