New-York tribune., 1920-05-30
claire Whitney Holds
Brief for Exchanges
by Stage and Screen

Inc injection of little motion pic
ture talent And atmosphere into the
spoken stage in New York not on1v ia
not hurtful but should be of vast help.
says Clare Whitney, star of the Metro
Fllm Corporation and at present plav-
ing an important part in the new
play An Innocent Idea" at the Full
ton Theater, incidentally showing excel
lent taste in pajamas.
Miss Whitney, whose motion nic-
ture work has brought her fame and
some deal of a fortune, does not be-
HeVe the furor created recentlv bv
the announcement that one or two Of
the largest film concerns in the United
States were going to produce lerit-
innate plays on Broadway is we'll
founded.
Il don't think the motion picture
producers and managers, and even the
actors" she says, can hurt the legit-
innate stage. think, as a matter of
TACT, that Broadway theatricals need
a little new life and touch Of what
we Americans like to call 'pepper'
and certainly there is no better wav
OF lnstllling action into stage work
than through bringing a motion pic
ture actor or actress into a stage plav
now and then. Besides, the people
like to see the folk who have been
acting for so long upon the screen
They want to hear what voices are
possessed by folk in silent drama. 1t
IS quite natural"
She said she did not doubt that
many Of the motion picture concerns
would like nothing better than to be
able to produce stage plays in New
York, maxi successes of them and
finally be forced to put them on the
screen. This, she says. is only good
business and certainly does not mean
that poorer stage productions would
be seen. On the other hand, it would
mean that better and more expen-
slyely arranged productions would be
offered the public.
IF motion picture owner hopes to
make a success of a play in order that
the public will demand to see it in
pictures" she says, "the owner will not
for one moment be satisfied to produce
a poor stage play. He will know that
if his stage play is a failure he will
have no chance to put it on the screen.
You Will see very plainly that if motion
picture concerns mean to produce plays
so that later they will be produced in
films the public is the big winner, the
producer must give better plays, must
spend more money, and must DO every
thing on bigger scale than before"
Miss Whitney has not deserted the
studios. She hopes to get right back
into pictures before long, having
stopped her film work to take the part
in "An Innocent Idea" only after earn
est urging on the part Of the producers
AS matter of fact, she is now work
ing on new picture, and this week
will make several exterior scenes in
and around New York
"One doesn't need much golf or rid
trim when the day is filled, half with
racing through the surf and through
grassy slopes over in New Jersey and
on Long Island, climbing ladders, being
shot, being carried over somebody's
back, being generally pitched and
thrown and the other half on the stage
doing a part in a humorous play. But
1t doesn't wear me out at all. The
change seems to carry me right
through, and l like it,"
Miss Whitney says she has learned
from her experience in motion pictures
that one never should feel downhearted
about his own efforts until he sees
the effect his work has upon others.
Il work for long time on a picture,
or even on stage play" she says,
"and, after while, begin to feel that
1t is very, very commonplace. and will
not be success. Many times I am dis
illusioned when | see the smiles and
the laughter and the fine way in which
the audiences taka the work ),