The Washington times., 1928-05-16
tc0pyrielats 1924 kim Features
Syndicate. me


syndicate Inc
LOS rs. May rs Holly
WOOD Is becoming more and more
sharply divided into two camps.
one Is loud III its praise 81 the
talking picture Idea. he other,
though not 50 loud. ID equally ena-
VatfOn Perhaps the most en-.
tIlusIastic sinkers 81 sound film
praises are the Warner brothers,
who are yitaphoning many OF their
most important productions. Fox
has been confined to short sub
jecte OF sequences more lii the
nature of novelties. Paramount
has sound continuance Of its
own, and now First National an
nounees that ii will produce that
hectic 5rarna. ssYae Suuall..''. with
all It's stage lines synchrOnized To
pictures through the medium 81
the firnat0ne.
on the other hand, such skilled
brains ais that possessed BY Ernst
I.ubitscln, the Metro director fail
ko conceive how the use Of sound
to reproduce dialog III pictur
can aid the new art in its forward
progress The opposition c0nsla
ers that the introduction of sound
IN the Silent Drama II but
poor compromise with the stage
And, whereas, the motion picture
~ An entirely new and distinct
form Of artistic expression 70
fningle noise With its skadpWy Sc
quences will destroy its strength,
It's Illusion and result In q hybrid,
fifty-fifty sort Of thing. which IL
neither stage nor cinema.
the warner Picture, Tlle Lion
and the Mouse, TO be shown
within 4 few days on both coasts,
contains lengthy vitaphone Sc
quemces more than any picture
vet produced. The reception Of
the picture by the public should
and doubtless WfII--go long
way In aiding the movie maghates
In making decision as to how
much sound il ideal in motion pic
lures.
Marion Nixon is one OF those
whose contracts expire in June.
Marion is at present with Uni-
versal. But next month she VIII
be among the tree-lancers. There
seems to be very definite IN
dication that the big companies
are signing fewer contracts, de-
pending more and more upon Sc.
iecting players from picture to
picture from the hundreds OF
capable screen players who have
no set affiliation
II. n. II. Dave Windsor, Prince
or Wales, seems to be a movie fan.
AT any rate he. has made. the
princeIy gesture OF lending his i'm
rlense Canadian ranch to. the
British Canadian Pictures, Ltd, as
location for film to be. titled
"Retribution. Barbara Kent has
been rented out by Universal.
10 play the leading feminine role.
So ali that Barbara has to- do is
to cross her fingers and wish
that the Prince makes one OF
his frequent visits to the ranch
before the film is finished. And
tinen-who can tell! Neal Hart
has heen engaged to direct the
picture.
Although May McAvoy will
leave Warner Brothers when her
contract expires, there IL still
time left for several pictures. One
of these--the next-will be Ter
ror." and that very excellent
trouper Alec Francis will be IN
the cast. Yes. most OF It Will
have vitaphone apartment.
At present, almost the entire War
ner organization is concentrating
on "Noah's Ark" which looms
bigger and better" as. the mic.
ture progresses.
1t looks as though Jimmy Hall
and Ben Lyon may have the OPP
portunity to play a few more
Juvenile roles. after all. For
"IelIs Angels" has progressed
sufficiently TO permit Greta Ms.
sen. the vivacious viking. who Is
the girl in the show. to leave
Hollywood for New York next
Monday. And II nothing happens
l understand the picture will act
ually be ready for release in the
fall. BY the way-and this is
no press agent yarn--both Ben
and Jimmy have spent enough
hours In the air to qualify for
pilots licenses, and the health
OF both youngsters has been en-.
danRered more than few times
in order to secure shots which
cannot fail to thrill you.
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