The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-17
THE PHoTOPLAY's PROGRESS

4 FeTbOnS WnO IOTmerly. duOptSu 6N- perior attitude admit that the movies are growing. Those of us who remeni- Der the first crude attempts at .one-reel comedies, in which the chase was fea- tured to the exclusion of nearly every thing else. and compare them with the "super-pictures" of today, will readily acknowledge that the makers of motion pictures have learned something about their business, or their art.
 In photography you would think that approximate perfection had been reached already. In some of the better photo plays marvellous effects are obtained by intelligent direction, aided by the skill of the cameramen in the operation of their machines. Scenes appear that sug- gest superb etchings or the work of a gifted painters brush. The public has grown accustomed to the results obtain ed in grouping the actors, or posing them individually, against striking back grounds, yet some of us still are struck with admiration as an exceptionally fine bit of photographic art is introduced in the relation of a commonplace, or trivial story. Perehance the star, who is always, of course, beautiful, if she be a woman, may be observed standing in a window niche, through which one catches a glimpse of landscape of en- trancing beauty. Those human marion cites whom the directors order and push about with such freedom are manipulated in many ways, not to enhance the love- Illness or the grandeur of nature, but to direct attention to mountains and seas, majestic forests, a fountain, bit of bric-a-brac or a tiny lake on which swans and lilies float.
 And why should not the motion picture directors make the most of their oppor- tunities, when they have the whole world of animate and inanimate nature from which to choose? Does the scenario mention volcano? Vesuvils, the magic blue waters of the bay of Naples and Italian skies may be put into the picture, or Kilauea, by the simple process of in- serting strip of film. In this case, the view was not taken for the motion pie ture in which it appears, but if the scenes of photoplay are laid in some partic- larly romantic part of the world, as like ly as not the actors will journey there and the play will be filmed in France, Italy, Hawaii, or wherever the plot is supposed to transport the x heroes and heroines, the villains and advenEuresses and all the other characters who revoIve about them. Actual scenes from the World War have been woven into many pictures, with what realism may be easily imagined. When those war pictures were taken, there was no thought, probably, that they would be used eventually in producing Hollywood masterpieces, but there they are, and they help wonder fully in redeeming photoplays that might otherwise sag little in the middle and in other parts.
 What to many patrons of motion pie lures is now one of their greatest at- fractions is this their scenic fidelity. When the scenes of photoplay are laid in Paris, we are shown, not make-believe Paris, but the real thing-the Arc de Triomphe, the familiar Eiffel tower, Mo- tre Dame, the Seine, with it's many bridges; Montnartre, the famous cafes and the crowds that throng the streets; {; and likewise if London is the locale of our story, or almost any other place, for that matter. The, movies still play tricks upon us, and great deal of what we see on the screen isi not what we think it is, but they have gained enor- mously in photographic beauty and in the realistic portrayal of life. Insofar as photography is concerned, they have achieved the dignity of art.
 There is still much room for improve ment in the preparation of photoplays and in the method ofstheir presentation as "silent drama," but the literary value of the motion picture has made distinct advance, as witness the screening of many immortal novels and poems. Some of them, alas, are sadly bungled, but they represent the striving. toward goal that is worth while and is destined to give permanence to the photoplay.