Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07
Dorothy Arxuer Has Never Acted, but From
Iypid in q Movie Office She Has Worked
Her Nay Up Through Positions Of Film
Gutter and Editor to the Front Rank of
Picturedom, Bossing the Making Of
PhotQplaw

~ Then is seconds later by the
" stop :s's ss;sn:
And another HOLLYWOOD ga-ga
girl has been brought one kiss closer TO staroom,
thanks to HoAywood's girl-with-brains and
only woman director, Dorothy Arzner
For movie kissing isn't the impetuous
pastime it appears to be. In fact, it's an exact
science In the words of the song that is con-
siderably older than cinema kissing technique:
every little movement has meaning all us
own'-and also time limit
A perfect kiss never lasts longer than 10 Sec
onds-at least not in the movies, according to
director Dorothy Arzner And only the most
heavily scented moments can stand kiss OF
that length Not because movie Wooers VINO
can't get into that length OF time all the emo
ton any scene requires are not efficient enough
at the business to have their efforts lnlmor-
talized in cellulod, but because even the love-
Hest heroines and incest heroes look ridiculous
II this matter of OSCILLATION is overdone.
But do not get the idea that timing kisses
is a movie directors principal occupation.
"A directors job really isn't nearly as easy
as many persons seem to think 1t Is, MISS
Arzner says. I'm many ways the success or
failure of picture lies in the directors hands.
When a theater audience sees picture 1t
thinks Only Of what the characters are doing
and not of the guiding hand behind that action.
IGOR example, in love scene few people
stop to consider the technical action be-
hind it," Miss Arzner explains. when a man
kisses the GIRL that act is all that registers
Yet if the kiss were little too long or too
short it might ruin the entire scene.
KISSES must be of various durationS, de-
pending upon circumstances I would say that
the average screen kiss should last from flve to
seven seconds, although there are many times
when a two-Second kiss is more effective. That
is thing the director must decide Tor his
players. He must visualize the effect that KISS
will have upon an audience and time 1t exactly
right. A seven-second kiss in spot that calls
for one of is seconds would be just as bad as
OVERRIDING it.
Another very important factor which must
be decided by the director is the amount OF
highly emotional acting commonly known as
sob stuff film requires. That is one of the
most difficult questions to decide because peo-
pie vary so greatly in their like or dislike for
this type of acting
Women as a rule like considerable emotion
In picture" she continues. If they shed
few tears while they are in the theater, the
film is success. Men, on the other hand, pre-
fer comedy. Consequently we must have
enough sob scenes to satisfy the women, but
the film which appeals to the men,"
DOROTHY ARZNER'S view of movie matters
~ are interesting because she is the only
woman in Hollywood who is in position to ex-
press them as it were, through directors
megaphone. And for nearly eight years she
has been associated with the business of pro-
ducng pictures. So, although she has never
acted. she knows the cinema art-and bust
neSs-from every angle
Two years ago she achieved her greatest am
bi ion b. becoming director. Only one other
woman, Lois Weber who has since retired ever
welded movie megaphone.
Miss Arzner is considered one of Holywood's
most interesting notables. She is credited with
having more brains than many of the So
called big men of the industry. And she easily
holds her own in competition with the horde
Of male directors. Yet her entry into the movie
business was purely accidental
If any one had told me 1 was going into
the picture business year before did would
have promptly told him he was crazy" Miss
Arzner says, although much of her early life
was spent around theatrical people
Her father a prominent San Francisco
cafe owner before the 1906 earthquake. After
his business was wiped out by that disaster he .
came to Los Angeles to start over again, and
opened a cafe in connection with one of the
leading theaters in the city, which became
popular.
About that time Dorothy was enrolled in the
Westlake School for Girls, located on what
was then the outskirts of the city She COM
pIeted her grammar and high school courses
there
She in the midst of her second wear Mt
the University of Southern California when the
United States entered the World War. Along
WITH several other girls, she left school and