Evening star., 1928-10-21
FLASHES

TN allowing ones thoughts tt
pass back to few years ago
there is a deep impression OF
II the remarkable growth OF the
motion picture form of entertain
ment. While the industry, or art
received it's real start about 81
gears ago, it has only been during
the past Is years that production
and exhibition began on a big
scale. And now this form Of en-
tertainment takes first place not
: ONLY in this country. but all over
: the civilized world. 1t has, with
out doubt. crippled legitimate
drama and invaded the vaudeville
field to a large extent, but its
popularity has grown with the
! years.
One of the reasons for this pop
ularity is the fact that the in
duStry has been awake to new
ideas, new inventions and the de-
mand of the public. Where, in the
passing of the years, little change
was made in stage productions
aside from the elaborate stage
settings of musical productions
there has been no limit in the
field of the motion picture. 1t is
a far cry to the days of the
custard-ple comedies and the old
bathing beauty spectacles.
With the advancement of the
motion picture as form of enter
tainment, the public will not
tolerate a hodge -podge of poor
plots and pretty faces. The audi
ence desires stories of substance
and some real acting. Even the
old triangle motive of most photo
plays has been discarded for pres
entationS of literary classics
Again, unlike the stage. novelties
of the photoplay are only novel
ties Of a day or week; they be-
come obsolete tomorrow.
The producers of motion pic
lures are not to be given the en-
tire credit for the progress Of their
work. They, in most instances,
have followed the demands of the
customers. SophiStication is on
the increase, and the producers
who make the big killings" in
the future will pay particular at
tention to the intelligence of the
photoplay audiences.
The appearance of sound films
in such great numbers shows that
the industry, at the present time,
is in a state of f1uX and expert
mentation, but all this will settle
itself of it's own accord. If the
sound pictures are desired by the
patrons, they will remain as the
leading photoplay attractions; If
the public turns thumbs down,
there will be swing back to the
silent drama-the movies with
printed captions and very little
noise. A Winter of sound pictures
will result in Spring decision in
this matter.
X X ~
THE Won Stroheim picture, "The
Wedding March," seems to
have created stir, but that is
about all. In some quarters it is
hailed as a photoplay "for audi
ences weary of piffie and bored to
distraction by the conventional
trite films which burden down
some programs" In other quarters
the picture is considered flop
of the worst variety. Here is a
bit from Film Daily:
"Von Stroheim is without peer
In that school of direction which
reproduceS life as it is. His peo-
pie are real. All consciousness of
acting seems removed from them.
When you like them, you love
them. When you hate them, you
feel like stalking up to the screen
and punching their heads. When
a director can play upon the
emotions that way with shadow
figures, we believe he is touched
and plentifully so, by that rarity
described as genius. Won Stro-
helm is as fine an actor as he is
a director"
WASHINGTON is growing into a
~ long-run movie town. An
nouncement is made that "Danc-
ing Daughters" is being held over
for another week, thereby break
ing all records at the Columbia
And AL Jolson, with his Singing
/. Fool" will cause another week
7 of tears at the Metropolitan. The
/ Little Theater is holding over
1.-THE End of st. Petersburg"
This latter picture, which Is q
Soviet Government production, il
h typical, and it is more of a char
acter study than picture story
It is filled with drama, which
would be improved, according te
American picture ideas, if a Bit
+ of fiction were woven cleverly into
| the whole. The photography il
|, far above the average, especially
the shots from strange angles
TT is announced that all pictures
! coming from the First Nationa
studios in the future will have
/ dialogue sequences. Colleen Moore
Richard BarthelmeSs, Billie Dove
7 Corinne Griffith, Milton Sills
Dorothy Mackaill and Alice White
are involved in the new state o.
affairs. Three sound stages arr
being constructed in Hollywood
and a million dollars will be Spen
on sound devices. Six plays nov
running on Broadway have beer
purchased for filming.
| X X
AS has been expected, Charlie
a Chaplin will remain in panto
mime in his next picture, cit.
Lights" The picture will be full.
5synchroniZed, with some dialogu'
sequences, but the little comedian