Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-09

producers have brought out
VI their lists Of the best photo
a Dlays of 1920, it would seem
proper and fitting that a selection
be made of the best Washington
pictures of the past year, combining
the list. OF course, to the screen pro-
auctions seen in the Capital during
the past II months. Many of the
pictures included in the lists of the
producers and critics of other cities
have not been exhibited in Wash
ington. and it is, therefore, impos-
sible to class them as good, bad or
Indifferent After close scrutiny
of the pictures exhibited by local
theater managers, the following list
seems to take in the best of the
year:
The Big Parade
THE Cabinet of DR.. Caligari."
Variety"
"The Volga Boatman"
Faust
Stella Dallas"
"Ben-Hur."
"The Sea Beast"
Top honors should probably go to
, "Ben-Hur," which is a colorful,
thrilling, workmanlike spectacle. The
big picture was two years in prep
aration; its mob scenes, chariot race
and amphitheater views stand out
as triumphs of the motion picture
industry. The two German films,
Variety" and Faust" deserve spe-
cial mention, for their acting and
lighting effects are remarkable.
na @f ~. II tcr
German film, is a novelty-pro
duced as picture of that character
yet it is superbly done and attracts
unusual attention from large audi
ences. The Volga Boatman" is a
bit of fine art-like an oil painting
in all the colors from an artists
palette. The Big Parade" tops the
list of war pictures, and it will be
box Office attraction for years to
come. Stella Dallas" is a picture of
splendid acting-the very best work
of Belle Bennett For thrills that go
with a story of adventure, John
Barrymore's "Sea Beast" stands out
in class by itself
Other photoplays receiving consid-
cradle mention in best" lists for
the year 1926 are What Price
Glory" Beau Geste" and "Old
Ironsides," but these have not
yet been exhibited in the Capt.
tai and they cannot, be included
in the all Washington group
Other screen productions Just escape
a place in the preferred list, as
"Manon Lescaut," with Lya de Putt
as the star, and Tramp, Tramp,
Tramp" comedy with Harry
Langdon. A bad ending, produced
especially for American audiences"
turned "Manon Lescaut" into an or
binary picture. And in all proba-
bility Harry Langdon will have
comedy in the 1927 list, as his work
is improving with each of his pro-
auctions.
NEWSPAPERS and news reels
~ are playing important parts in
the educational scheme of today.
Many schools took up the plan of
keeping pupils abreast of current
events by the study of newspapers,
and now the news reel is coming in
for special attention. Naturally, the
movies of bathing beauties and
actresses with their pet ant-eaters
are cut from the films before their
exhibition in the schoolrooms, only
the stirring pictures of news events
being displayed for the youthful au-
dienceS.
The Boston Board of Education
has introduced the current events
movies in 40 schools of the city
The experiment was tried early in
October, the reels being used in con-
nection with newspaper reading, and
it has proved such a success that
it will be extended. An announce
ment from Boston is as follows:
THE films used are the same as
those shown in the theaters, only
carefully censored. The schoolrooms
undergo special fireproofing to COM
ply with State laws. With the use
of the news reels the lessons are
given in the assembly rooms, all the
classes being handled by a single
teacher"
Thomas A. Edison remarked re-
Gently that the. time was coming
when textbooks and teachers would
be supplanted by motion pictures
but this will be in the far and dis
tant future.
NATURAL vision (stereoscopic)
~ motion pictures are TO be the
big advance in the film industry of
. 1927, according to word from the