Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-12-10

the same time Or can one ever quite
efface from memory the majestic man
ner with which Mansfield, as Cyrano
de Bergerac, tossed his purse to the
crowd? These are specific instances to
Illustrate my meaning. {
1t was the art of Interpretation glori-
fed. The player and his mood became
the great figure in such cases. With
the moving picture 1t is different. The
poetic stimulation, the tour de force
which arrests attention and makes
memories that are to live, Is q silent
power. The brain behind this art is
never revealed. 1t lends itself to that
concealment which is one of the rarest
attributes Of true art. The living thing
is subjective. There is no rivalry with
the spoken drama. Each has its niche
and. if artistically done, will live. The
mere presentation may be ephemeral'
but the ideas and the recollections go
on and on as long as life lasts.
In motion pictures we have a larger
field in which to operate. On the stage
these so called ''effects" are limitations
at best. In the film play we show the
actual occurrence and are not hamper
ed by the size of our stage or the num-
Der of people we can crowd into the
scene If our story traverses to bat
tlefield we show an actual battlefield,
If It means that 10000 people Were
part of this conflict we engage 10000
people. rehearse them in minute detail,
and when we are ready we show you
that scene as realistically as if you
were looking down from hilltop and
| watching an engagement Of contending
| forces.
Let us look into the cost of this. This
lscene for motion picture might cost
you In the neighborhood of $4,000.
But the cost ends with the taking of
the original negative. There are no
salaries after this, and the only ex-
pense Is the comparatively slight one
of making new copies from the original
negative.
A big spectacle on the stage can at
the utmost employ 400 people in a
scene. This is an unusually large num-
Der. It takes the same time and pains
to rehearse them that it does to handle
10000 people in motion picture scene
But the stage production goes On daily,
with eight or ten performances q week,
and the salaries and costuming Of the
supernumeraries run up to $500 a
week, SO that at the end Of two sea
tsons these forces have cost easily
$4,000. Here you have twice the out
lay for 400 people that it costs mo-
ttion picture director to employ 10000
If there is any significance in these
Figures they point an important moral
without need of further explanation.
In the same way We can go a1eld and
get anything We want. II there IS
lshipwreck we show the angry sea and
the restless waves. For q lovers tryst
we have but to pick out some sylvan
dell and bring our players there and let
them act as two people in love would
act under given circumstance, and
the great audiences weave their own
>! romances and do the larger share OF
the acting for that scene. Along the
side lines we can have roses blooming
In the sunlight with snow crusied
mountain in the background. In our
drama the trees wave In the breezes
and blades of grass damp with real
dewdrops are none too insignificant to
become part of the action. You see
, an observing director has the word
for his studios The centuries have
been piling up these inexhaustible pro
. auctions for him. He has but TO use
artistic sense in the matter Of selee-
: ton.
The motion picture IS no longer an
: infant art. 1t is the newest and most
! powerful form of dramatic expression,
and there is no end to which It can
e be carried. | firmly believe the day
] will come when great poetic pictures
: will not only compare with the best
4 lof the legitimate stage. but will he
I upon parity with the greatest pro-
: functions Of grand opera and at CORE
: spending prices. Remember. few
b years ago it was the limit OF extraya-
: lgance to spend $500 on a moving pic
G ture production. At that time we
n lplayed to five cent audiences. Now We
Y lspend 100000 ON a picture and We
s lcrowd the theaters everywhere at -
n a seat. BY this ratio what is to bin
e der the superproducer from spendins
n three times that amount and getting
t S. seat for it!