The Washington times., 1929-12-04
CLEAN INGS
..t- :AND:
SCREENINGS
By ANDREW r. KELLEY

ture theaters of the country
will have enjoyed the greatest
year of prosperity since the
screen industry evolved into
what Wall Street describes as
big business. The optimistic
reports, of course, include
Washington.
It is related that at one of
the recent conferences of cir
cult managers Of one Of the
great theater chains, a Mid
Western executive arose to ex-
plain the exact mathematical
percentage of increase for the
houses in his domain. I'VE
have" he began proudly, done
more business in the first 10
months of 1929 than"
stop right there" replied
the Big Chief, rapping his
gavel to interrupt the speech.
'You are riding on the crest
of a wave. It's the same story
all over the country. The talk
ing pictures are responsible for
the increased attendance and
let's not delude ourselves that
it is management altogether
and not product which has
brought the bigger crosses"
Talking pictures have assur-
edly brought record breaking
lines and overcrowded theaters
as new followers of the screen
entertainment have been Gre
ated. The big problem with
the producer and exhibitor is
whether this business will con-
tinue or expand in growth dur
ing 1880. l predict that the
1890 reports, when eventually
written, will tell an even
greater chapter of progress
without even considering the
possibilities Of the wide angle
screen, a revolutionary change
which presents exhibitor and
production problems for the
immediate future.
AS one who is constant at
tendant upon the shrines Of
the film entertainment, and
writing solely from the stand
point Of a regular observer in
the comfortable seats of the
first run theaters. it strikes me
that there are two phases Of
the Hollywood industry which
merit the closest attention of
both producer and exhibitor if
this prosperity is to continue.
The first is story material. The
second, projection. Only the
first subject will be treated in
today's lesson.
Considering the ocean of
money which is poured out to
writers, good original stones
must be hard to find, or those
responsible for making the Sc
lection or signing the checks
are easily pleased. Football and
college features run in a familiar
groove. Two or three dozen
wiSecracks and the game won in
the last two minutes Of play
when the star halfback diScov-
ers the girl loves him after all.
The pigskin fiction has very
little variation.
Back-Stage stories bear a STEM
cilled color. Murder trial fea-
lures present few novelties in
narrative. The Cinderella theme
has been greatly overdone and
the underworld has had a full
share of attention from hack
writer's.
These are not the exclusive
findings of a hard boiled and
blaSe critic. The soft murmur-
ingS of many seasoned F Street
patrons recite the same short
comingS. Of a dozen all round
satisfactory features which
come to mind, each had a
substantial and satisfying story.
OF a dozen flops which have
in recent months passed in
review, each failed because of q
weak story rather than because
of an inferior quality of acting
or the absence of stars. I
should like to see Hollywood
run exclusively on the policy
of, /, The story; 2, The star.
George Bancroft has marched
to film greatness on good
stories, to cite a specific in
stance. Dolores CoStello's
popularity has suffered because
of feeble film fiction. Will
Rogers is riding high right at
the moment because of $50,
This Is Paris" a good film
story but many had to be con-
WINGED he was worth seeing
after watching such a weak eff
fort as THE Texas Steer"
They were saying Gloria Swan
son was paSSe and along comes
Edmund Goulding's story and
direction in "The TrespaSser"
to place her again in the front
rank. Perhaps you get the
point. ....
Another dency which
points to eventual box office
disaster is purchasing Broad
way stage flops for picture pur-
poses. I am well aware that
Hollywood cash backs many a
New York producer, but the
process of reasoning which can
turn a dramatic failure into
b celluloid hit merely by giving
1t Hollywood treatment hardly
seems sound. There are more
than two dozen plays which
failed to make the grade on
Broadway now owned by the
big picture companies. Admit