Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-14
VIRGINIALEL COPBIN
S trand
The Moving Picture
By Robert f. Sherwood

Jesse LASKY of the grandiose
Famous Players-Lasky Corpora
ton recently delivered himself Of some
embittered sentiments-the occasion
quet Of the National Board of Review
in New York.
Mr.. Lasky pointed out that his at
tempts to make artistic pictures for
children had been financial failures.
citing The Blue Bird" Peter Pan"
and "A Kiss for Cinderella" as hurri-
bic examples. Said he: Every day
come letters from exhibitors through
out the country saying don't give us
any more like A Kiss for Cinderella
That is a shocking situation. We had
already begun plans for our next
! Christmas offering and Sir James NJ.
/ Barrie had agreed TO furnish the
script. We have had to relinquish
| our plans.
lie then went on 10 say: The
! problem begins not with the motion
! picture producers but with the public
. itself. There has been a tendency on
/ the part of the public TO support less
/ worthwhile films, and until they are
| educated to higher standards | don't
/ know how they are going to get bet
! ter films.
All that Mr. Lasky says is true: 50
| true, in fact, as to be positively trite.
| 1t has been said before. on numerous
as long as the motion picture industry
! is organized on its present basis.
In the theater there are plays for
| highDrOWS. and PLAYS for lowbToWs.
and plays for medium brows. and a
few plays for brows of all elevations.
All of these plays have the chance to
entertain those for whom they are de-
signed, and to make money for those
who produced them.
In the movie business, as regulated
by Famous Players and other big COM
panies, there are pictures for low
browS-and for no one else. Those
people, and there are many Of them
who sincerely wish to see worthy ef
forts on the screen are deliberately
frozen out.
There are exceptions. and these ex-
ceptiunS are always to be found at the
top Of the list OF financial successes.
For example. among the biggest mon
eymakers of all time you will find
The Four Horsemen Of the Apoca-
lypse" (Which is at the top}. THE
Birth of a Nation the Chaplin and
Lloyd comedies, The Covered Wag-
on" THE Mark of Zorro THE Ten
Commandments" and The Miracle
Man all of which deserve high rat
The Big Parade" 1.-THE Merry Wild
ow," ''Stella Dallas" and Ben Hur"
are attracting huge audiences wher-
ever they are shown. All four of
these will record enormous profits
They are all fine pictures.
This would seem to answer the state
ment that the public is unappreciative
of genuine merit. The public Is moth
ing of the kind.
The average citizen, as typified by
yourself and myself, is apt to be lured
into theater by gaudy title, such
as Her Sacrifice" or "A Brides Con
feSsion." We are liable to fall for
press agents bunk or for the gilded
names of stars flashing from electric
signs, or we may be led into a theater
by nothing more than the human de-
sire for frivolous diversion. Once in
side we may be disillusioned or bored.
but we have paid our admission at the
box office and our obligations to the
movie industry have ended there.
II, however, we have gone into g.
theater and have seen a great picture
like The Miracle Man." Shoulder
Arms" or Don Owe rush to tell
our friends about it, and when such
word-of-mouth advertising has spread,
SupStdllllti success is assured.
The movie producer can always
catch a few dollars with a bad but
easily exploitable picture (''The Ameri-
can Venus" is q perfect instance of
this). But he doesn't create an au-
dience that will come back for more.
Thus the magnate who can't see be.
yond the end of his nose is ultimately
doomed He may cash in while the
cashing is good, but he won't last. If
he goes on Offering third-rate articles
adorned with f1ashy, eye-catching la.
bells, the public IS bound to find out,
soon or late, that it is paying its
money for damaged goods.
The movie producers are wondering
why their business Is falling off land
1t isl. They blame the slump on the
radio, on crossword puzzles, on the
coal strike and on the Charleston
craze. They don't stop to figure that
perhaps the fault lies within them
selves-that they have lost their for
mer customers because of the low
quality of their own goods.
You will notice that the radio. the
crossword puzzles and the other men
aces have not affected the prosperity
of THE Big Parade" or Stella Dali
las"
The public will support good pic.
tures-when it gets them.
Copyright. 1926.)