Evening star., 1930-04-06

~ interested in the MOVIES,
~ Will Hays has been having
his troubles during the
past year or so. A certain group
of producers brings out the claim
that his production rules are too
severe. Another group, with no
financial interest in photoplay
manufacture, charges the GEAR
with being entirely too lax in al
lowing various themes to be de-
veloped into pictures. Many have
been the complaints, and If the
former Postmaster General is a
man who sees things in his sleep,
his nightly rest has undoubtedly
been seriously disturbed.
However, within the past few
days he decided to make step
which at least will cause the crit
ical arrows to arrive from only
one spot. He has issued list of
rules for the picture manufac-
turers which, if the said rules are
followed, will do much toward
solving the problem with the
moral uplifterS. 1t is quite pos
sible that the producers will fume
and Sputter great deal, that
they will send delegations to Mr..
Hays and that they will bring
much pressure to bear. But all
this will come to naught.
Just what the pictures of the
future are to be like there is no
way of telling. Without doubt
they must be planned to lose con-
siderable of the modern quality
known as punch" kick" and
thrill" This does not necessar-
lily mean that the crime pictures
are to give way to the filming of
the Burgess bedtime stories and
"Alice in Wonderland" but the
new screen vehicles are to be
toned down so that a mid-Victo-
rian grandmother can doze an
hour or two away without being
disturbed by the sound of a ma
chine gun or the hySterical scream
Of a Wronged heroine.
For instance, Mr.. Hays, in his
latest ruling, says: Grimes
against law shall never be pre-
Sented in such a way as to throw
sympathy with the crime as
against law and justice. Acts of
murder or brutality shall be pre-
Sented only in such a way as will
not inspire imitation, and meth
odS or crime shall not be pre-
Sented in explicit detail on the
screen. Revenge in modern
times shall not be justified as a
motive. White slavery shall not
be treated on the screen. Dances
with indecent movements are
barred. No film or episode may
throw ridicule on any religious
faith; ministers of religion in
their character as ministers of re-
lgion should not be used as
comic characters or as villains.
The use of the flag shall be con-
SiStently respectful; the history
institutions, prominent people
and citizenry of other nations
shall be presented fairly"
Mr.. Hays appeals to the public
for "a sympathetic understand
ing and support of his new rules, u
and the directors of the Motion
Picture Producers and DiStrib-
utors of America have adopted
the code.
It is estimated that the intro
duction of sound increased the
weekly movie audience in the
United States by 100000 per-
sons. and" says Mr.. Hays, I'VE
OF the industry can leave nothing
undone to express our sense of
responsibility to the public"
H
SINCE AL Jolson took part in the
first successful sound picture
Hollywood has been searching for
picture voices" and it is esti-
mated that out of every 25 voices
tested in the laboratories, only l
turns out to be suitable. Many of
the old-time actors, famous for
their elocution, have failed to reg
lister with the exacting demands
Of the disk reproductions. Hun
dredS of players have taken the
tests during the past few months
and the successful ones may be
numbered on both hands. Among
those who have made good are
Jack Oakie, Helen Morgan, Ruth
Chatterton, Walter Huston and
Claudette Colbert. With these may
be placed Helen Chandler, Ann
Harding, Ina Claire, George Ar
liss, Chester Morris, Eddie Dowl-
ing, George Jessell, Catherine Dale
Owen and, Of course, John Barry
more.
Many are the troubles encoun-
tered by the searchers for movie
voices. For instance, care must
be taken to avoid "voice similar
ities," and the successful player
in the sound pictures must have
"voice personality" which is the
capacity of the actor to suggest a
character by the infection and
quality of the voice. "Voice SINH
larities" may be termed stand
ardized voices" which in some in