Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-11

"THERE Is no joy In Mudville-
Mighty Casey has struck out"
Although it was the opening day Of
the majestic base ball struggle in the
American League, the speaker of the
lines OF De Wolf Hopper's famous poem
had not his mind on base ball. He was
a movie man, big movie man, and he
was thinking Of the talkies. But the
enthusiasts around him were thinking
Of something else, 30 no one queried
him.
A man with o burden on his soul.
however, doesn't need prompting by an
interviewer. He generally unloads him.
self without the asking. And so, con-
tinuing, he proceeded to unload:
"The motion picture producers have
been miracle makers. They have
in entertainment. They have accom-
plished what those who pursue the
flight Of time without Mercurean wings
have thought miracles. They have
tackled every problem under the sun
in their labors; they have hunted
the four corners Of the earth and I'M
covered its hidden treasures; they have
even bucked the law of optics, and It
Is my opinion will ultimately develop
their product into three dimension re-
suits sooner than the scientist suspects.
next achievement, and in my chronic
state Of wondering, try to figure out
why, why, why, with all their other
achievements, they don't make q stab
for originality. Why they are everlast-
ingly stumbling along in the wake of
the legitimate theater they have we'll
nigh killed of and do not try to put
over something new
"They have spent the lifetime Of
generation following In the wake Of the
stage, and I mean by that in plots,
known to the theater for countless ages.
1t looks like combination of ignorance
and cowardice to me-
And 1t is this very fact that gives rise
to complaints against picture after pic
ture they have made and are making,
that they are trite, trashy and common
place, although their makers spend
even millions in the making and en-
ploy the most notable directors and
writer's, as well as the finest actors both
OF the decadent stage and the ever
popular screen.
Everything we seem to get from
them is or seems to be favored with the
seventh commandment, as violated in
the home, in the underworld, or by
characters in old and shabby stories Of
stage life; and some of their radiant
stars Of the screen, as If ilnpelled by the
ideals Of their employers, have actually
added to the mess by personal violations
OF the commandment themselves.
IF, by any chance, a sweet, clean, ap-
pealing story hobs up and they decide
to screen 1t, they mar it with sug-
gestive name, or an ugly twist of plot to
make it like those that have preceded
1t. There must, it seems, be moral filth
somewhere to win the approval of those
who protect the interests Of the box
Office
eff, as by miracle q clean, whole
some picture does get by the company
censor, to break the never-ending con-
tinuity Of suggestive wickedness, 10 and
behold the publicity man who Is relied
upon to put 1t over besmirches it with
hints, or 1ntimations, II not by positive
suggestion, that all that gliters is not
gold, and the joy scavenger may ind In
it delights he longs for, but may not be
openly described.
"Mr. Will H. Hays has done wonders
for the movies. No one who Knows
anything at all about them win deny
that. But all is not as lovely as his
latest public utterance would lead the
world to believe. He has still hercu-
lean task before him, and that is to
swing the world of moviedom from the