The Washington herald., 1915-12-07

A great many people think moving
pictures have slipped in and stolen
the people from the theaters. But on
fthe stage there is that charm OF the
voice and the clever or romantic lines
we cannot have on the screen. Nov
ling pictures will not harm the stage
any more than the spoken drama has
tinterfercd with grand opera. 1t IS
simply a new form of amusement and
within reach of the pockctbooks OF
nearly every one.
Then pictures are educational. l
have always noticed that sea pictures
prove absorbing to people living in
the Middle West, while the cowboy
stories of Arizona and California are
more popular in the East. Foreign
pictures give us an insight into the life
abroad and the Orient is brought very
close to us. :
People do not realize how hard we
work to get some of the effects seen
upon the screen. Sometimes we re-
hearse hours for just one scene. and
often it takes days before we arc sure
it is right for the camera to register.
Then it is only few feet of hlm and
takes but a few minutes to run 1t OH.
We arc never satisfied with our
work, and as We watch ourselves upon
the screen we always pick flaws IN
our acting. We see ourselves making
little awkward gestures or using our
eyes too much, and that is the way
we learn to overcome our faults. The
girl who sees no error in her acting
IS the one who will never advance.
Tie best artists are never satisfied
with themselves; they are their most
severe critics.
The talking moving pictures ere
ated quite a sensation when they were
first exhibited. But they were SO i'm
perfect we did not take them very
seriously.
Twas so eager to see and hear them
when they first came out that / was
greatly disappointed. The first exhi-
bition was that of a drama. 1t was
all quite clear, though unnatural, un-
til the william stabbed the hero. Then
something must have gone wrong
with the machinery. The hero tot
tered, clutched at his wound, dropped
to the floor and died. There was no
sound coming from the machine until
quite few minutes after. Then came
a voice, the voice of the man who
committed the murder. He was hiss
ing: Now shall l stab you'll. Now
shall I kill you'll"
The audience burst into laughter
and the applause was because they
had been amused by the failure in
stead of the success of the machine.
1t had made a comedy out of tragedy,
and though a comedy is to laugh
still it was fatal error. So the skep-
teal people refused to take it 'seri-
ously.
Mistakes often happen in the
spoken drama; never in the moving
pictures, for the director would detect
it as soon as it was run in the dark
room and we would have to retake
the scene.
So far the people haven't felt the
need of the voice with the pictures.
They are most restful without it, and
several friends who go to moving
pictures several times a week say
they find their imaginations are made
active in watching the plot unfold. 1t
becomes fascinating game, too, try
ing to foretell when you are watching
one scene just what the following one
will be. And it is good mental exer-
else, too. 1t keeps you young.
The newspapers waged a great bat
tie upon us when they exposed us
several years ago. Deaf mutes who
could read the lips claimed we were
saying untendef things to each other