The Washington times., 1914-09-17
THE BEST
Photopldy Department in
WASHINGTON
" dShillSton Man Has
Ne1o Idea For a
Serial Film
Story

One Of the ways the film producers
seem t" have selected to do away
With the multi-reel shOw and Vet
keep the interest Of the spe' 'tat"r
suFtaincd through = long story IS
hy means of 4 serial film There is
still a question whether or not the
s'rial film will become permanent
institution. 1t has been tired U"u by
several manufa cturSrS. and it must
IL said for -hrsc manufacturers that
they have left nothing uudonc th"t
would help their prod dIctiumS to sue
cess. AS each of these plays was
produced II has proiitcf " the rX-
ample of the one that went befur...
in some particulars. None of tham.
however. has proved anythin.: Of
Importance vet Tn" rasis FOR most
9: the films Yet produced seems -
e e get the herr and heroine into
an amazing ENHANCEMENT and ext i
cate them at tn last moment of each
.nStaliment in quite AS :lruIZiug a
manner. with just the thread OF a
story to connect the inSIalimenfS
one of theSe productions. The
] CrllS Of PAULINE" is very frankly
AT endless affair, the producers ad-
hitting Ihac they viii keep their
leroine skipping from one adventure
/" another AS long as the pubic
CNinces liking Tor her. In an
Ciher SERIAL. Our Mutual Girl" an
entirely difercn- type of the indeh-
mite sort. the heroine has Up to date
&Ct. d out three separate and distinct
stories. ami is now starting on a
fourth In this latter case. however.
there is more 20 tile st rial than the
story. and il is hardly claimed by
the producers that interest is CEN
tered in the fiction of the film so
much as i'm the widely varied assort-
nent of news facts tnat are given.
There does not seem to be any
reason why the serial film should
not he a big success if the right
kind of story or series of stores
Is behind it. One of the difficulties.
that Is presented is that the spe,'-
tatOr feels he loses a great deal il
h" misses single number or in
stallment. The play to be a success.
ii would seem TO US, should present
4 series of stories with the same
characters, or at least the same
leading people, rather than a single
romance continued from chapter to
chapter. At least. this idea seems to
have the best chance of success.
And il is because of this that there
l. a great deal of interest just now
in The Beloved AdVenturer," tEe
serial hy Emmett Campbell Hall.
which the Lubin Company has just
released. with Arthur johnson and
Lottie Briscoe in the leading parts.
The work that Mr.. Hall has done
as a photoplaywright is entitled TO
more than ordinary attention from
th' DeOp!e of Washington. not only
for the reason that he is a resident
% this city-in q manner of speak
inc-but because his output has been
,g.k, Il
lift the photoplay to the high 'cvel
Of real literature.
In THE Beloved Adventurer" Mr..
Hall has written a novel and at the
same time a set of very Interesting
short stories. In almost every story
there Is a new character of import
anCe and a new idea as to plot. The
Whole series can be read as one
hook. or any one of the chapters can
he taken separately as a cOmrl"i"
story without in any ~aN
uarrinC the effect or giving the idea
that something has been missed. of
course the last story leaves the hero
and heroine in "A ''liVed-happily-e
after state of tinality-and nraC-
ficaIly everyone who sees one Df the
pictures VII want to see them II.
EUt the point is that ii is not ah-
SrlUtcIy essential. as is the case
with The Million Dollar Mystery.
IN" very best of the straight con-
tinU"d-in-ouT-ueNt types.
Tho Hall book is a brand new idea,
md il will he interesting to see how
i works out. TIE stories have all
heen collected and their publication
in hook form was made Simultan-
cous with the release of the first
chapter as film DiaV. To people
who have not become addicted TO
moving pictures. the hook offers a
very pleasant and ulCasurable read
ing purely As n story And for thoS"
who have the Dictgrc habit the book
supplements the n'av a. well as sup
plies missing parts when il is i'm
possible to see TN" play.
II would seem To MS that the Hal,
idea is the best ono that has vet
he"n presented. and it will he most
interesting to watch its Development
on the screen. There are 50 many
things that might he treated in a
similar way that IL would seem that
success in this case would open the
vay for much film IMPROVEMENT
IN one general direction. at least.
g. NJ