Arizona republican., 1922-02-18

The Movis Industry
Phoenix. Ariz.,
/ TO the Editor: Feb. IL, 1922
/ Reading the issue of the Repub-
/ lican of Feb. II, was struck by the
| telegraphic story from Los Angeles
| to the effect that several of the
movie people," both stars and di-
rectors, had appealed to the Amer
lean public for fair play, the basic
principle Of democracy.
! And then ] was struck by the SEEM
ing contradictory editorial in the
same issue titled Hollywood"
AS one connected with the industry,
the exhibiting end, writing to one
not connected with the industry, with
out thought of umbrage or animosity,
| write this letter and wonder il you
will give il space in your columns.
The first paragraph of the edito-
rial referring to the Arbuckle mat
ter. dwells on the eagerness with
which the movie colonists and pas
| tor of the church rushed to the de-
fense Of this outrageous character"
Was that eagerness any greater than
the eagerness with which the news
papers and newspaper writer's rushed
! to the condemnation OF the motion
picture industry as a. whole, and is
that eagerness on the part OF the
newspapers and newspaper writer's
any less restrained even today. in the
| light of the recent developments?
The second paragraph of the ed
itorial makes it plain that Hollywood,
in the opinion Of its writer, is now
IAN immoral region OF no restraint.
because its inhabitants are for the
most part insane through the sud-
den ACQUISITION of wealth" Here the
writer is evidently again striking at
the motion picture industry. and in
his spirit OF fair play takes in the
entire district OF Hollywood, boast
ing of several thousand inhabitants,
maintaining it's stores, its private en-
terprises. it's beautiful homes, and its
mercantile interests differing widely
from that of the motion picture in
dustry. Scouting the theory that the
entire motion picture colony is in
sane with wealth. because some of
those connected with the industry
have attracted most unsavory repu-
tations. we wonder how the entire
population of Hollywood would fall
in line with the statement that they
are all insanely wealthy. and not re-
sponsible, themselves. and through
this fact are responsible for the 'un-
moral region?
And the third paragraph OF the
editorial states that comparatively
few great actors and actresses have
since been lured to the movies for
leading parts in great pictures. but
they have really become naturalized
citizens of movieland." Against this
statement the roster OF 'naturalized
citizens of rnovieland" contains such
names as William 5. Hart. William
LTsefx
worth, Ralph Lewis, Tully Marshall,
Thomas Meighan, Lewis $. Stone,
Frank Campeau. Frank Keenan,. Will
liam Desmond, and one could go on
indefinitely naming those who have
given up the stage for the shadow
art and are associated strictly with
the screen. and have been for years.
And on the opposite side we find
several who have attempted to de-
sert the stage for the screen. but
found they could not make the sue
cess they had hoped for, and the pc
culiar fact is that many Of these are
the most prominent Of the stage folk,
witness Ethel Barrymore, Olga Pet
rova, Lionel Barrymore. John Barry
more and others OF equal note. So
that that issue is about evenly di-
vided, il would seem. The occasion
of Otis Skinner's screen presentation
of "Kismet" recently brought from
Mr.. Skinner the remark that in all
the years he had played "Kismet" on
the speaking stage. he had really
never had the pleasure and gratifi-
cation OF seeing his beloved play pre-
sented. had never truly appreciated
it's possibilities until il reached the
screen, and "Kismet' was SINNERS
favorite drama for many years.
As for their being mo history to
follow" that meaning is not clear in
just the sense Ii was meant. II is
ment that no history of former
achievement was at hand to guide
those who launched forth In the sci
ence of the cinema. pioneers who
blazed the trail of empire across the
country TO the westward had no This
tory TO follow" the greatest achieve
ments in the history OF the world. we
believe. are not those who followed a
history" but which took the initia-
tive, and produced results. II the
statement is meant that history is
not followed in the construction and
publication of screen plays, the state-
ment is surely far from correct. when
one has but TO watch the construc-
ton of the screen masterwork from
the moment IL is selected to its COM
pletion the work OF the art direc-
tors, the great corps of research men,
the unceasing historical searching
and comparison, the gathering Of the
findings of the great authorities on
the subjects TO be filmed. the cos
tuning. the study OF the customs OF
the periods In which atmosphere the
play has been written. The educa-
tional value of the screen has been
dwelled on at length by some of the
greatest writers of the country, and
surely these laudatory comments
could never have been written were
history overlooked in the construc-
ton of screen material.
Is il not fact almost universally
that each one has his pet theories,
his own ideals, etc." or is that con-
fined solely to the picture industry.
Coming down in the article we
read that 1T was only a little while
ago that Americas sweetheart was
playing in Her Fatal Wedding in
the Criterion theater in Chicago, sing
ing a little song, getting little money
and working hard, working out her
dreams" and that Mabel Normand
was working for nothing, bending all
her energies TO the task OF pleasing
the public" These statements evil
IDENTIFY deplore the fact that these two
stars are now at the top Of the lad
der Of success, and that success has
been crowned by the rewards OF
wealth and affluence. a fault with
them rather than a virtue. BY the
same line of reasoning, does IL fol-
low that because our beloved Abra-
ham Lincoln was born in a log cabin.
that he was of poor, obscure parent
age, that his early struggles were
pitiful, he should have not been the
president OF the United States? And
the other great men of American in
dustry and letters. those who start
ed at the bottom, are to be censored
by this same logic which finds fault
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