The New York herald., 1922-05-07
High Lights and
s bShadOwS on News
ofMotion Pictures
Eddie Cantor Yields at Last to
the Lure of the Silver
Screen.
ny FRANK vREELAND.

gingery comedian acknowl-
edged at the Winter Garden the other
day that he had succumbed to an offer
made TO him by Carl Laemmle of Uni
versal, and was naturally all agog at
the thought of making his first pic
ture-f countenance as changeful as
Buster Keaton's can be conceived of
as being agog over anything.
Yes, sir" said Cantor, putting on
now wears as a full fledged star,
they've got me. I'd been expecting
that they might come after me some
time, so had couple of stories ready
for 'em. l expect to do some trick
stuff. and acting for the pictures ought
TO be lot of fun. because it's more
varied than on the stage--and besides,
you can spend more money on the sets,
even if you smash them all finally.
They sometimes spend as much as
$4,000 for a single scene in a comedy
which is enough to put many
Broadway musical show on its legs.
Why, my goodness. many Of the
scenes in which I've played on the
stage haven't cost $780, and you had
TO be very careful of them at that.
II shan't do the picture for the pres
ent as 1 fear l couldn't do either my
stage or my screen work Justice-and
one must always do ones wor.l justice.
But when my engagement In this show
is over and there aren't any baseball
games to distract me / expec. to take
q month off and do a two rceler."
Caator's nearly tragic eyes ought to
prove as good an investment as Chap
Inns. With his acrobatic ability and his
general. glrm aspect 1t might be pos
sible for him to make comedies OF the
Buster Keaten type-but, then, you
never can tell on the screen. especially
II Cantor can't be heard erupting bal
lad about Those Baby Eyes" But II
he expects to make even two reeler
In a month he is liable to a rude awak-
ening. For further details write Harold
Lloyd.
According to her friends. Theda Bara
who is surprised to learn she is dead.
by the way, and Is inclined to contradict
the story--is preparing to prove she Is
very much alive by starting Theda
Bara renaissance on the stage as Wen
as the screen. One OF the details de-
terring her Is the fact that several OF
her old productions are still awaiting
release by William Fox. and she fears
that IL she turns out production OF
her own, probably directed by Charles
Brabin, she may be competing against
herself.
Meanwhile as the wife OF Brabin, she
has little to worry about but keep her
apa rtnicr,t looking grander than any
vamp's and clipping coupons. For MISS
Bara is reputed to be quite rich wom-
an. a year ago. according to report. hav-
Ing handed over something like 100000
TO the tender mercies Of the income tax
collector. 1t started. OF course, with
her salary from Fox, who was said to
be paying her $4,000 week by the time
she was finishing her last batch OK VIC
tins on the screen. Then she made
some very shrewd investments which
rose higher than a movie stars pompa-
dour during the war. Now .he most
famous vamp in film history doesn't
have to care whether she ruins another
man before the camera or not-uniess'
to be sure. fame begins whistling TO
her once more.
A correspondent requests that light be
shed on the puzzling question: why
don't film spectators remember the pic
1,lre plays they have seen as sharply as
snoken PLAYS? To this the ready flip
pant answer would be that they don't
want TO. But the reason Is further to
seek than that--it is, indeed, made UP
of several elusive factors, not TO pe ois-
missed with a mere wave OF tne type
writer. This penetrating and suggestive
query In fact has more than an aca-
demic interest. since 1t Illustrates ciear-
lv iust why the movies will never ccm
pletely supersede the spoken drama IN
popular favor, regardless OF the an eio-
ouent fol de rol from picture producers
Doubtless the most important element
leading To oblivion-sometimes welcome
Regarding a photoplay Is the absence
OF the human voice. which makes person
aIities stand oat and differentlate petter
than any stereoscopic device ever lh-
vented for the screen. II Is true, as the
correspondent points out, tnat ninss
seen strike more deeply than thinss
heard, but the stage has the advantage
of proyiding both sensations, getting
double impact for the one price, More
over. the stage has the added benent 10
giving a vivid mpression--which, OF
course. is what makes play stick IN
the memory--in that 1t uses color whiie
Il is only falteringly that the fims are
beginning to look as large as lie In TINS
respect. The chances are that the oe-
holder will remember j. Stuart Black
toms color picture, The Glorious Ad-
venture" lust introduced here. long
after "Ail for a Woman" far superior
dramatically. means nothing more than
a haze to him.
The human voice provides a warmth
TO a personality because II is the best
means for expressing emotion, and II is
the emotional content OF a story, at bot
tom. which makes II sink into the skull.
Not half the same potency can be
achieved by twisting up the race ana
buleing out the eye. A tacit acknowl-
edement Is made that most pictures need
jtist such warmth OF sound to llft them
lin by the elaborate musical programs
or tap at the big movie palaces. Did
YOU ever wander into nickelodeon
where a picture was being shown and
notice how II seemed TO have turned sour
because only an organ was groaning In
accompaniment to Il? The variety solos
seek to humanize the feature picture.
though frequently they simply atone
for II.
The best instance OF the superiority
Of audible playing over what might be
called dumb" acting was given to the
writer by william Faversham. He said
Tint during tho war he was travelling
over Long Island with n company seek
uar appropriate scenes for n motion
rlNsure when a company or marines
,.vgt 4. ftyn hatr