Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16
AMBASSADOR PAUL CLAU-
DEL, representing France
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OGIAs
~ in Washington, delivered
an interesting talk at tn
luncheon of the Franco-America1
Society in New York few day
ago, and he spoke seriously of TIT
influence of American photoplay
upon the French people. "TheSt
pictures" he said, ARE one of th'
reasons for a perpetual treaty o.
friendship between the two coun.
tries. American photoplays have
saturated the French mind II
American life, methods and man
nerS."
Looking at the photoplay from
a Washington viewpoint, this fact
brought out by the French Am
baSSador is a very important one
1t has direct bearing upon inter
national relations in commerce
and good will; the American pho
toplay is a wedge to better under
standing not only in France, but
in many other countries. In the
years to come its Importance will
grow, and it may become the
means of greater understanding
American pictures always have
been popular in England, Ger
many and France, but they are
making their way into other
lands.
WITH the plan for wide screens
" comes an idea from ]. l.
Warner of Warner Brothers. He
claims that with the use of the
new screen and also the wide film
it will be possible to show two or
more rooms at one time, thereby
eliminating the shift of scene
from one room to another to keep
track of the action. This develop
ment, says Mr.. Warner, is due
within a few months, and it is
an idea which goes even beyond
all stage tricks.
lust by way of introducing Hol-
lywood to Washington, with
personal contact, Harry Ham
mond Beall, president of the
Wampas Organization of pub
licity agents on the West COAST ,
gave a luncheon for the Capitals
motion picture writer's at the Will
lard Thursday afternoon. Hours
were spent in telling the WampaS
representative how the motion
picture press agents in Hollywood
might improve their technique
and their ideas of press features.
But the luncheon itself was a
dainty affair, calling for much
more attention than the movies.
the people who make them and
the people who write about them.
A WORD from John Murray An
derson, well known stage
producer, who has just completed
his first motion picture at Uni
versal City, THE King of Jazz"
starring Paul Whiteman:
1.-THE all-Sound motion picture
is the ideal medium of theatrical
expression. Compared with it, the
legitimate stage fades into utter
insignif1cance. Personally, I have
no desire whatever to return even
to the New York stage. The talk
ing screen has .captivated me
completely. I see in it a breadth
of conception, a possibility of
achievement which is obviously
impossible in any theater. Even
at it's present development, the
sound screen eclipSeS the stage
just as completely as the modern
motion picture has eclipSed the old
Punch and Judy show. Nor is
the comparison at all far fetched,
for when constraSted with the
vast possibilities of the 'talkie'
even the most pretentiouS pro-
Guction of the theater is limited
to just about the same compare
tive size as the little booth at the
country fair. These conclusions
have been forced upon me most
emphatically during the produc-
ton of my first picture. I have
always loved the stage and have
spent much of my life on it, but
the stage producer who cannot
see the handwriting on the wall
surely sees only through the eyes
of his love for the stage"
Anderson goes on to tell of the
downfall of the modern theater,
and especially of the road show,
stating that the stages last stand
is being made in New York. There
are many who will not agree with
him. 1t is a fact that a great
love for the theater has been de-
veloped in America, and this will
not die easily. The motion pic
ture has seriously injured the
theater; it is one of the causes
for its low state, but it is not the
only cause The theater will not
cease to exist, as Mr.. Anderson
predicts. There always will be
theaters for persons who desire
that form of entertainment, and
the Little Theater movement is
reported stronger at this present
moment than ever before.
X X
REFORE the pictures arrive on
Washington screens it is in
tereSting to note what reviewers