The Washington times., 1915-01-22
PHOTOPLAYS AND
1 PHOTOPLAYERS
~ GARDINER MACK
Little Things That
Make Some Screen
Plays Seem
Absurd
By GARDNER MACK.

Constant query Is made by patrons
Of the photoplay as to why the a.
fectors of plays do not take more
pains to correct the details of their
productions 50 that many of the
absurdities that creep into the pic
lures can be eliminated. Tie audi
ence that assemblies before the
screen IL probably the most critical
Of such things in the wcrld-far
more criticsl than an average thea
ter audience would. be. 1t is made
up Of such variety of people that
there 10 sure to be someone present
who knows exactly how this or that
detail should be attended to. The
matter OF uniforms, dates on calcn-
dars. automobile licenses. styles In
clothing. the way of handling GER
tain articles--a hundred and one
things that enter into the making OF
Q play are given little or no atten-
ton. and they are really very i'm
pcrtanf to those critics who know
what should be done. Clement II.
Congdop. in the Moving Picture
World. has made up list of things
that are done which shouldn't be
done that attract attention from the
people who know. Among other
things he finds:
..The use of telegraph blanks often
strikes the snag of little things.
There is one blank for sending ana
quite a different blank for receiving
see that the messenger delivering
collect message really collects the
money.
Automobiles figure to such an i'm
portant extent in all pictures that II
is a grave error to overlook the
little things. in their marking. IL
cense numbers and make. 1t Is ex-
tremely unlikely that three cars used
by enemies would have serial license
numbers as shown in one photoplay.
1t is absurd to show man leaving
the st. Regis in New York In car
bearing a California license tag. and
It is quite as @ ridiculous 10 nave q
1918 six-eylinder with a. big handi-
cap; -o., :. :. ,o. ,,oom
mon to see a sealed letter handed to
. convict in stripes. Every man who
has done time knows that no sealed
communications ever reach man
behind the bars. Costuming ought
not to be neglected the way some
players lapse in this important mat
ter. In several reels long periods or
time are supposed to pass between
certain scenes. but the hero comes
along with identically the same suit
of clothes from hat to spats..
whenever a physician Is shown on
the screen he Is pictured as carry
ing a bag common only to doctors
who are specialists. No discrimina-
tion seems to be shown between pic
turing physicians and surgeons. very
few physicians. except homeopaths,
Eeons do. but it is a cabin bag: and
not the case usually shown in films.
Where two physicians are shown In
the same scene the senior carries an
the equipment. In actual practice
the Junior always bears tho. burden.
used for a public accident case. The
police everywhere are prohibited
from calling a private ambulance for
obvious reasons. This kills the film
for every cop. doctor. nurse. and
hospital attache familiar with the
usages: ,.,
Aim the newspaper shown bears date
eight years after the crime was COM
mitted. The date Is so conspicuous
on the film that 1t hurts the atmos-
phere Of the progressing play. Train
orders are usually SHOWN as peiHS
delivered to train conductors whether
the engineer is in sight or not. All
train orders must be delivered to the
engineer, and when he Is shown it
hurts to omit this routine. 1t Is a
common fault to have the same PEN
man write all the notes and letters
shown on a reel. and the same Type
writer suffices for three or four con-
Germs.
"Clocks are great offenders. The
hands often point at the same hour
for all lapses of time-everything
happens at exactly 2 p. M, accord
ing to the clock shown. The picture
hero, who stops after each shot to
reload a Winchester repeating rifle
helps q lot to make sportsment
weary. In Her Sister, an aisle
manager wearing 50-cent hat Is pic
residence with servants and acreage,
AS aisle managers earn fully sixteen