Arizona republican., 1921-12-14
By H. H. Van Loan

by n. n. van Loan
 The secret of success in any walk of life is merely to know what the public wants and then being able to serve it in the most attractive man. ner. For those who can do this, and who manifest an infinite capacity for taking painU there Is great reward. The world refers to such people as geniuses. The first one to discover your worth, your possibilities, is you. If you honestly and sincerely believe that you are capable of writing pho toplays. and are willing to make great sacrifices while you are endeavoring to succeed. you will win out. It is unfortunate that the struggle to sue ceed is difficult and usually demands suffering. This is due 10 the fact that the whole system of things is wrong. But, as it is prob ably too late now to change that sys- tenn we will probably have to be con- tented with 1t.
 Study your public and find out what it wants. and also find out what 1t doesn't want. While you're doing this, remember that you must aim to please the~women. A story that does not interest the feminine portion of your audience is not a success. You must bear in mind that the greater part of an audience is composed of women, and they are your greatest critics. If the women endorse a pie ture that picture is certain to be a success. Wives inform their hus- bands of their likes and dislikes- The young man asks his sweetheart which one of the current productions she would like to see, and he goes where she wants to go. The writer who for gets this when he starts to work on his story will regret it later. Then, too. you must remember that the women always outnumber the men in any amusement place. Realizing this, 1t is well not to make women appear ridiculous or displeasing in stories. Their virtues far outnumber those of men and the writer should never dis count them-
 There never was a time when the producers were so eager to get good stories and there never has been such picture going public. Some think that the moving picture has injured the legitimate theater, but those who know will deny it. There Is no clash at all. and each will continue to at tract good audiences and both will do greater work in the future than they have in the past The moving picture has left it's infancy and is developing lHlO d Olks are some who believe its progress is limited and that it hasn't much far ther to go. It will make very mo- ticeable advancement It's progress will attract and amaze the public, be- cause the producer, the author and the director are determined it shall improve.
 Let us look into the future and prophecy a little. In the first place, there are going to be fewer pictures. But they are going to be bigger and better, because the author is going to spend more time on his stories. Those authors who have been writing 10 or 15 stories a year will not write more than four or five in the future. They will be better and bigger stories. and the producer is going to spend more time in making them into pie lures. Because they will be better stories there will be a greater expen- allure of money on each production. Thus when the producer sells his pie ture he will get more money for it. The exhibitor will take these pictures and run them for an indefinite period in his theater. and will charge the public more money for seeing them. The public will quite willingly pay 1t, too, for the public is always willing to pay a good price for quality. The pictures will be handled very much like legitimate plays. and will be booked for a run in each city. The exhibitor will keep it in his theater until the community has seen it. These pictures will probably be shown in only one theater in each city, town or hamlet, and this will enhance its value to the exhibitor, from a box office viewpoint.
 The name of the author will be fea- tured and he will receive the credit for the success or failure of the pro- duction. In the past he has usually received full credit only when the picture was a failure. The success or failure of future productions is go- ing to be solely up to the author, and he will not be able to establish an alibi if the picture Hops" If his work is good, his name will be box office attraction and the public will know him by his work.
 Certain stars will always enjoy a considerable amount of popularity. But the stars era has passed. and if the author makes good the star will never return 10 those glorious days of
 the past when his name outside {