Arizona republican., 1922-02-18

"Ganlins, poor, flattered, empty head
ed rich little gamins." would sit on
the heads of such genius as d. w.
| Griffith, Cecil i. De Mile, William
De Mile, John S. Robertson. George
Melford, Marshall Neilan and the
others who have been responsible for
the greatest contributions of recent
years TO the entertainment, arnuse-
ment and instruction of the American
public, greater perhaps than in any
other one line OF endeaYor.
And the statement that "much Of
the acting is yet uniform and wood
en-, we are sure is merely a state
ment OF an opinion. Is IL not logic
TO suppose that the conveying Of emo
tons and feeling through the agency
OF pantomime is far more difficult
than the registering of that same
emotion or feeling where the words
nave been placed In the mouths OF
actors by the gifted playwrights. True
1t is that the work OF the screen
stars is the result OF dlrectoriaI e.
fort is not the same thing largely so
with the speaking stage. Surely a re-
nearsal OF the most accomplished OF
stage stars would not get very far
without the guidance OF director. or
2 producer, or someone in authority.
We cannot recall a play presented a.
a result Of rehearsais conducted by
the actors themselves, a sort OF sart
for arts sake" affair.
Contrary to the abatement thar
hollywood is not all there Is OF the
movie industry and in IL there Is lit
tie OF the best" stands the fact that
fully % per cent Of all the motion
pictures made are made at aollv-
wood and the surrounding country.
the executive offices for the most
part are in New York, but there "a a
lot more of Hollywood than the mo-
ton picture industry, great az that is.
lact which visit TO the community
will verify.
Now as 10 the advancement OF the
motion picture industry and OF n1n-
ton pictures. We believe THAI tfe
writer of the editorial win agree that
the spoken drama is about where IL
was when motion pictures were born
And we'll gamble that IL either the
writer or thu editorial. or the writer
or the article he quotes. or both. were
TO journey back TO their home towns
they would more than likely find the
opera house or "theater' in about
the same state as when they left
Legitimate" houses almost universal
ly. This cannot be said of picturcs:
compare a picture made Is wears ago
with the modern feature picture s-di
the result will amaze. But 20 refer
pack TO the places for the presenta-
ton of the Legitimate" ana the
movie houses" Possibly a new car
pet viii be found. maybe not: a new
coat or paint may have been added,
nut the opera house" as an institi-
ton Is practically the same Now
h. n.
only advancement made in theatrical
presentation during the last 10 TO is
years, the life OF the motion picture.
has been made in the theaters Offer
ing motion pictures. The paiatfaI
cinema temples throughout the coun-
try today are the last word in COM
Iort elegance, convenience. beauty
and architectural splendor: the Can
ltal in New York, the new Chicago in
chicago, the Kinema, Grauman's and
the California in Los Angeles: the
Saltornia and the Grenada in San
francisco, Newman's I'm Kansas Citv
ana even in our own city OF Phoenix
where has the advancement IN the
aters been made--in the 'legitinate'
speakies or the 'illegitimate" movieSs
And Following a remark we saw
printed the other day 20 the effect
that ~ was to be hoped that VIII
Hays coming to the motion picture
industry would Fix il so that CUSTOM
ers would not have 10 sit through
four reels OF bunk 10 see one good
picture" let us hope that he will also
De responsible for that element or
tair play that will leave the articles
on the advancement. art, and gen
eral criticism OF the motion picture
10 someone who at least is acs
qpainted with the subject. or some
one connected with the industry even
most obscurely. and let them not be
at the beck and eau OF editors and
writer's who, searching for a subject
on which TO write light on the
movies" and then treat them from
their own standpoint rather than
from the facts as they exist.
Very respectfully.
A. G. PICKETT.