Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22
Flashes From the Screen
News and Comment Of the Photoplay
~ G. r Ne1sor
MERE has been an unusually
large amount of discussion
and Use of the printed word
By C. e. Nelson.

regarding the stage player
In the movies, and the movie
PLAYER In the movies. From some
writers and lecturers ON the sub
iect comes word that the stage
Tolayer is slowly but surely dis
placing the old-time movie player.
From others we hear that the
pioneer player Of the screen is the
only person especially fitted as a
screen actor.
All the columns of space used
in such speculationS seem an ut
ter waste, from this viewpoint.
Some of the pioneers Of the screen
the actresses and actors VINO
made good with the silent MIN
have fallen down sadly with the
talkies. There is no doubt OF that
fact. On the other hand, many
of them have made good with
vengeance. Hundreds and hun
dreds of stage players have trav-
eled to Hollywood for screen tests,
many of them having signed
splendid contracts before board
ing the WeStward-bound train. A
few of these have made good;
others have been dropped by the
waySide, contracts and all.
It is quite evident that stage
training has very little to do with
success on the screen. If the
player is a good player on the
stage, he Is likely to be good
player in the studio And the
same holds true with the silent
and talkie work. OF course, GER
tain stars of the silent film, when
required to show what they had
in voice, fell down miSerably. So,
it was. also found, many stage
stars were found to have nothing
but voice-no screen personalities.
A large part of screen success
depends upon the player-not
upon stage or silent film training.
In going over the list of stars of
today one finds that the old-time
silent players outnumber the stage
stars. This may come from the
fact that they were employed in
large numbers when the talkieS
first made their appearance. The
stage players were employed at
later date, but the latter cannot
be said to have turned to the talk
ing movies bag and baggage.
It Is probable that the best
movie training is that received in
the studios. The young players
who have never appeared upon
the stage seem to be making the
best impression upon movie audi
enceS. They have no stage train
ing to forget; they have no silent
film years to leave behind them;
they are trained in the new talk
ing screen technique. Stage and
screen work are not at all SINH
lar. The stage player has diScOv-
cred that he must begin all over
again when he arrives in Holly
wood. And very little Of the old
silent Aim technique remains in
the manufacture of a modern
talking picture. The various
studios are turning themselves
into training schools for the young
actors-and this is well. In the
days to come, you will hear more
from the younger crop of players
studio trained, than from the old
stage and screen players.
"A LSO columns are being written
t,,r. a aSE ee l Re " h 126dnaeE pic c.
GuA Cs 4B4k tgo.s S@sx4hlVOCdtSS vi
the silent film are jumping up
and down in their glee and an
nouncing that their prediction has
come true-that the talking pic
ture will never diSplace the silent.
But this particular film, which
has no dialogue, cannot decide the
question. It is filled with subtitleS
(even more Of them than in the
older silent films and these are
awkward and intrusive. The pic
ture does not run as smoothly,
to all accounts, as a talking pic
ture.
Chaplin Is the only screen actor
Of today, in the opinion of this
writer, who could "get away" with
a silent film. His work has been
boosted to the skies; his panto-
mime Is the feature. One writer,
spreading over a large part of a
newspaper page, heads his Chap
lin article thus: 1.-The Art and
Science of Comic Timing" But,
after all, "City Lights" Is just a
long, thin strip of celluloid. We
will know more about it when it
comes 10 Washington.
RY the way, and just in passing,
did you ever see a better list
of pictures scheduled for Wash
ington theaters? And all, in one
week? Greta Carlo in her new
est, Inspiration" at the Column
bia. Bebe Daniels in my Past"
at the Earle. A third week of
"Cimarron," at R-K-O Keith's.
THE Bachelor Father" and Till
cit," at the Metropolitan. Ora
cula," extended at the Rialto.
Don't Bet on Women" at the
Fox. And that funny chap, Bus
ter Keaton, at the Palace.
THE producers, after a rather
dismal attempt to inject color
into their films, suddenly dropped
the bright shades. Now they are
coming back with a statement
that the public demands color,
and that several of the pictures
for 1881 will have splash or two.
It Is said that mistakes, combined
with to much color, killed off de-
velopment during the experiments,
but that the matter win now be
taken up IN saner manner.
Color suffered, it is pointed out,
along with musicals, when the lat
ter cycle died suddenly at the box
office, and largely through unin-
telligent use. An effort will be
made, in the months to come, to
acquire naturalness in the use of
l.