Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-31

VAf or the Moglon Flcours
wv Producers and Distribu-
tors Of America, known
as s'the Czar OF the Movies,
comes out with statement thai
there Is only one obstacle e
the progress OF. sound ant
silent Aims. This obstacle, &C.
cording to- Mr.. Hayes, Is the ef-
fort to censor the pictures at
tempts to place restraint on utter.
ances and action. The tend
ency," he says, ION the part or 9
few to regulate everything has n
the past year extended itself 70
the effort to censor speech, IN
direct contravention to the letter
aid spirit Of the first amendment
ia the Constitution, which guar
ahtees to all the rights Of free
sfeech and free assembly,"
kAll other matters, according to
tie GEAR" are getting along
lovely. Sound pictures" he adds,
"have opened up q new wealth OF
story material for the motion pic
ttres. Formerly, it was impos-
Stble to use this material because
itf lacked sufficient action for the
silent screen, Sound has quick
ehed the pace OF the induStry's
phlse and is rapidly increasing
tie world audience OF the motion
picture" Il
nNE may obtain a line on the
probable future Of the photo
play by seeing, and hearing. The
Broadway Melody" which was
given a preview showing In Wash
ir1gton Wednesday night at the
Palace Theater. The picture,
hailed as a dramatic sensation, y
has it's moments Of drama, but a
large number of the reels are
taken up with musical comedy
Several scenes. as well as re-
hearsals, of the musical play are
r6produced-and they show just
what can be done in the way OF
musical shows on the screen.
Voice reproduction OF The
Broadway Melody" is the best
issued with any sound picture up
I'd the present date. This i'm
ptesses q reviewer for the simple
reason that the sound pictures
ate new, but going forward at a
lifely rate, with remarkable prog
r8ss in EXPERIMENTATION.
Hailed by New York critics,
"The Broadway Melody" will be a
popular picture with washington
audiences. 1t contains about
everything that goes toward max
irlg the successful" movie
flashes Of color, heart interest,
the aforementioned splendid
voice reproduction and excellent
direction. And the picture will
be screened against some exceed
irigly stiff competition-"Hearts
irf Dixie at the Fox, and "The
Divine Lady" at the Metropolitan.
These three photopltVs, all In
Washington in a single week, are
considered about the cream Of the
movie output during the past few
months. Old house records, 1t Is
predicted, will become a mass of
ruins in the local entertainment
museum.
WHILE much has been written.
e and much more will be
written, regarding the sound pic
lures, the foreign studies are
turning out some very good silent
films. In this class may be
mentioned Homecoming" which
was exhibited in Washington last
week. The picture, with only
three principal characters, will go
down in photoplay history as q
bit of substantial, worthwhile
effort. Particular attention Is paid
I'd the photography; the acting Is
well above, the average, and the
story Is a well-knit, absorbing
yarn. With such q picture as
SEomecoming," one feels that
veices would be out of place, and
one has a higher regard for the
pantomime Of the screen.
y Il = 4
THERE is much discussion Of
turning 1.-THE Birth of a Ma
ton" into a talkie, and D. w.
Griffith, the producer, Is seriously
considering the proposition. OF
the original cast, Wallace Reid,
George Siegmann and Robert
Harron are dead, but the voices of
Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Henry
Walthall, Walter Long, Mae Marsh
and others would be available for
the sound version. THE Birth Of
az Nation" has earned SIC, 000, 900
during the past 10 years.
Several Of the older successes
ot the movies are to be turned
into sound pictures. Among them
MAY be mention 1.-THE Virginian, /"
in which Dustin Farnum once
starred. It will become q vehicle
f9r Gary Cooper. Classified"
once a silent picture with Corinne
Griflth, is to become q talkie with
Dorothy Mackaill In the star role.
Warner Brothers are preparing to
make new versions OF "Tae Gold
nggers" and Back Pay" Para
ntcunt will make sound picture
Of Magnolia"
vTHE announcement that the
huge Fox organization would
discontinue the manufacture of
silent pictures and would devote
its entire time to the making of
scund pictures has created quite