New-York tribune., 1920-09-26
He Sends Artist to Mexico
To Paint Scenes for Stare
Setting i'm His Film Houses

Il has almost become automatic that
nothing Is too expensive FOR the pro-
ducers Of motion pictures; that SAL
aries are far beyond anything ever
dreamed Of on the speaking stage;
that architects whose salaries run into
six figures spend their time making
sets that last one or two minutes on
the screen; that painters and sculptors
work at enormous cost on art titles
that last seconds, not minutes, on the
silver sheet
But the work that is being done in
the motion picture houses, the large
sums of money that are spent to en-
hance the beauty of the pictures when
they are presented on Broadway, was
emphasized last week, when "The Rest
less Sex" was presented at the Cri-
terion Theater. A set by Urban, mas
ter of stage investiture, whose costly
productions are the gems of the Met
ropolitan Opera, was revealed. 1t was
not motion picture setting, but an
artist-archtect's creation, built .espe-
cially for the Criterion. It's gorgeous
colors, the taste shown in its rich
simplicity, its allegorical strength, all
lived for about three minutes and then
the picture came on. Those who know
Urban and the cost of his work were
surprised and delighted; surprised that
any one should spend so much for
three minutes Of entertainment In a
motion picture house and delighted
that the motion picture exhibitor
should be 80 ready to pay FOR real art
even II it lived but moment
Hugo Riesenfeld, director Of the
Rivoli, Rialto and Criterion theaters,
WIS asked whether he believed 80 ex-
pensive moment was worth while.
1T may be the picture alone that
10 drawing them and then again it may
be the picture plus the presentation.
That Is not for me to say" he said.
To show his faith in the value OF
costly art work In the presentation
Of pictures, Mr.. Riesenfeld revealed
some Of his plans for the future. The
first step in advance Of the work now
being done is his commission to Win
old Reiss, painter of note, to go to
Mexico and paint the Indians and
native Kexicans, as we'll as secure In
dian and Mexican color FOR stage set
tings in the three Riesenfeld theaters,
Reiss. who has studio at d CHRISTOPHER
Street, will leave for Mexico next
Wednesday and will work there for
several months.
Mr.. Riesenfeld selected Reiss FOR
Shls Undertaking because OF his success
IN obtaining oil portraits of the Black
foot Indians of Montana. A month ago
he returned from that reservation with
thirty-five paintings, all of which were
sold the day his exhibition opened.
"The Indians" says Mr.. Reiss, shave
color and lines that can be found
among no other people on this hcmi-
sphere. They are strong and gentie-in
their faces and carriage you find power
and repose, the two things that make q
painter happy. And in spite of all
heard about the difficulty Of making
them pose had no difficulty whatever
When they were convinced that was
not there to exploit them my path was
made easy
"In Mexico, Of course, expect to
find even more color than I had with
the Blackfoot tribe. There we have
the Mayas, wild, picturesque tribe
which has survived very much In its
original condition. There are other
tribes that I hope to locate and there
Is always the rich combination of
Aztec and Spaniard-the Mexican. I
am going to Mexico City first and from
there will travel to Yucatan, the home
of the most unspoiled Mayas. The rest
Of the. expedition shall leave to
chance"