New-York tribune., 1919-08-24
By Virginia Tracy

"And what part do you think would
be good enough for him, then? Ham
let?"
"W--e-ll," we considered, "why-
yes--if it had stronger love scenes"--
"Wcll, believe me-" pronounced our
friend, eff you can't write anything
about him till he gets hold of Hamlet
an improved Hamlet-believe me,
it'll be quite some while before you
write!"
We withdrew from our friend and
sat apart in thought. 1t was true.
The wait would be too long before
doing ourselves the justice of at least
trying to say something about Sessue
Hayakawa The responsibility was too
grave. Suppose there were, some
where in the world, persons who
hadn't seen him, persons still waiting,
so to speak, to be saved and yet who,
CHANGING upon an earnest word at the
psychological moment, might yet be
brought to grace. Why withhold that
earnest word simply because present
scenario conditions make it almost i'm
possible to finish the sentence?
Oh, conditions Suppose you have
thoroughbred racehorse, trained to
the last degree and fit to win all the
seasons prizes, just when the law for
bids racing. And you say to Author
ity: "But if you could see my
thoroughbred in action, in full action,
you would understand what. a race
really is; then you would want every
body to see one and get the action of
their own lives Quickened up little.
Isn't there some sufficiently spacious
stretch of sufficiently elastic turf
where he could show you his paces?"
And Authority looks out of the window
with its amiable, blind eye that droops
between the stoop and the basement
and says, "Well, there's the areaway."
Restrictions That Hedge Scenarios
For here are some of the stone pits
which the public-the ultimate author
ity-has built around our pictures: No
stories dealing with "problems," fairy
tales, legends, history, psychology, poll
tics, religion, capital and labor, the
war, unhappy endings or married life.
Then every little studio has rulings all
Df xsh ich ho-
sides the foregoing restrictions, uses
nothing connected with the West, buSi-
ness, motion picture actors, newspaper
men or stories which give no oppor-
tunities for evening dress. But they are
all very keen on their pictures being
"close to the heart Of modern life"
Imagine coming close to the heart of
modern life in story not allowed to
touch upon problems, psychology, poll
tics, religion, capital and labor, the war,
business, motion picture actors, news
paper men, Westerners, married life
or persons without evening clothes! Is
the space left much bigger than an
areaway? OF course, somebody is for
ever kicking it down. Just as the Sid
ney Drews in one way and Cecil De
Mile in another have kicked down the
regulation about married life, so has
Mr.. Hayakawa kicked over the happy
ending. Useful spot, an areaway, but
no place for a racehorse! And, alas!
in Mr.. Hayakawa's case the happy end
ing has been replaced by all sorts of
nonsense as to what he may do with
out offending America and what he may
do without offending Japan, whereas we
ourselves would back him to offend
America with one swat and Japan with
another and come out on top of them
both, if only he could find story
which did not disappoint US in those
expectations, at once sturdy, magnifi-
cent and profound, which his appear
ance, his temperament and his COM
mand of it, the whole personality of his
dramatic force, Immediately arouse
in US.
Room to Stretch in "Gray Horizon"
Now in his current release, "The
Gray Horizon" he comes not into the
capital of his kingdom, but at least
INTO one of its desirable PROVINCES The
picture has force, genuine emotiona
force, and a tonic, tense excitement
it is possible to play great part Of
it with the happiest poetic freshness
and all of it with deep feeling; the
lovely interiors and those beauties o.
both brilliant and shadowy light il
which his pictures are apt to exec
this time really outdo themselves, bu
are none the less quite outdone by al
austere splendor of great mountain.
which we do not remember ever to have