Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-22
w Y1LL HAYS has written a
" " About the movies.

He would have been
Qualified. no doubt, to write of
Managing a Presidential Cam
paign" or Handling Uncle Sam S
Mail Business" but he selects to
write of the industry with which
he is now connected, and which
he is supposed to rule as "czar."
Naturally, when writing upon
such a subject, Hays is concerned
with the growth of the industry,
its wonderful strides from the
time of the first "flickerS" to the
present noisy drama.
AS the Hays tome will not be
selected by the Book of the Month
Club nor be on the shelves of the
circulating libraries, it may be
given a bit of publicity at this
point. And this seems an eSpe-
cially suitable way to start a book
about the movies:
"One stands on a high noun
tain and sees long lines of men,
women and children moving
slowly forward. They come from
everywhere. There are rosy
checked girls from the farms and
their paler-faced sisters from the
cities, whose feet ache from long
hours of standing behind bargain
counters. There are plowboyS
and sons of millionaires and boys
with the SalloW cheeks of the ten
ementS. There are old women
with hands Redeemed and coarS-
ened by work and with eyes
1icf1ncc Iryif1n 1nTN0 ifi11C
There are old men who hobble on
crooked sticks, and children with
the flash of the suns gold in their
hair and the happy laughter of
innocence in their voices. There
are the Schoolboy, and the Savant,
and the man of no learning at all.
There are men and women Of
every race and of every tongue,
moving slowly forward, seeking
something, seeking, searching,
yearning-aSking for a place to
dream. All about them is the
roar of the cities. the confused,
tangled noises of life that is hur-
ried, rushed, propelled forward
at breathleSS speed. Every min
ute of every hour of every day
they come-millionS of them.
And over and above them, and in
front of them, attracting them
on. offering that which they de-
sire, are billions of Pickering
shadows = the motion picture.
Who shall estimate it's impor-
lance? Who shall attempt to say
what it means to the world?"
All this is quite readable, as a
prose song. But it does not get
down to the proverbial brass
tacks. Mr.. Hays does that little
later in his book. For instance,
he tells of the first movies, how
they started and how they have
developed into the present sound
pictures. The first real sound ex-
periments, according to Hays,
were conducted with the Para
mount Famous LaSky picture,
wings" in 1927. Then, the
success of The Jazz Singer was
a signal for all producing COM
panies to enter the sound field.
Almost overnight, sound
had ceased to be merely novel
ty. It was no longer a develop
ment for the future. It was with
us, alive, present. What followed
is now history. Although less
than two years have passed as
this is written, sound has become
a major part of the motion pic
ture. The balance has turned in
favor of dialogue. Every studio
has its sound devices for record
ing. A new technique in writ
STNn nnd 00ffnn hac 6nU0lOTnd
Changes have come with light
ning-like rapidity. Sound is in
and on the air. Solution of the
two major problems of Synchro-
nization of sound made possible
the success of talking pictures"
Probably the most interesting
part of the Hays book is the
chapter headed, The Future of
the Industry" The writer pre-
diets that tomorrow a motion
picture may be flashed upon the
screen as large as the ordinary
stage, the figures moving in per-
spective, speaking naturally, all in
the vivid colorS of life. That day
is just around the corner. In the
past few months much has been
learned about the possibilities of
sound Every new picture has
announced an advance. Directors
are learning how to save all the
advantages of the silent picture
while they are adding the quail
ties of sound. Their progress has
been little short of dazzling They
have been forced to deal with a
new instrument. They have had