Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-14
~ ERTAIN remarks Of mine pub
hshed In the April issue Of a

AoAcu III the April issue OF a
magazine have subjected me
~ TO the righteous wrath Of many
admirers Of the silent drama
who detest and deplore the talkies. Hav-
ing been sincere In their appreciation Of
the oid-fashioned photoplays, they can
not bring themselves to accept the dis
turbing addition Of spoken dialogue.
snail not attempt to reply to their nu-
merous arguments, because where ques-
tons or opinion and taste are con-
cerned, debate is impossible. No. sales
man, however persuasive, can convince
me that like parsnips--and there are
. great many honest people who are
similarly unable to stomach talking pic
lures.
However, some Of those who have
commented on my attitude toward the
Movietone have interpreted 1t IS I'M
plying contempt for everything that
happened on the screen befCte the In
PRODUCTION Of MECHANICAL sound. For
instance, Richard Watts, jr.. of the New
York Herald-Trihune considers 1t nee
esSary to inform me that there were
artists in the movies-such as Chaplin,
Jannings, Won Stroheim and Vidor--
long before Al Jolson ever commanded
Sonny Boy to climb upon his knee.
] realize" continues Mr.. Watts, that
am inviting the scorn OF Mr.. Sher-
wood by referring to the silent cinema
Is an art medium"
I might inform Mr.. watts that eight
years ago was expelled from an ex-
elusive poker club because the other
members grew tired Of hearing me re-
fer to the silent cinema as an art me-
dunn. Take your art medium and get
out!" was their parting injunction TO
me.
IT suspect" says MIR. Watts, that the
chief fallacy Of Mr.. Sherwood and the
other defenders Of talking pictures Is
their claim that the increased influence
Of stage over screen and the ever-grow-
ing demand for stage practitioners
somehow means an increase in mental
ity. It Is the amazing belief of these
gentlemen that there is some direct
relationship between talk and intelli-
gence, rather than an inverse one, and
that the coming of audibility means the
overthrow Of the numskulls of the silent
PICTURES by the superintellects Of the
discoursive stage"
Having quoted Mr.. Watts, I shall go
even further by quoting myself. The
following sentences, from the magazine,
HEC COUAlIlClQCQ W MI. WdSbS d6SCiltlOLl.
The movie merchants are in state
of panicky indecision as result Of the
unexpected dawn of the noise era on
the screen, and they are shrieking for
help from those who have composed
dialogue and recited it out loud. Men,
bers of the Dramatists' Guild and of
the Actors Equity Association, sad
dened by the present epidemic Of starva-
ton along Broadway. are now rushing
gleefully to Hollywood, engaging In
chop-licking exercises as they go. One
notices the titles OF recent or forth
coming superfeatures-'C oquette,' Show
Boat The Trial of Mary Dugan,'
Broadway etc.-and realizes that the
big celluloid dealers have been buying
up all the recent theatrical smash-hits,
whether they have any legitimate place
on the screen or not.
These raids on Broadway are in
spired by the belief, prevalent in and
out Of the movie business, that a talk
ing picture is necessarily no more than
q Photographic and photographic re-
cording Of stage play. That is nom
sense. The movie Is still as independ-
ent Of the play as 1t is Of the fugue.
It has established for itself an identity
of its own, through the medium of such
pictures as The Last Laugh, the Chap
lin comedies and even the news reels.
and the fact Of added talk (instead of
printed subtitles) fails to alter this
identity In any essential respect.
THE movie people will learn a great
deal In the years to come. Some of 1t
wiz be new knowledge, but the bulk
Of 1t viii be relearning of old les
sons. 1t will be discovered land soon)
that II the former white hopes Of Holly
wood don't understand how to write,
direct or deliver spoken dialogue, neith-
er do the bright boys Of Broadway
understand the art of expression In
terms Of pictures that move"
X \ X
My profound respect and admiration
for the art of expression in terms of
pictures that move are unchanged, If
I thought that the talkies were going