Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-12
Flashes From the Screen
News and Comment of the Photoplay
By c. E.. Nelson.
By C. E. Nelson.
AWYER CLARENCE OAR
ROW, in a recent interview,
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ing that such a battle against
cenSorS should be widened-thatt
1T should include other phases OF
personal liberty. OF course, the
producers of motion pictures are
not, personally, interested in other
forms of liberty" They simply
request that they be ignored in
the matter of censorship. In
stating the case of the producers,
Lawyer Darrow says: Il believe
that a person who is lighting for
his own liberty ought to fight for
the liberties of other people at the
same time. A little wholesome
propaganda thrown on the screen
now and then, broad and intelli-
gent, may do a great deal in pro-
noting the cause Of the motion
picture and in promoting other
causes"
AS has been mentioned in these
columns at other times, the real
fight against national censor
ship should be a subtle affair on
the part of the manufacturers
HoWlS for censorship usually are
heard after the exhibition Of GER
tain classes of pictures. 1t is pos
sible that only one such picture
may produce a great windStorm
from the advocates of censorship.
The motion picture industry took
a long step forward when 1t ap-
pointed Will Hays head of the pro-
ducers and then agreed to stand
behind his opinions and orders.
The Hays code, by which Sundry
and various sorts of material were
to be eliminated from pictures,
was adopted. but it has not worked
very smoothly. One producer and
another, when they found a
chance to put over" something
on the code agreement, did So
and they are following that idea
today. It is these fellows, who
imagine they are clever and that
they have beaten the code, who
are causing the trouble and cauS-
ing loud cries for national CEN
6oFship.
If the censorship idea is to be
beaten, it must be beaten in the
studios themselves. It must be
beaten by the writer's, the direc-
tors and the producers. 1t must
give the censorship advocates no
reason to write letters and visit
their congressman.
D From time to time effortS-not
really Serious-have been made to
clean up the movies at their source
and not after State censorship
boards had ordered expensive
examinations. Now, there is little
left but the aforementioned
code, which is as full of holes as
the proverbial sieve. The Hays
organization, with all its power,
might organize its own censorship
Staff-a competent, impartial body
for the censorship Of film prod
ucts in Hollywood. BY this meth
cd, according to the vision of the
writer, it would be possible to stop
at the source all Objectionable
matter. It would never reach the
public; the censorship advocates
would have nothing to howl
about; talk of national censorship
would cease. Such board OF re-
view, located where the pictures
are manufactured, would be able
to save a large expense to the pro-
ducers-the expense of later re-
visions and eliminationS-and it
would also be able to cast an eye
over Aim advertising, which has,
during the past few months, come
in for quite bit of criticism.
Well, it's an idea, anyway, and
we pass it along.
HOLLYWOOD says we are not
paying enough attention to the
directors that they are important
cogs in movie production, but that
they have dropped from the lime
light. For instance, the case Of
Wesley Ruggles, who directed
sCimarron," is mentioned. Holly
wood asks, What would 'Cimar-
rom have been without wesley
Ruggles?" Last year Lewis Mile
stone made "An Quiet On the
western Front" and his salary
Jumped to fabulous figures, but
the public did not hear much Of
him.
1t is natural that the lover of
motion pictures should care little
Tor the personality of the director,
Or for the mechanics of picture.
It Is the finished product that
draws us to the theater. The work
Of a director may be obvious to
the initiated, but to the average
Cheater-goer he is just another
studio employee, not nearly as i'm
portant as the atmosphere per-
SonalitieS" of the picture itself. To
my mind, the hokum of the screen
d most deliberately carried out in
such prologues as the following:
Director of Peter Won TootWitz.
Uncas BippuS, first assistant direc-
tor. william Augustus Snickel-
fritz, second assistant director.
Dialogue by TennySon @. Umper-
dinck. Music by John r. Flat.
Lyrics by Oscar Wilde Smaitz.
Boots and shoes supplied by tkc
Sunshine Bootery. Gosh A. He'll
lock, head cameraman. Adolph
Schnitz, second assistant head
cameraman. Henry Smith, prop
srty man. Dry Ceaning by the
West Coast Pants Pressing
Club" And so on down to
the Office boy who held the stars
smelling salts while she threatened
to throw faint.
A FTER viewing number of the
recent pictures, one comes to
the conclusion that the featured
players and the men and women
Who play character bits are the
hckiest Of the movie game. The
character actors are in big de-
nland, often being called to work
in two or three pictures at the
same time. The featured players,
who have not yet reached the
ranks of stardom, obtain smaller