The New York herald., 1922-11-26
THE NEW MOVIES
By Robert E. Sherwood
r. HE success OF Merton Of the
Movies" as a novel and as

rious quarters as deliberate rebuke
oG~fhe silent drama by the literate
public People are so sick of the
movies. we hear that any one who
seeks to satirize them and teach them
their place is enthusiastically hailed
as a deliverer.
one more or less dramatic critic in
reviewing Merton" said that he hoped
1t would be strong enough to force the
movies TO shut up shop.
This is a silly notion. One might as
well say that the theater should go out
of business because it is effectively
kidded in six Characters in Search
OF an Author"
AS a matter of fact, neither Harry
Leon Wilson, who wrote Merton OF
the Movies" nor kaufman and Con-
nelly, who dramatized it, were aiming
30 much at the movies as at Merton.
He is really the arch-criminal in the
case, for he is the person who is re-
sponsible for the quality of the films.
AS II. l.. Mencken has observed, The
kind of jackass who likes the movies
as they are is the man who keeps
them what they are"
Merton Gill and all his brethren are
we'll satisfied with the movies in their
present state, as Messrs. Wilson,
Kaufman and Connolly have been
careful to point out.
Merton Gill is actually an allego-
rlcal figure. he represents and speaks
for that vast element in our fair land
which swears Off further mental de-
velopment on it's fourteenth birthday.
The sympathy which is generally ex-
pended on him is strengthened by the
knowledge that he is typical. lie is
the public.
The movies are not to blame for
Merton Gill: he is to blame for the
movies. 1t is he who pays the salary
OF Beulah Baxter the wonder woman
of the screen; it is he who subscribes
TO all the fan magazines and believes
their stories about home life in Holly
wood; ii is he who sends his savings
TO correspondence schools in acting
and scenario writing, and it Is he whu
resolutely rejects all attempts by the
more enlightened members of the
movie gentry to venture into the
realms Of intelligence
1t Is true, of course. that the silent
drama has served to organize the Mer-
ton ellis and TO give them a single
ness of purpose which they never had
before. Ten years ago their humble
interests were distributed over a wide
variety of subjects. Now they are
concentrated on one focal point.
We doubt, however, that they are
any the worse for 1t. Certainly their
imaginations are stirred more by a
Griffith picture than by perusal OF "a
Sears Roebuck catalogue. Their ses-
thctic senses receive more encourage
ment from a two reel scenic than from
an attempt TO learn 10 play the auto
harp in ten lessons They derive more
intellectual stimulation from a film
like ''Torable DAVID than from the
best novel that Bertha NJ. Clay ever
wrote.
We have no intention of setting our
selves up as "A target for hoarse laugh
ter by stating that the movies are
actually uplifting the Merton ellis and
Tcssie kcarnses or pointing the way
10 better and finer things: but we do
maintain, and stoutly. that the movies
have brought into the lives of such
people an appreciation for drama,
romance and beauty which they never
possessed before.
And il the movies should shut UP
shop tomorrow, and IL every camera
and every inch of perforated cellulotd
should vanish from this earth, Merton
Gin and all his little playmates would
stlll be stupid--still be inexpressibly
pathetic.
All this should not be interpreted as
en- adverse criticism OF Merton of
the Movies"-boolS or play. In both
forms IL is one of the sagest, saddest,
funniest commentaries on life that we
have ever read or seen.
no true dcvotee Of the cinemato-
graphic art can afford TO ignore
Merton of the Movies" II makes ua
stop and thlnk--if such thing Is
possible.
a press dispatch from Portland. Nc.
tells us OF Mrs. Blanche Doyle, a resi-
dent Of that city and the possessor of
many grandchildren, who has never
been TO the movies. She has no
knowledge Of who tho Hollywood stars
arc or where Hollywood is. and has no
desire to learn. Indeed when asked
whether she liked Charley Chaplin she
naivciy inquired whether he was a
boy in the fort near by
We sincerely trust that Will IL
Hays will do something about this
without further delay.
We have "A letter from n gentleman
in Alaska who protests against the
theory. advanced IN so many movie
melodramas. that the Canadian North
west Mounted Police always get their
man"
lie explains that they have been
after him for nine years, with negli-
gible success.
We have always been suspicious o.
these stories about the miraculous cf'
\ ficiency OF the Canadian cops. But
then-perhaps this cynical attitude l.
Influenced by the fact that we have
spent so great "A part OF our life IN
New York city.