Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-20
Flashes From the Screen
By c. e. Nelson.


reached the turning point OF thu
eebb. In a few more weeks thi'
same theatrical tide will turn
Even on Broadway, where the
.Ollt-of- town visitors are supposed
to keep a Summer season going
sthe managers have failed to see
anxious lines waiting at their boz
offices, as only a few shows have
made the hot weather grade. The
new iced theaterS have aided mat
tiers in Washington, but we must
-Sit back and wait for some big
things in the Fall. However
from looking over this weeks
.Schedule one is inclined to the be-
lief that the National Capital is
obtaining the best of the current
crop of photoplays for the Sum-
95fer. Shadow of the Law" star
ring william Powell, is the attrac-
ton at the Palace, and another
picture having to do with shady
characters, Lawful Larceny
holds the screen at R-K-O-
Keith's. Edmund loves newest
effort, Good Intentions" should
draw heavily at the Fox, and
tDancing Sweeties," light and
Piry, comes to the Earle. Ere
captured Love" is the big feature
at the Metropolitan, and Our
Blushing Brides" is held over for
another week at the Columbia,
Taking this downtown list as a
whole, it is a pretty good Sum-
fnertime lineup.
~ II
Carl Ldemn1Ie, 5r, recently
elevated to q man'S-Sise desk
tUith the Universal orgGntsG-
ton, and icho Is credited Nth
1s.".AH Quiet on the Western
Front" says tUe hare reached
the sGturdtion point OF dtG-
,Togue, and he tOantS more
tDdntomtme. Be 1t understood
That the young n1oUte n1dgndte
docs not favor the elimination
.hof dialogue, but rather cut
settnu doiDn on talk. For in
stance, he thinks that the con-
, tinuouS bdrrGge OF 1UordS
hurled from the screen, or
Whereabouts, has been carried
TOO far. He UdntS dialogue
.dnd music utilized for the high
points of picture, but he feels
that other and lesser moments
may be more satisfactory In
quiet manner. And ne cdItS
Ibis idea a "neW screen tech
Unique" stating that 1t Is being
employed IN connection NTH
-.taUo neiD Universal specials,
E"OntStde the LGD" and "The
ELittle Accident" II 10e. get
fright doton to the facts OF the
snatter, Young LGen1n1le's idea
kfS not 1seto one. 1t tOGS forced
EHpon the picture nl1nut1c-
tureTs lDlten they first started
Ethe making of talking pictures:
: The results lcere dtDkt0Grd. 1t
Ifs the opinion OF this depart
'7ment that a photopldy should
be altogether IN dialogue, or 1t
should be silent. There might
be a demand for a certain
number of distinct, Intelligent
EcTeuttons OF q pGntonltnle pa
z Tiety-Such pictures as artists
l1f the Charlie Chaplin class
1Dould be able to produce. The
s-hdlf-1nd- half picture died a
sudden death 1Uhet the sound
ApictuTeS reached their present
stage of popularity. They totH
neDer return.
hURING the past few weeks I
have had a number Of calls
regarding the form for writing
the new sound scenarios. In the
old days, with the silent Aims, all
scenarios followed a set form. A
short synopsis Of the story was
given, together with the list of
characters. Then the scenes were
numbered and the action detailed.
This made the writing of see
mario a rather simple matter; al
most any good story could be
turned into a movie. A number
of amateur writer's found mar
ket for their ideas. However, all
this has changed. With the COM
ing of sound, the whole scenario
idea has been switched about, and
the producers are not purchasing
many plays from amateur writ
ers. About the only thing they
are in the market for is the idea.
IF you are possessed of good plot
for a photoplay, write out the
synopsis of the story and the list
of characters. Do not bother with
the dialogue. The making Of
sound pictures has forced the pro-
ducers to engage large writing
stats, many Of the new workers
being well known novelists and
journalists. A part Of the work
of these writers is to arrange dia-
logue. If your plot is good one,
the dialogue, music, etc, is ar
ranged by the studio writer's. And
do not forget that the market for
such material, with writer's trying
their luck, is not good one. A
far better scheme is to write the
story as straight fiction, sell it if
possible and retain the motion
picture rights to the material.
e
It has been found that tert
books and formulate designed to
teach the art of iorittng for
the motion pictures are or very
of a Storv Is the real essential:
II the plot Is good one, II
has possibilities OF sale. All
1 tue LGLL OOOho tft SItC CbOf ~
1rould not aid materially in ar
ranging the story for motion
Dtcture production. All this is
rather unfortunate, for among
the amateur tCrtterS may de-
UeIop some of the netD photo
| 1lnv ideas, There should be
some Wdy of utilizing their best
aDork-Sone Udy of encourage
Ing them NTH their ideas.
X y
- yrrTfT xynnD ~.~nIfofe fl,of fhS