Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-24
Flashes From the Screen
News and Comment of the Photoplay.
By C. E. Nelson.
By C. E. Nelson.

According to late petoS from the
West Coast, the story t0tu be II
Spy" from @ rtoueL by Baroness
CGrLa uon Jensen. The director
will be Wilhelm DieterJe, from
Germany. Frau DGgOver is O.
brunette, quite taU-"the tDoTtd-
Iy, poised type, the ultimate I'M
continental s0phtStfcGtiOB and
mature charm" There, you
hare it.
MARTIN QUIGLEY, writing in
A his Motion Picture Herald,
heads one Of his interesting edi-
torials: "Is the Motion Picture
Getting Anywhere? Then, in part,
he says: "An examination Of the
current state of affairs in the mo-
ton picture industry reveals much
to be disturbed about. Standing
probably first in the List Of things
that are currently wrong with the
motion picture business is the
singular lack of common and gen.
eFal appeal to the established
motion picture audiences Of a
large part of the recent product.
The sophIStication of Hollywood
has brought great harm to the
business There is a strong indi-
cation that among the creative
talent in Hollywood there has de-
veloped tendency to make pic
lures for the entertainment Of
each ether. If this is not true,
there seems to be no explanation
nv f,T. InA - -
of the story material that recently
has been produced. Likewise, vart-
Gus Of the screen personalities
that are now being pushed for
ward may seem in Hollywood to
possess a very enviable Subtlety
and fnesSe, but as far as the great
American public is concerned, they
are strange, unreal characters, too
far removed from any known or
movable types. The smart say
ings of the dialogue go very well
at Hollywood first night, but If
the authors and directors were to
observe typical audience reaction
to these, they would be far from
pleased with their efforts. There
are several cases like that of the
very good actor, Ronald Colman
As far as the vast majority of the
audiences of American motion
picture theaters are now con-
cerned, Mr. Colman might as well
be speaking IN a foreign language
because his typically English man
ner of delivery is simply not un-
derStandable to ears which are
not accustomed to his character
Of speech. Tt was a sad day for
the picture business when Holly
wood became sensitive over being
referred to in the smart magazines
as 'mOvie-mlnded'
The general character of mo-
ton picture advertising has drop
ped several notches down the scale
Of correct showmanship. The
sacrednesS of the screen and the
need of protecting it against every
type Of propaganda were at one
time aXionS in the business. The
public is obviously reSentful of
commercial advertising upon the
screen. And, it may be noted, the
amusement business has never yet
succeeded in an attempt to run
counter to the public will"
f
Helen Chandler is the lucky
girl of the tDeek" in Hollywood.
Within tho days she D0S QiUen
t1Do priced ToLeS-one as the
daughter in ":'Fipe Star Final"
the EdUdTd c.. Robinson star
ring Uehicle, aud the other OPP
poSite Richard BarthelnleSs tn
Spent Bullets" One hundred
and fifty screen tests mere made
IN the selection of q player tn
the BGTthetmeSS picture.
esTTOrrT NY aerTDG