Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-26
The Snoring Picture cAlbum
By Robert E. Sherwood.

turns out to be married 10 some one
else. She doesn't mind that. though she
Is a little upset when he deserts her.
She then goes through Europe like .
fine-tooth' comb. attending gambling
casinos and bullfghts and having what
every one will vote glorious time. In
the end, in payment for her manifold
the Hays Moral Code, she marries the
man she loves and lives happily ever
afterward.
Having gone through this dull recitas
ton OF the plot. can see exactly what
the editor of This Womans Angle'
meant. Strangers May Kiss" Ger.
tainly has moral, and it Is one which
should be beautifully. indefinitely APP
pealing to women.
7 Usually 1t is my policy TO lend .
sympathetic ear to those who
shout insults at Hollywood, but I con.
fess to being offended by the uncouth
noises that have lately emanated from
Theodore Dresser.
About five years ago Mr.. Dresser sold
the screen rights to IAN American
Tragedy" for the neat sum Of $50, 900.
He signed the contract and he ac-
copied the check and cashed It. Fol-
lowing which, Mr.. Lasky did q great
deal Of worrying while Mr.. Dresser was
having look at Russia. The filming
OF AN American Tragedy" involved
seemingly insuperable difficulties and,
furthermore. talking pictures came in
and the dialogue rights had to be pur-
chased from Mr.. Dresser, Patrick Kear.
ney, who had written the stage drama
tization, and Horace Liveright, the pro-
Queer
At last IAN American Tragedy" has
been reproduced. under the direction Of
josef Won Sternberg. And now Mr..
Dresser announces that he intends to
get out an injunction against the show
ing of the picture. It am going to
fight" he says Il have q literary
character to maintain and I contend
that have mental equity in my prod
uct and the character of my product.
Law or no law, ! believe / can 20 be-
fore the courts of equity, the Federal
courts and get decision, and I will
go If it takes years" These quota
tons, by the way, are from an inter-
view by Eleanore Kellogg In the New
New York Herald Tribune)
It would seem that when he sold
AN American Tragedy" Mr.. Dresser
had never heard that the film people
are apt to make changes In the novels
and plays that they adapt to the screen.
~ WOulQ ScSIu IIldL Ilc IlAQ uuQ6ISUOO0
that his massive work was to be re.
corded word for word. Apparently, Mr..
Lasky was fiendishly adroit In deceiving
the great, gullible novelist.
Strangely enough, at the time Of the
sale most people believed that Mr..
Lasky was guilty of gross stupidity. His
colleagues laughed at him. They said
that he had been stuck. But Theodore
Dresser was not among those who con-
demned him then. Mr.. Dresser wisely
reserved his protest for later date.
AS matter of fact, the movie pro-
ducerS are far more accurate now In
their reproductions of novels and plays
than they were five years ago-as Wit
ness particularly, "All Quiet on the
Western Front" THE Criminal Code"
Journeys End" "Cimarron" and the
Front Faye" The chances for an
intelligent rendering Of IAN American
Tragedy are far greater in 1881 than
they were in 1926, when the deal was
closed. Nevertheless, its beguiled author
must fight for his rights.
think Mr.. Dresser is making O mis-
take In going to the courts. What he
should do Is take the $4,000 TO WASH
ington, spend 1t on the formation Of o
strong political lobby and force Con-
gress to repeal that odious law which
compels authors to sell their works to
the movies.
(oopyrisht, IssiJ