Evening star., 1928-02-12
F the many complaints
made against the Monta
Bell picture, Man, Woman
and Sim" which was eX-

ha0AS oSCAAlSt WIN ANASAASu
Bell picture, Man, Woman
~ and Sim" which was eX-
hibited in Washington recently
the fact is often lost sight of that
this was. as whole, a bad pic
ture. In nearly all of the letters
addressed to this department OF
The Star. fault has been found
with certain episodes OF the
paotoplay and various scenes
have been criticized as unbecom-
,dg to the Nations Capital. These
complaints are justified. but one
rdust not lose sight of the fact
that the picture should never
have been screened. In its en-
tirety, it was bad picture and
unworthy of showing. There was
no special reason why it should
have occupied a place in the
movie calendar: it was not his
torical; ii had no moral value,
and there was absolutely no eX-
cuse for it.
Man. Woman and Sin." which
might be the title of almost any
photoplay ever made. Should
have skipped WaSfington-and if
the producer had. for a single
moment. considered the effect of
his product. he might have cam
celled its showing all over the
country.
One correspondent says: The
picture is terrible insult to our
city. to our citizens and. partic-
ularly. to our mothers. It is bad
publicity for Washington and a
mistake to let the picture go un-
challenged. Monta Bell may get
away with this sort of stuff at
times. but 1t is certain that he is
headed straight for the neareS.
laundry"
One of the worst phases of the
matter was the disappointment of
many Washington mothers who
saw their children in the picture
An invitation was issued. during
the making of various scenes in
the Capital. to boys and girls to
take part in the production. At
that time it was considered that
the finished product would be
more or less accurate description
of Washington life-but it fell as
fat as a balloon tire with rail-
road spike in it. Will Hays and
his confreres made slip when
they allowed Man, Woman and
Sim TO crowd good picture from
the movie screen.
THE tickle public. or that large
part of it which attends the
photoplay theater. is no longer
satisfied with straight comedies.
It wants comedies packed with
thrills and danger sequences, ac-
cording to Sigmund Newfield, who
holds the whip hand over the
Stern Brothers studio of Holly
wood. And then Mr.. Newfield
goes on to explain as follows:
"The stunts which used to cause
gasps of horror and breath-taking
suspense in the old-time thrillers
now are considered very funny
when performed by a comedian
Perhaps the average man is be-
coming more blood-thirSty May
be he is just tired and fed up
with the old heart-grippers. May
be he laughs at them in supe-
rior. ridiculing sort of way. have
another theory for it. however.
In applying these thrills to
comedy, we are only Superimpos-
ing the thrill and the comedy re-
lief TO it-giving the action and
the reaction at the same time.
This heightens the reaction and
gives the audience a chance to
laugh before the tension has let
down. Therefore. We get more
spontaneous and bigger laugh
than If the comedy relief were
used as a follow-up Of different
material. The danger our players
now are subjected TO in order to
inject the thrill element into COM
edies is beside the question. The
public demands it, and we have
TO please the public"
PENEE ADOREE has recovered
~ from a severe illness and has
Joined a Universal company con-
sisting of Conrad Nagel, Lloyd
Whitlock. Frederick Esmelton,
Adoiph Milar. Maurice Murphy
and Virginia Grey. working under
the direction of irwin Willat in
producing the Rex Beach story,
"The Michigan Kid
REX INGRAM. the director who
was thought to have left the
American producers for all time,
has signed contract In London
10 make one British picture, and
II will be distributed In this
country by First National Pictures.
Alice Terry, Ingram's wife. will
have the leading role and the pic
ture will be made in a studio in
England. An all-English cast
will surround Miss Terry, and
three stories are being considered.
H. LIS stated that more British
money will be expended in the
production than has been spent
on any English made photoplay
For three years Ingram, who
directed The Four Horsemen,'
"Scaram0uche," Mare Eostrum
snd The Garden Of Allah" has
made his pictures in Europe, pre-
fe!rlng, for some reason or other
rot tO work In the neighbOrhOOd
nf Hollywood SO complete was
his isolation fom America that II
vas recently rumored he would
become a Moi1ammedan, but this
ftory may belong among the press
sgent yarns.
I, was Ingram who brought
EQdoIph Valentino into fame
snth The Four Horsemen OF the
kpocaiypse. ." the late June Mathis
scenario Wflter, having recon-
nendec The young Italian.
WILMA EEEKY has sailed from