New-York tribune., 1920-06-20
How Riesenfeld Edits
Motion Picture Films
For His Three Houses
Continued from page one

,.v,n making our own news reels IN
.,s;.ion soon. The men demand the
rs reels. 1t is remarkable too how
,..,,v interested IN them the women
srs becoming
:. ;s in these news reels that the
..sstess amount of editing is done in
=. n;etures shown st these theaters.
90, example. Mr.. Riesenfeld sees an
;..dent pictured in news reel that
:. believes 20 be too old to be i'm
.,-tsnt. He cuts it out and throws it
.rsr. Another has caption that does
-. adequately express the meaning
:, the picture. Here Mr.. Shor takes
i. hand. he having been in the newspa-
n.r profession for many years. writing
title he believes to be more adequate.
motion picture newspaper is his aim
In recent picture at the Rivoli
.howing an expedition to the South
pole the writer's Of the scenario had
sn.i.led it The Bottom of the World"
!, appeared there as "Shackleton's
Pare for the South Pole" 1t Will be
sssn ready that the improvement was
great
the management of the Rialto, scenes
lad been attached to the last part of
.be reel that plainly were inaccurate.
I'VE knew by the current and mo-
.;ons OF the ice said Mr.. Shor, that
scenes supposed TO show the party
coming back were scenes reproduced
kot 4
taken of the trip southwark. The max
ers OF the film believed they dared not
admit their apparatus was wrecked and
m. out OF commission after they got
70 a certain place in the ice-jammed
regions. We tried to remedy this by
doing away with the palpably framed
up' scenes. If the film had been an
out and ou. admission of its failure to
complete its task it would have been
twice as great a drawing card The
hardships would have been impressed
nDon the audience If the film had been
stopped toward the latter part and an
announcement made that there, through
the miserable weather, the camera
w,uld no longer function and that the
picture could not be completed"
Sincerity and honesty, the two by
words OF Hugo Riesenfeld in the pro
duction of news films. cause him to
eliminate many scenes that are on
their face untrue and inaccurate. So
that the theatergoing public rests as
sured that what II sees at his theaters
is as nearly accurate as q trained and
keenly observing mind can make them.
No scene of foreign country or de-
tails OF any kind are allowed to be
thrown upon the screen for the public
perts in every line of thought sug-
rested have passed upon their merits.
IN small comedy pictures humorous
situations arise in the elimination of
psrts Of scenes and titles. Only re-
Gently Mr. Riesenfeld was watching
the trst showing OF picture in which
gay young man was asking his pro
spec.ive father-in-law for the hant, ct
lis daughter IN marriage. The father
refused. The young mans lips, IS you
watched them IN the picture, showed as
plainly as T he had spoken the words
IN numbering voice: you go to hell.'
Mr.. Resen.e eld wanted no observing
patron 10 understand what that young
nan said. So he eliminated part OF
the scene.
Only director who is not watching
lis business Will allow an actor TO reg
s.er sucn lines into picture, he
says. Il an against them. Freshness
is no. for the intelligent theater audi
ence II often spoils what otherwise
might be perfectly splendid finn
Almost every film which IS shown a.
the big picture theaters is cut for one
81 two reasons-frs., to make it con
form with the length of the program
second, TO improve upon it generally.
There is more actual effort put into
me rehearsing and preparing of thu
orchestral music for feature pictur,
IN these huge theaters than in all 0
The other features combined. Their
may De scene in which waltz musi
IS required, another where fox tro
Is necessary. Mr.. Riesenfeld, who i
widely known in the music world, goe
over his feature picture each week il
advance with his orchestra, slowing /