The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-08-20
BY FULLERTON WALDO.

TO conauft Win tho illttef ana lllvh
er, the %haphaaard, inconsequcn.
tumble Of episodes. tho g%laring hal
stions and tho unprcdlctable eciip.
SEES that made up the nalssance-de.
sieclo moving picture films.
All that mattered was motion
There must be violent. vivid action
with nothing elusive. nothing at.
musphere, nothing subtle or tran
sccudentnl about u. Tho maif
principle OF tho motion was pursuit
The picture ended when the puraucd
was overtakcu. The gentle art OF
kick or a sob In each, was not
evolved. Explanations were physi-
cal, not verbal; tho supreme elo-
Iuence vas a blow. a pic In the
lace was repartco; 10 speak out was
to strike down, and TO convince n
man you all hut murdered HIN A.
In italian opera, when you got angry
or Jealous, or desperately IN love
you threw yourself about rogardlees
OF tho ~tallor's bill or the dry Glenn
or, and you could not receive bad
news without standing on your head.
Tho stone sgo OF the screen In by
no means over. We Htill have with
uB tonight the cayoman. and the
crowd still bankers for the outright,
prlmeval derrinB-do or the horny
handed. halry-chestcd blp1d that
went after the dinoaaur with a club
and Drained the ~pterodactyl with a
rock, and tore tho meat apart with
his fists TO eat II raw. Behind the
floppy hat and Fauntclroy forgery
OF D'Artagan. Douglas Fairbanks Is
doing Il still IN Tho Three Musket-
GERS" and Maciste OF the puissant
thewa and sinews does 1t In D'An-
nunzio's "Cabiria."
But the flapper who raves over
the b%rilliantino luBter OF Valentines
hair, or the gloomy renunciatory
visage of BIZ Hart, or the bland
sunshine OF Tom Meighan'a smile,
viii admit that In general the NOV
Ing picture has been refined n so
phisticated IN It's less rudimontnry
manifestations. till II requires com-
mensurate music that takes the COM
plexion OF tho picture itself. IL a
patrician drawing room. or a club
dinner, or n directors meeting. or
n palace terrace In shown, II Ia nH
much OF a mistake to accompany II
with the wrong kind OF music as II
would be 10 put In tho mouths or tho
dramatls peraonhe tho sort OF Ian"
guago OF which they would never be
guilty. II care be taken To use period
furniture In n room there should be
period music too. A court minuct of
the days OF candlcllght and a new
tangled fox trOt are as inlmical to
each other as chow-chow ana
whipped IA
SO the modern performer OF mo-
ton picture music has to play not
merely with the hands and the feet.
but with the head, The more MINI
bly, the mutations OF the picture are
followed, the o ~successful In the
musician, and there are Infinite pos
sibilities OF happy Inspiration n
adaptation. THE ordinary player
will be satisfied to maintain n fairly
continuous flow OF sound. tho per-
former with an imagination that
refuses to be dulled or numbed by
the treadmill round OF mechanic
routine and the long hours OF the
task will exercise ingenuity TO dis
cover a fresh and unconventional
musical gloss which shall be as a
frame that in character and design
as we'll as In linear dimensions. fits
the picture.
The quality OF motion-picture
music from year TO year, from month
10 month, appreciates amazingly.
For instance; The writer dropped In
lust before penning these word9 at a
notion picture theatcr, whore there
was %unreeling n troublous story OF
lives frustrated. chec,Scrs1. baffled.
nonplussed-but still brave to fight
on, These lives belonged not mere
ly to red-blooded human beings.
but to that splendid wolfdog.
''Strongheart," and his mate. The
music was played by n symphony
orchestra OF some thirty pieces. The
leader had the wit to take S~chuborts
'Unfinished symphony for his basic
provenAnce. He scarcely tampored
with II at all In the way OF inter
ruption or interpretations. and II was
remarkable how the
~~passon and the pain
OF finite hearts that ycarn"
In this immortal music answered 10
the heart throbs and pulHo beats OF
tho action on tho tho screen.
Recently there came TO me n
young pianist who goes from one
playhouse to tho next as a soloist
between pictures. He realizes that
he has something like a vaudeville
appetite to satisfy. But his consci-
ence also pricks him. I asked him
N he compromised, He told mo with
evident satisfaction shining In his
eyes that with fellow-consptrators
he has been putting over" the
Arensky trio. part OF Grieg's plano
concerto with orchestra, S~arasates
"Zigeunerweissn," Liszt's 'Liebe-
straum."
Would an audience Of this nature
10 years ago have n under such
a dispensation without protest "a
the management2 nut this stripping
virtuoso's heaIers Tapped IL up ana
called for more.
Yachel Lindsay tells the true tale
Of a production OF THE Battle
Hymn OF the Republic" for which
the pianist played 'In the Shade OF
the old Apple Tree" necessarily, ex-
planning that the music for Julia
Ward Howe's famous poem was not
to he found anywhere.
But there are few performers so
dumb ms all that. They are more
likely TO oyerdo Rachmanlnon's G
sharp minor Prelude than 10 give us
too much OF the ballads OF the day.
In fact, when the tragic implications
become sufficiently de ~profundis'
the chances are that the Prelude
comes into action. There a hardly
be a boat ride without the too-famll-
tar Barcarolle from Hoffman"
AaA,, ..n saav,atvs 90 a. Nhn