Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-15

~ lures cAIl4UlVCu AA Voo
n ington A., during n Ing ;, the i,s,.I past
ing problem of the future. The
reviewer spoke of a comedy with
lines so hilarious that the audi
ence misses a large part OF the
spoken words following those
which created the laughs. With
a stage production, this matter Is
easily taken care Of. For instance,
the actor or actress expects laughs
at a certain point of the proceed
ings. He waits for gentle laugh
at one place; he expects to knock
'em cold" at another; he may
hesitate and bow his appreciation.
If an audience does not respond
where it should, the customers
are sitting on their hands" Any
way, the performer expects his
enccres at certain points, and he
prepares for them.
Not so with the movies, however,
and the sound pictures are the
cause of a problem. In a comedy
similar to the one mentioned by
the reviewer-a picture filled with
laughs-much of the dialogue is
lost and it cannot be repeated for
the benefit of those who failed to
hear it. A screamingly funny Joke,
and the dialogue goes on. There
is no pause to take care OF the
laughs, as on the stage.
And, now, what will we do about
1t? If the producer and director
anticipate the laughs, they may
guess wrong, so that the pauSeS
might appear when everything is
going along smoothly and there Is
not a litter in the house. Any
stage director will tell you that 1t
is a difficult matter to predict the
attitude of an audience toward
spoken words. A song which Is
expected to become hit may fall
with a sickening thud. The wise
crack which is expected to rock
them in their seats and roll them
in the aisles" very often causes
stream of salty tears. So it will
require much more expert stan
of "guessers" than Hollywood now
possesses to take care of the COM
edy pauses in the new sound pic
lures.
X X y
THE popularity of the sound pic
- ture depends greatly upon
the quality of reproduction. 1t i;
apparent, during the past few
months, that reproduction is i'm
proving. The first efforts, al
though they were a novelty, were
crude when compared to the newer
pictures. In the near future we
should have the ''fade-out voice.
that is, a change in voice tone as
a player moves backward and
forward upon the stage. At the
present time it is noticeable that
the tone remains the same; the
recording is done from one sta
ton or the recording device moved
with the player; there is no grad
uation; an actor at the back of a
scene talks just as loudly as the
one perched in front of the
camera. And if the one before
the camera moves back to the ex-
IRENE rear of the set, his voice Is
just the same.
* X X X
THE writer is' indebted to First
= National Pictures for a de-
tailed and somewhat technical re-
port on how the new color pictures
are being made. The report
speaks of prismS, lenses, light rays
and transformations in such a
manner as to make very heavy
reading for a warm Sunday-and
probably you are not interested,
cd ~ II
quote First National to the effect
that "technicolor has brought a
new quality and new descriptive
phase to the attention of produc-
ers and Overwhelmingly, color
personality. Some players, it ap-
pears, have it. and some have not"
Such pictures as sally" star
ring Marilyn Miller. and Paris "
starring Irene Bordoni, will be all
color.
PIG names are creeping into the
movies. It is said that Arnold
Bennett, one of the great English
novelists, wrote "Picadilly," the
picture made by a London COM
pany and starring the American
actress, Gilda Gray. In the same
picture, Anna May Wong. the little
Chinese girl who was never given
a real chance in Hollywood, Steals
the show" from the star.
Sidney Blackmer, long favorite
Broadway actor, has already ap-
peared in two talkieS-with Lea
trice Joy in "A Most Immoral
Lady," and with Dorothy Mackai
in 1.-The Love Racket" Blackmer.
by the way, is the husband of
Lenore Ulrich, and he was her
leading man in the stage produc-
ton of "A London Legend" and
Nina"
Very few of the leading stage
players have turned down offers
from the photoplay producers. 1t
seems that they are gradually and
surely enlisting under the movie
banner.
ICHARD BARTHELMESS is in
San Francisco to secure local
color for his next picture, "Son OF
the Gods" The star will play the
role of a young American who has
been raised by a high-caSte Chi
nese family, and he lives under
the impression that he is of Mon
golian origin. He is sent to ar
American college, complications
arise and forceful drama take;
place when his true origin Is dis
closed.
The story is taken from move
by Rex Beach. Frank Lloyd viii
49, mill hA q l.