Evening star., 1927-03-13

NatitN ii ~
~ cradle attention during tn. the
n session of Congress Just
closed, notice has been served. upon
them that they should look for
trouble during the sessions to come
The Swope- Upshaw bill for censor
ship was discarded, and as the au-
thors of the bill are among. the lame
ducks" their ideas must be carried
out by Others in the days 10 come,
1t is reported that further efforts
will be made to force Blue Sun
days" upon the District OF Columbia
and that these will be used as
wedge in the campaign for the Sun
day Blues" throughout the Nation.
No legislation directly affecting
the motion picture industry was
enacted during the last session, but
there was much talk and many bills
were produced, several of them hav-
ing TO do with the transportation
of prize-hght films.
TIFA, that Berlin motion picture
~ producing company which IS a
combination of American money and
German training, has brought out
the masterpiece of its studios, &C
cording TO word from those who
have been privileged to view Me
tropolis." The picture is called one
of the most remarkable achieve
ments in the history Of light play
and an epic of man and the ma
chine The scenes are laid iii a
city of strange skyscrapers; AR
planes circle about among the tow
ers, and pigmy masses craw on the
far-down streets. This gives the
picture a futurstc angle, altogether
different from the realism OF the
American photoplays. j.,
When the photoplay first arrived
in America it contained 10 reefs.
This has been cut TO 9. The pic
ture cost $l,500000 to produce and
nearly two million feet of negative
was exposed. There are 250OO man
and 1900 woman extras, $50 chill
dren and the principals in the nlne me
reels. The costumes cost Z,OOO,UOo
German marks. Fifty automobiles
were used during the filming. The
picture was directed by Fritz Lang,
and is the film version of novel
written by his wife, Thea Won Har-
bou. The greater part OF the pro-
duction work was done in the neigh
borhood of Neu Babelsburg, between
Berlin and Potsdam Metropolis
somewhat resembles a mixture OF
H. G.. Wells, Jules Verne and Edward
Bellamy, with perhaps a touch OF
Mrs. Shelley's "Frankenstein.
~ Il
ALL Washington records have
IA been broken at the Metropoh-
tan with Don Juan" and the Vita
phone. The problems of the man
agement have been confined to the
task of seating as many cash Gus
toners as possible within limited
space.
VXTARNER BROTHERS are max
wv ing a picture around the activi-
ties of the Post Office Department,
recalling one particular photoplay
on the same subject which was re-
leased several years ago.
No photoplay of a few years ago
was complete and suitable for public
showing unless it was filled with
activity-bandits, free-for-all fights
or long chases over the landscape.
The first movie detailing the activi-
ties of the Post Office Department
showed, among other things, a roar
ing fight with bandits in a baggage
car. The hero was a railway mail
worker, who fought a grand battle
and upheld the service of Uncle
Sam. However, after many months
and much money had been spent
upon the production, which was
filmed up around Yonkers, N. Y,
the pictures troubles really started.
Word arrived in Washington that
the New York board of censorship
had failed to pass the picture on
account of the deadly battles. And
to cut the fights from the thriller
would certainly have damaged the
photoplay as an attraction for the
public. Special pleading with the
censors saved the picture for Uncle
Sam, and his heroes of the mail
service were exhibited all over the
country.
The Warner Brothers picture will
be called "A Romance of the United
States Mail"
GLORIA SWANSON, who recent
~ iy completed work in the East
ern studios on "The Love of Sunya,"
has gone to the West Coast for her
next picture, the script of which has
been written by Ouida Bergere. This