Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-15

the motion picture patron.
It has everything in it that a sue
cessful picture, from the stand
point of the customer, should
have. It is almost ideal in enter
tainment value, although 1T prob
ably never will be claSsed among
the really big pictures. In the
first place, the cast was 1ntelll-
gently selected, very little change
was made from the original novel
of Edna Ferber, and the direction
was far above the average. OF
course, the picture must be clasSed
as a melodrama, but it seems that
the melodramas turn out the best
motion pictures. They, at least,
combine action with their dialogue.
There are very few breaks In
the continuity of the story, and
this is an unusual achievement
when one considers some OF the
movies that have been made
from beSt-SellerS. The canvas Tor
the picture is big one, but not
too big. The story is told In a
simple, straightforward manner.
For my part, I prefer the screen
story to that of the novel. The
camera has an advantage over
the pen; one is able to vision more
easily the characters and events.
Miss Ferber, the author, may
congratulate herself upon the skill
with which her story was filmed.
It will be noted that the building
of "Cimarron" as picture story
does not follow the usual pro-
cedure of Hollywood. The big
action comes at the start, and
then It slows down to everyday
events toward the final fade-out.
This is entirely different from the
usual method of filming picture,
the big action being left for the
climax. The picture is so good as
a whole that probably one should
not mention one tireSome point
but here goes: Irene DUNES
speech in the banquet scene.
"Cimarron" is a boX-offlce pic
ture simply because it was made
to give patrons their full value OF
entertainment. And boX-of1ce
picture is success any way you
look at it.
The wholesale inpGSton of the
stage By nloUie stars t0tu not be-
come an tnUGSion after all.
Some mystery is connected
1uith the withdrawal CT Norma
T1Inadqe from the cast OF "The
Greeks Had q Word for It," She
spent SeUeTGl days TehedrStng,
and then suddenly made her
decision to Ie1Ue the cast. Mary
Pickford has reconSidered her
earlier plan to try the stage this
Spring, and no1D she states that
her i0ork mill be confined to the
screen. Colleen Moore and
OIIUe Borden 1UeTe giUen star
parts in stage productions dur
ing the past tet0 months, but
their plays tOeTe failures. VII
ma Bdnky and Rod La ROGUE
haze been playing in overnight
stands of CHERRIES Are Ripe"
but they haze not approached
Broadway. Lois Moran Is said to
be quite successful Nth her
ingenue part in This Is Ne10
York." tUhtch has a moderate
GEORGE ARLISS is one of the
few actors who boost the
talking pictures. Probably this
fact may be traced to his success
in pictureS-and then again he
may be very sincere. / quote
bit from an ArliSS letter:
There has never been, in my
opinion, such a stimulus to the
drama as that which is offered by
the mechanical continuance which
permits the best that the country
can produce to be seen and heard
in the most obscure corners of
the United States. / think there
can be no doubt about the educa-
tional possibilities to be derived
from talking pictures. 1t is, in
fact, difficult to realize the i'm
mense stride that has been taken
from the silent to the talking
screen. To tell stories by means
of pictures is, suppose, the most
primitive stage of education;
whereas the literature of any
country is its browning glory.
And just as soon as you get talk
ing pictures you automatically get
literature. The great authors of
the world soon will be turning
their attention to writing for the
screen; in fact, they are doing so
now. The great mass of the movie
public is quick to learn and ap-
preciate style in writing, as they
have already learned to appreciate
good music.
81 hope, as the talkies get bet
ter and better-and they will
that they will be used in schools
and even universities as examples
of the best speech. This will
neceSSitate some improvement on
our part-I mean on the part of
the actors-and will close the
door to some unworthy aspirantS
to the screen.
eve have been given time to
grow gracefully out of the silent
pictures into the talking pictures.
We have come, first of all, to the
habit of listening. After a little
more time we can experiment
with Shakespeare, who, after ALL
was not a 'high-brow' playwright
in his day, but the author of many
popular comedies and tragedies
which the public fiocked to see.
my experience in the movies
has taught me many things that
have been useful to me in the