Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-24

THOUGH I have been num-
" bered among those few opti-
IA mists who have persistently be-
4 a lieved. since the debut of THE
Jazz Singer" in the essential
merit of talking pictures. J have been
unable to persuade myself that the ad-
dition of dialogue would enhance the
value of Chaplin, Lloyd or Keaton
comedies. It seemed to me that the
unique comic art of the screen was
created IN silence dts Just about the
only art that the movies nave created)
and that it would perish in sound.
This alarmed conviction has been
alleviated to a considerable extent by
joyful inspection of the Laurel and
Hardy comedies. Those boys have been
carrying on the glorious touch of Sen
nett slapstick and brandishing it with
all the fine fervor of the old Keystone
days.
Now Harold Lloyd himself has deliv-
cred at last his first all-talker, wei
come Danger" and while it is not the
equal of "Grandma's Boy" Safety
Last" or Girl Shy" it goes a long
long way toward diSsipating the last
vestige Of doubt.
Lloyd has had a great deal Of trouble
with this picture, and no wonder, fol
most dangerous experiment OF his ad.
venturous career. He had very little
to gain by it, and everything to lose
When he started work more than a veal
ago, it was designed to be an all-silent
film. At that time. the talkie tide was
just rolling inland there were man!
people, particularly in Hollywood, who
felt certain that it would promptly rol
out again.
Then such popu., productions a!
1.-THE Singing Foo" The Letter." anc
THE Broadway Melody" appeared, an6
1t began to be evident, even to Joseph M
Schenck, that the mechanical novelty
of sound was due to remain for o few
months, at least.
In the meantime, Lloyd had com
pleted his silent picture in his usua
careful and painstaking manner. HI
could have released it as 1t was, anC
made from it a comfortable profit. HI
could have got to first base with 1
easily. But he wanted q home run
even at the risk Of striking out ignobly
in the attempt.
At first he toyed with the idea Of In
Producing few talking sequences here
and there, as so many other producer
that practiced playwright. rank Cra'
ven, to look at the film and sugges
points where dialogue might be in
jected.
Before long, Lloyd arrived at thu
conclusion that he would never be salts
fled with halfway measures. He woulC
make Welcome Danger" as an all
| talking picture, and If it turned out tt
be unworthy, he would release 1t in it
original silent form. For six months
| more he labored before the terrifying
microphone and his strenuous labor
and his commendable courage are nov
| being rewarded with loud laughter in al
| sections of the English-speaking world
Some Of the dialogue in "Welcom
Danger" is extremely bad. Comini
from Harold Lloyd, it sounds as un
natural and as essentially wrong a
would hot blues song coming from tn
lips of Queen Mary of England.
Harold is at his best when he is OBJ
viously lad libbing," which is to say
making up as he goes along Wheneve
he has set speeches, prepared and re
hearSed in advance, he loses the qualit
of spontaneity, Of utter unexpectedness
which has always been the chief virtu
of all his comedies. I hope that il
| future Lloyd comedieS-and that Whicl
applies to Harold Lloyd applies to al
genuine movie comedians-the dialogu
will be kept down to position of rela
tive obscurity. There should be no at
tempt whatever to strain for verba
gags, for the quotable jokes that Nigh
have been clipped from comic paper
or from the patter of Groucho Marks o