Evening star., 1927-10-30
FLASHES FRoM ne SCREEN

passing more and more into this field
Let us consider the novel which,
debatable as may be its merits,
nevertheless has been more IN the
public eye than any work Of fiction
this year-"Elmer Gantry." The
interruptions evangelist does more
than the hero of The Mag c Noun
tain" and thinks less. 1t is, never
theless, his thought that counts IN
developing the plot of this bitter
satire on the clergy. Everything is
hung on subtle psychological dis
/ tinCtiOns which cannot we'll be
photographed. We remember wit
Messing several years ago him
presentation OF the same author $
masterpiece, "Babbitt." The plot of
bbitt"-that is. the external, pho
tographable plots very, very slim,
indeed. 1t had been doctored into
picture. The result was lamentable.
il was a third or fourth rate film
the best that could be done with one
OF the notable American novels of
our generation.
There is a report, possibly un
founded. that film producers have
given up the idea of trying TO pro-
duce on the screen The American
Tragedy after paying Dresser
good fiat sum for the movie rights.
There is action enough in the story
Of this sordid murder, but the ac-
ton might be described as moving
shadows of events in All ocean OF
ultimate reality 1t is like photo
graphing ships with sails spread
with a camera which. because OF
some mechanical defect. can't make
any record of the surface of the
sea.
We remember viewing a few
years ago film presentation OF
Vanity Fair"-the greatest work Of
fiction, in the estimation of many
critics, which ever yet has come
from the mind of man. On the
screen it was unrecognizabe. The
camera was utterly incapable of por-
traying such a character as Beckie
Sharpe. which depends so much on
fine shades OF differentiation which
Thackeray was able TO bring out in
his description and dialogue.
Consider the most recent Nobel
prize winners in the field of fiction
Hamsun's Growth of the Soil" and
Reymont's peasants" Both, it is
likely, would be utterly impossible
to film presentation. They always
will be until camera is invented
which will photograph souls.
The films, 1t seems possible, will
drive the novel away from romance.
First-class minds in literary endeavor
are not likely to produce more
lvanhoes or Lorna Doones. The
camera can do the same thing rather
better than the typewriter. Instead,
the novel will become more and more
a record of thoughts and struggles
of souls. 1t will explore more thor
oughly and intimately the subcon-
scious. 1t will get closer to the ulti-
mate reality.
The moving picture is driving the
philosopher back to his laboratory.
1t has made the making of fiction a
laboratory professor such seems
the trend.
The mind of the novelist and the
mind of the film producer are funda-
mentally different. The results they
seek are fundamentally different.
Neither profits in the long run bv
lntrudIng in each others fields.
MOT only are the moving picture
theaters Of the Nation which
charge over Is cents admission few
and far between, according TO the
Film News. but survey Of the sit
uatlon shows that admissions gem
orally are below the 75-cent scale
III key cities. In the smaller towns.
OF course, prices scale down to the
z5-cent top. These figures. OF
course, exclude roadside productions.
which go out with top price Of
from $3.50 to s..
In the key cities admissions range
from 40 to IS cents, with few the
aters getting Is cents.
THE committee on progress of the
Society of Motion Picture Enpi-
neers states that there has been
much recent activity in the field of
color photography. New patents
have been filed in the United States,
England and Germany.