Evening star., 1928-05-06

THE appearance in Washington this
week of THE Trial Of Donald West
hof," the picture dealing with modern
youth which recently caused much dis
cussion in New York, may serve to in
dicate whether or not the great UFA
organization of Germany can continue
to produce the beautiful and novel films
for which 1t is famous.
The importation of so many of the
UFA directors. cameramen and actors
by Hollywood has raised the question
Critics have been under the impression
that few artists were left in Germany to
carry on the good work. The Trial of
Donald Westhof." made in Berlin this
year, therefore will be interesting evi-
dence as to whether UFA, having lost
so much of its home talent, can still
maintain its prestige and keep up its
record of the past.
The movie critics of New York seem
to agree that UFA still retains its pre-
eminent capabilities
Described as a German American
tragedy" the picture is said to be a
strong psychological study of today's
boys and girls. taking a typical youth,
showing his home life and outside infiu-
ences, his ambitions and pleasures, his
first tastes of love and his bewilder-
ment at the hypocritical and SNUG
ways of the adult world
The New York Sun stamped it the
most intelligent and searching work
about the younger generation yet
brought to the screen.
According to the Motion Picture
Guild. however, the influence of the
picture will be based more on It's tech
nical innovations than its theme: on
its attributes as an example of good use
of the properties of the cinema medium
than its attributes of plot or acting
Thus 1t happens that the great UFA
productions of the past, although their
intellectual content was recognized and
praised, pioneered in the realm of tech
nical and directorial perfection.
The Motion Picture Guild furnishes
the following outline of the history Of
the film company that Is said to have
revolutionized the American screen. The
growth Of originality beauty and artis-
try that has taken place in American
Aims since 1920 is claimed to have been
engendered by the pathfinding of UFA
In 1919 Germany was still in the
throes of postwar inaction. and the
motion picture industry was represented
by few struggling concerns. One of
them, the Decla -Bioscop. was making
an expressionistic cinema version OF an
old Italian legend. and needed proper
distribution to make it paying PROPOSE
ton. Banding with most of the other
German film companies, Decla- -Bioscop
became the Universum Film Aktien-
gesellSchaft Omitted Film Acting Com
panies). or UFA Through this medium
this expreSsioniStic film was seen all
over the world, and it is said it had
more effect on movie production than
any other one picture Its name was
THE Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"
The Cabinet Of Dr. CaligaTi" still
remains, with The Birth of Nation, >
as one of the most famous films ever
made. 1t has been seen in Washington
four times in the past two years, having
been brought back by the Motion Pic
ture Guild when print of the picture
was finally discovered in Berlin.
In 1920 UFA was capitalized for sew
eral millions of dollars and production
went on apace Passion" blazed across
the fllm world, making great success
In the United States. 1t brought recog-
milton to Ernst Lubitsch, Pola Negri
and Emil Jannings. Then came De
ception." The Loves of Pharaoh" and
others that left a lasting mark.
It was The Last Laugh" however
which showed Hollywood how to make
good movies: that is. productions that
depend on the camera for effectiveness
and artistry. The monotonous use Of
cloSe-ups. middle shots and long shots
was overtaken by the more compelling
idea of fluent and plastic camera work.
1t was discovered that the motion pic
ture should tell tale in its own words
or through the camera without sub
titles. THE Last Laugh" came from
UFA in 1924
The year 1925 saw the advent of
Variety" the picture which induced
the discussion OF camera angles and
other aids to perfect picturization Of a
theme. UFA was now at the height Of
its fame.
Metropolis" came in 1927. and again
called attention to the pioneering of
UFA. Not content with finding one
new idea and plugging on that, the
German organization had taken another
great step. and brought purely hnagina-