The Washington times., 1915-05-24
THE BEST
Photopldy Department in
WASHINGTON
Plot That Explodes
In the Big Scene
Not Wanted In
PhotoplayS.

ho duNeHt Oh lDSen 10 In6 nlHh
the staging of real plays with genu-
Inc Idea behind them, brings an in
teresting question-are the direo-
tcrs beginning to realize that a film
story must be a story and not a
series Of Incidents built BADLY to
carry some big central sensation?
For some time past the thoughtful
men who have been writing comment
on motion pictures have called at
tention to the lack Of value In films
that simply have a big mechanical
thrill and no real story. Directors
have been advised that the public
has grown beyond the stage of this
sort Of sensation seeking. The man
jumping his horse from a cliff. the
railroad wreck, the aeroplane flight,
the blowing up of a ship-an such
things are interesting-cs Incidental
to a story. Once they were the COM
pelling features Of the film play be-
cause the film play had nothing else
to recommend it
Today the public has grown beyond
such things. When a thrilling sensa-
ton Of this sort is staged it must bs
a logical part Of a story and the
story must be told in full and not
left to die in the big scene. One OF
the most glaring specimens OF the
complete death Of a story that prom
issd to be very interesting and to
serve q most useful purpose was re-
GENTLY exhibited in Washington.
In all It's elements this play should
have been one Of the most important
in the years program. The actors
were among the best in the business
and in their work in this play was
we'll UP to their usual standard-in
some parts Of 1t even better than
their average. The story was ono
Of great public interest because 1t
was based upon a fact. 1t told OF q
railroad president who contented
himself with juggling his railroad
and paid no attention to improving
the system looking to the safety OF
the passengers the road carried. Tho
result was a number of wrecks and
q Federal investigation. The love
interest involved the daughter of the
railroad man and the district at
torney who was making the investl-
gation-a situation fun OF dramatic
possibilities which were used. up to
q certain point, to the best advan-
taSa
The sensational feature OF the
hlm-the big scene-was the wreck
Of an actual train. The engine and
three cars ran or a rotten bridge
and fell into the water below. The
picture was a triumph OF realism
because real train was actually de-
stroyed and real bridge built for
the purpose. The cost of staging tho
analr must have been enormous.
ran OF the bridge the story was in
tsnsely interesting. But the story
ran on tho bridge with the train.
When the engine exploded in tho
water tho plot exploded also. There
was no logical finish, nothing done
to round OF the dramatic interest
aftsx the big scene had been staged.
And there was opportunity to make
satisfaotory ending to the whole
thing. OF course. It might be argued
that there has been no real satisfac-
tory ending to tho thing upon which
the aim story was based. But the
idea OF writing a story pointing to
an evil and giving no hint as to how
that evil might be corrected is not
calculated to make much OF an i'm
pcSssion on the general public.
While we may ignore the oonven-
sxtent on tho stage. the motion pic
ture hasn't yet reached the stage
where It can do SO. 1t must tell
tho whole story. They are designed
60 provide entertainment for the
whole people. We might fll a page
nents IN favor of ignoring the con-
ventions Of construction. citing In
stances where 1t has been done with
great success. But these instances
are isolated cases.
IN tho present case. the film that
has been referred to as an example,
absolutely no fault can be found
with the acting. the photography,
or the staging Of all the scenes that
wore made. Fault is found in the
{aet that the story was unfinished.
w. What t,,d did The The .at, district attorney do
did the death OF the railroad presi-
don't have on the Investigation? And.
aoove all. what results for the good
Of tho railroads patrons were OBJ
tained from the whole train Of
events that led up to the big scene?
for comment for the reason that
tho company producing 1t is one of
the big aim organizations making a
regular program of pictures that
seldom commits such an error as
This. It Is one of the companies
standard Of production and has kept
pace with tho progress OF motion
picture invention and art in al! de-
partments. It represents, in a word,
the highest form Of motion pic
ture development. and should be
panies.
II such a company fails to live up,
pot only To Its opportunities but to
tts own standards-what use Is there
70 try 10 raise the standard of others
maoss waoSs ,,est entire , stock in trade is
grace of literary or dramatic AIT?
G. NJ