The Washington times., 1915-04-30
THE BEST
Photopldy Department in
WASHINGTON
Producers Are Being
Educated AS To
{ Real Value Of
Film Story.

The educational value of the mo-
ton picture is at last getting in it's
work on the producers. They are
learning that the slipshod methods
of writing and producing scenarios
cannot be tolerated any longer. They
are beginning to understand that not
only must the story presented on the
screen be provided with a logical Sc
ouence of action, but that the action
must be plausible.
There Is frequently the flimsiest
basis for some of the big effects that
are obtained in pictures, principally
for the reason that the start or the
picture was made at the big sensa-
tional effect and the matter of work
ing out a plausible cause therefor
was considered of little Importance.
There has been considerable dis
cussion of thiT matter among the
writer's on photoplay subjects dur
ing the past month or two. None of
these has been more interesting than
the views expressed by Louise
Reevs Harrison in the Moving Pic
ture world. Mr.. Harrison says:
IF we were only dealing with i'm
mature minds. almost any tale OF
the impossible and improbable would
do but moving picture fans are con-
stSntlv gaining in wisdom. and they
exact that people in the screen story
shall obey the laws OF their being,
that they shall do as they would
stances.
The screen detective puts on
mustaChe and. presto he cannot be
recognized by his nearest friends.
He leaves his office to find a clue to
the crime and literally stumblcs over
1t, though il escapes the observa-
ton Of every one else. The girl de-
, tective walks straight to where the
real criminal is hiding and gets the
evidence without an effort. though
her general inanity of appearance
and conduct would lead one to be-
lieve that she could not detect Il pan
of burning biscuits.
- Weighted down as we are with a
code of laws ill-suited to our social
hgrowth, disSusted as we often are
with their inequitable enforcement.
Eve are accomplishing nothing to-
!. ward the bettermeut of conditions
fEby piCturnS stories in which the
'shero is sentenced to ten years In
y prison on evidence no sane judge
tewould constdcr adequate.
a he planting Of stolen article
Fin the pocket Of the innocent hero.
l his proximity to the scene of a
l5crinn, the discovery of his weapon
r OF OtnCi possession OF MS near
!; victim. and all such arbitrary meth
ods carry no weight with an audi
Z enCc. The absence of motive. clean
Illness Of past conduct. and the
! thousand and one signs of inno-
! cenCe are given no consideration.
i He is arbitrarily sent to jail for a
term and escapes by methods OBJ
I viously impossible.
II There arc minor faults of struc-
I ture. common cnOuCh because they
kemanato from the shallow minds of
lSMriterS Who umdorCSt innate the in
telligenCc of people who go to the
kpicture show. What sense Of
EgempSinCss ono feels when. as oc-
ESasionally happens. there Is woven
Ia rather clever computation. and the
tRuth"r. as though unable to extrcate e
Fhimself. cuts the gOrdian knot with
"a slash Of C0mmonlaCe.
M THE authors Intervention with an
EohstruCton Of the arbitrary is
%erat"urish In the extreme. TIL" plot
EEhould obey its own logic, follow n
SNell~dohncd sequence of Causation to
een ultimate result that is salts wing.
-The objective point of CoIploX
plot ig 4 denoucment worth Waiting
sSor and In accord with the import
aence of preceding events"