Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-11
JOHN LUTHER LONG
On the Fashion In Plays

TOHN LUTHER LONG, Philadelphia
q playwright and author Of great success,
was In q whimsical reminiscent. ,chatt$
mood. He did not want to min himself
Of the drama. SO he sank deeper into the
wicker chair before the fireplace Of the
Franklin Inn Club drawing room. buried
his chin in his hands and chnttcd.
Perhaps, it. was the twilight stealing in
through old fashioned windows that faced
Camac street. or the glow of the, hrelight
that lent atmosphere-that intangible thing
that Mr.. Long so cleverly introduces into his
productions.
There is fashion in plays just as there
Is in dress and furniture and most every
thing else" Mr.. Long, said. "A long time
ago the colorful. elaborate. and fantastic
drama, with large numbers in the cast and
production, was the fashion. It vas during
The Darling Of the Gods and Madame
Butterfly ] must confess like b,st these
serious plays with elaborate settings. But
several years before the war tho trend
with few characters and simple settings
came into vogue. l don t blame people for
wanting a change. i confess was rather
tired OF Madame Butterfly and such pro-
ductions.
However, many Of us thought the small
play would not be long lived. But the war
set In and seemed to make more secure that
type Of drama, 1t still is most popular, al
'1fs fSP'' SssP "ss S%s mage TSo TO Of S" %r
Morris Gests latest productions are exam
pies. One did not last long, but the other
Is apparently a splendid success i shall be
When they do come buck in style ! shall
hope to have something Of my own TO pro
duce. am usually working on something
or other. ] prefer the beautiful, colorful
things that also carry real plots.
Ono Sad Experience.
Concerning the coorful and spectacular,
remember once when an American pro-
ducer, friend OF mine, wanted to put Oh
an 1bsen play IN whose last scene there w9s
he could put it on the stage. The producer
and ! sat in the front row to watch the
experiment. All sorts Of stage PROPERTY.
ladders, chairs and the like. covered with
grass--mnde up the land. oh. yes, the land:
slide was a great success. Part Of the stuff
most smotherpd us. The avalanche scene
was not produced.
'Mr. Be!asco and I worked months on a
ghost we needed In one Of my plays, But
we never could make It an unrealistic, mystic
Interesting thlng. 1t takes months. some
times years. OF experiment and study In
lighting effects, materials and colors to pro-
duCc the proper effects.
Il sometimes wonder how many In audi
enccs think Of the players and producers In
connection with the brief entertainment they
receive at an evenings performance. There
Is something pathetic about 1t all. Play
wright and producer may have worked years
to put forth a play. Actors work months
and theirs II real work too. They work their
hardest during the hours when most other
folk are having their amusement and rest.
They put their greatest effort into the puulic
producton--the finished product which the
audience sees in so short time and judges
even more quickly, Not until that first
public performance is over do the actors and
producers know whether their efforts are to
be crowned with success
'I remember in The Darling of the Gods.
when George Arliss came to me in the middle
OF the play when the audience was simply
breathess with fright and fascination. and
we looked at each other in CONSERVATION,
believing the whole thing failure. 1t was
Mr.. Belasco who cheered us up and conf
IDENTIFY predicted success.
Bright Future for Film Plays
although l am not u motion picture
enthusiast because of the poor production
Of some. OF my things. thoroughly believe
In the future Of the screen drama. 1t has
wonderful possibilities. Artistically, the
thing has barely started There IN a wide
field and no reason why photoplays should
not become worth while and beautiful. New
York certainly has the craze Motion pic.
turo men are producing many of the legti.
mate plays and paying extrayagantly for
them. They have purchased many former
legitimate theatres and have built many new
houses for motion picture showings. The
thing IL growing rapidly.
"I have been disgusted with the Stiffness,
the inanity Of most of the pictures. That is