Evening star., 1928-04-08
News and Comment
BY w. II. LANDVOIGT.

, ty, and, it might be added without
fear of contradiction, with SO
much Of mediocrity to offer the
public. This condition is trace
able directly to those who are en-
gagged in the motion picture buSi--
ness. Not content with the un-
bounded success they were achiev-
ing in their own field. they have
reached out into other territory
and messed up things generally
And the pictures themselves, how
ever well made they may be, are
certainly showing that this thing
has not been done without the
pictures bearing some of the pen
atty themselves. II suggests an
other Story-that of the dog who.
forgetting the bone in his own
mouth. sought to snap at the bone
in the mouth of his shadow in the
water. and lost both in conSe-
Quence.
WITH all this questionable buSi-
w ness, the movie has a Splen-
did record of achievement behind
it in its own legitimate field, and
there are many who believe it
cannot do better than TO return
to the fold which it forSook to in
jure other things in the spirit of
greed. There are no great pic
lures announced for Easter week,
to commemorate one of the pro-
foundeSt and most important
events in the history of humanity.
Perhaps a little lesson breathing
the spirit of the day may not be
amiSS. After all, it is only &
thought, for what the movies are
doing and have done is their own
business, provided the general
public does not object.
And the movies have done
much. That fact cannot be de-
MED.
THIS weeks attractions will pre-
l. sent a new version of the old
familiar story of LucreZia Borgia,
the lady who used to invite those
she did not like TO dinner and
then send their poisoned bodies
home to their friends as a re-
minder. Movie research has dis
covered that LucreZia wasn't at
all bad herself. 1t was her brother
who was so wicked, and she was
simply obliged to do his naughty
bidding. The modern movie
seems likely to change history
The remainder of the current pic
lures. however, offer wide range
of advertisement ranging from
absurd comedy to tense drama.
thus providing for varying tastes.
CECIL B. DE MILE, who has
~ been producing religious spec
tacleS. some of commanding
interest, now turns from his piouS
task to give us a taste of Tenth
avenue melodrama. AS De Mile
usually does things thoroughly,
albeit after his own ideas, the re-
ligious thrill may now give way
to the shudder whose efficiency is
highly promoted in modern melo-
drama. Mr.. De Mile also is going
to give the world peep at the
goddess girl and an insight into
the manner in which some re-
formatory institutions are con-
Quoted. The advance report states
that. for this picture. which is to
be called The Goddess Girl"
Jeanie Macpherson has written $,
story that is astoundingly daring
in its open treatment of problems
that are surging through the
veins Of the younger folks of the
world" This sounds thrilling, and
it is accompanied by report that
Rupert Julian is directing and
Bertram MillhauSer is producing
for Pathe-De Mile picture based
on George Kibbe Turner's maga-
zine serial. "A Ride in the Coun-
try" for which Monte Katterjohn
has written ''rapid-f1re melodrama
of up-to-t the-minute boys and
girls confronted with modern
problems of hold-uD men. boot
leggers. wild automobile rides and
parties" Truly modern youth
seems as much perturbed with
brainstorms. judging from these
reports. as the movie industry it
self. And old-fashioned common
sense again asks why this should
be so. and why, oh why. IL 1t be
so, the horrors should be pictured