Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-24
OLIVER NTOROSCO
"AGIN THE MOVIES"
Noted Play and Picture Pro-
ducer Quoted on the Coming
Decline and Fall of the
Nations Joy

One of the most extraordinary things in
an extraordinary world-the film worlds
the pronouncement attributed to Oliver
Morosco in the current issue (AugusD of
The Green Book. The interviewer is Miles
Overholt and he quotes Mr.. Morosco. who
is famous producer for the SCREEN in part
as follows
MY own neutrality-suspicious. company
has been successful from the beginning,
Oliver Morosco the Los Angeles theatrical
magnate told me, but L feel that it and
every other. film-producing company will
soon go into decline. The motion pictures
will go down fighting, but they will go down
nevertheless"
He went on to say to me that conditions
had proved to him that the spoken theater
always would hold the ascendancy: that he
intends to fight the films from now on, even
if he wrecks his own film company in so
doing,
This was Mr.. Morosco's declaration of
war:
'I intend to give battle to the motion
picture business with every ounce of
strength at my command. To the success l
now have in the field of spoken drama l pro-
pose to add more success. This will be one
of my weapons.
Already the sun of the motion pictures
Is setting. / do not believe ii will set en-
tirely; 1 believe that motion pictures will
last forever, but that they will exist in their
W
fiict with the great demand of the people for
the spoken drama
There is no question that the moving
picture demand and popularity is waning"
he continued 'and by the same sign the
spoken drama is returning to its former
commanding position by leaps and bounds.
There is no proof of this needed. You
have only TO look at the hundreds-in fact.
thousands of moving-piCture houses
throughout the land that have closed within
a
your daily paper every morning to see the
announcements of the crumbling of great
moving-pcture companies that u year or
even six months ago, were paying their
stockholders great dividends you have only
to read of the dozens of picture concerns
that are dashng desperately into merger
scheme to cut the tremendous expenses that
are not justified by the returns from their
sales.
1T takes no expert TO see that the public
is rapidly firing of the sameness of theme,
inferior productions and punchess sort of
film that compose so per cent of the present
moving-picture output. There are about
20 per cent. Of motOn-picture releases that
are worthy. This one-tifth part is just about
the proportion of the moving picture busi-
ness that will survive The rest will go.
THE moving picture game is not going
to die out and be forgotten. Its novelty
simply has worn off Its popularity was
based on novelty, and that has gone. More
sion of emotions by facial or physical acts
barring the Yoice-and that means its
downfall The people are firing of just
that There will continue to be good NOV
ing pictures. for the public will always want
them, but there will be only a small per-
centage OF the present output and they
will be based upon a real appeal to the
people and not upon a basis of novelty"
Just at present we will not take the
trouble TO answer this indictment In detail.
Mr. Morosoo Is not to be easily dismissed.
nor is he 10 be scorned for saying what
he means But keep these two points in
mind
First Mfr, Moroscos analysis sounds rea-
sonabIe. The deduction from 1t is false.
What will really happen is that the stand
ard OF the picture output will go up and the
screen will redeem itself.
Second. II Mr.. Morosco is wholly right,
and the screen is doomed to failure and
then the world will be a
sadder place for it.
At the Arcadia. this second half of the
week. the bill Is not as announced. THE
Pillars OF Society" a Grhith-T Triangle, with |
Walthall and Olga Grey. has been post
poned, and Bessie Barriscale, In Home"
is substituted.
So many queries have come to this office |
the Motion Picture Welfare |
League that in order 10 answer them and |
others which might come, we print the |
address OF the league and refer all queries |
10 the secretary: the name Is as given
above, the address 404 United States Rub |
ber Building, New York, y. Y.
HEnIG nA - Al &c nD@AN |