Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14
The snoring Picture c4lbMm
BY Robert e. Sherwood.

TINE film Morocco" directed by
Josef Won Sternberg, should come
as a message Of reinsurance for
those who have lately been de-
pressed by the juStihable con-
viction that imagination Is dead in
Hollywood. 1t Is a real moving picture,
taking advantage Of the extraordinary
opportunities for dramatic expression
that the camera affords. making full
and appropriate usage of sound and
placing negligible emphasis on spoken
words.
AS a perfect demonstration of the
unimportance of dialogue, and of the
supreme importance of sound, Mr.. Won
Sternberg shows us scene at BAN
quet at which is being celebrated the
engagement of the. vaudeville singer
(impersonated by Miss Marlene Die
trich) and the wealthy. nobleman
(Adolphe MenjoW. A French colonel
is delivering graceful, congratulatory
address. in his native tongue. The
majority or whole of the movie au-
dience can't understand his words, but
they know just about what he is saying.
He IS obviously saying just the right
thing AS he talks, from the distance
come the strains of martial music
the bugleS and drums Of the Foreign
Legion returning from q campaign
against the Riffs. In that approaching
regiment may bG the hero, Gary Cooper.
Or he may have been left in the Afri-
can interior wounded, or dead.
Miss Dietrich wants to find out She
jumps to her feet, interrupting the COL
onel's polite speech. And as she rllShes
from the table the pearl necklace which
Mr.. Menjou has given her catches on
the chair and S--SlsA the pearls clat-
tering to the floor. She ignores them.
Without a word to her fiance or to
the assembled guests. she runs down
to the street to look for her lover
This is long sequence, and an ex-
tremely dramatic one. 1t contains no
talk whatever, except for the colonelG
speech in French. No talk is needed.
Nevertheless, the fact that the talk
is potentially there contributes enor-
mously to the dramatic strength. Hav-
ing heard the colonels speech, even
though unable to understand it, you
are all the more vitality impressed by
Miss Dietrich's eloquent silence, and
by the approaching beat of drums and
clangor of bugles.
There is hardly a single scene in
Morocco" which Is not equally artful
in its capitalization of the advantages
of sound. 1t never is allowed to inter-
fere with the essential pictorial quail
ties; but 1t amplifies and enriches them
to an incalculable extent.
One must congratulate Mr.. Won
Sternberg on the best job of direction
of imaginative conception-that has
been performed since the screen found
| its voice. 1t Is incredible to me that
| any one can see the results he has
achieved in Morocco" and still say
that the old spell of the movies has
been broken.
However, know that there are some
who will disagree There are a few
die-hards left who persist in the be.
lief that one should go to the movie.
primarily for the purpose of CATCHING
I some sleep, and that the noises from
| the loud speakers should be outlawec
because they force one to stay awake
X
IN recent issue of his journal, tn,
Film Spectator. Wexford Beator
utters the following respondent re-
| marks:
Motion picture lots are rather sac
places these days. Everyone seems u
be wondering what should be done next
Morale is low. Unrest is rampant. In.
sp1ration has gone of shift. Initiative
is lacking. Pessimism spreads into thu
executive Offices where the leaders sit
dispirited because they have come to tn,
end OF initiating one another withou
having brought box Offices back to life
The industry is in a nut with high sides
and its vision ahead is blocked by box
Office failures"
What is to be done about this shock
ing state of affairs?
Says Mr.. Beaton: 1.-THE industr,
should make itself well by trying tn
experiment of doing things it hasn'
done for long time. It should begir
to make motion pictures again. I
should get back TO the farm and away
from speakeasies: 1t should give us fac.
tories where things are made, instea1
OF courtroons where men are unmade
1t should take s-into the sweet-snell-
ing atmosphere of small-town homes
| instead Of the polluted air of rich homes
of intrigue and infidelity"
While agreeing with Mr.. Beaton's
! statement of the malad1es with which
the industry Is aff1icted, can not quite
1ndorse his quack noStrunnS for a cure
Sometimes farms are more interesting
and wholesome than speakeasies, anc
! sometimes they aren't Sometimes the
atmosphere In rich homes is compare.
lively free from impurities, and some
times small-town homes are polluted
with intrigue, infidelity and other
things
| WnaC is OF major importance Is that
| the screen can now be Just as worthy
J OF attention as it ever was and the
| fact that it isn't is due either to s
scarcity of f1rst-class talents or to az
! inability on the part of the movie
moguls to make adequate use of those
| talents. Pictures like Morocco" "EIoli-
| day." Abraham Lincoln "All Quiet
on the Western 'front.' Men Without
Women" THE Big House" and "Hel
Man" have proved what can be done
The scenes of these pictures have