Evening star., 1932-07-24
HR. ALDOUS HUXLEY, in
M modern essay on an i'm

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" l pending Model T Utopia,
dwells at some length on
the probable future of the talkie.
In this work, entitled Brave New
World" he sums up the posSibili-
ties Of what our great-great-great-
tc.-grandchildren will be having
as a form of cinematic entertain
ment. He paints vivid picture
of the progeny of the present-day
movie.
According to this disciple of Mr..
Wells, or Jules Verne, the talkleS
in the dim future and in model
land will have advanced to such
a state Of perfection that not only
will the characters seem to be real
flesh ard blocd, but at the same
time we will have the ability to
react to the same kind of emo
tiors that they are undergoing.
For this reason Mr.. Huxley calls
the talkies Of this Utopia the
"feelies."
A fctionized description of
such an event he draws as fol-
lows:
Sunk in their pneumatic stalls,
Lenina and the Savage shifted
and listened. It was now the turn
also for eyes and skin.
The house lights went down;
fiery letters stood out solid and as
though self-supported in darkness.
Three Weeks in Helicopter. An
All Super Singing, Synthetic
Talking, Colored, Stereoscopic
Feely. With Synchronized Scent
Organ Accompaniment
""Take hold of those metal
knobs on the arms of your chair
whispered Lenina. otherwise you
won't get any of the feely effects
"Those fiery letters, meanwhile,
had disappeared; there were 10
seconds of complete darkness,
then suddenly, dazzling and in
comparably more solid = looking
than they would have seemed in
actual flesh and blood, far more
real than reality, there stood the
stereoscopic images"
There follows an even more
vivid account of the reactions of
this savage man. With his hand
placed firmly on this knob, he is
able to undergo the identical emo
tions which are being enacted be-
fore him. Mr.. Huxley evidently
thinks that plots won't have to
be highly complex, for, says he,
The plot of the film was extreme
1y simple"
THIS idea of being susceptible
to the why's and wherefores
of emotions being transmitted
from the air to the everyday hu-
man is a novel and an alarming
quantity which nevertheless may
very we'll be developed. Even now
the talkies occasionally attain to
that state of realism where the
audience becomes wrought up to
a considerable pitch, and where
if, for instance, such a cantanker-
Gus piece as Ravers "Bolero" were
played, many members OF this
public might easily get up and
tear their hair.
AS it is, however, we are actu-
ally long way from Mr.. Huxley's
state of cinematic perfection-if
it is perfection. Personally, we
are apt to believe that # audi
enceS we're put through the emo
tions of some of their heroes and
heroines, most of them would soon
be gibbering maniacs.
Fancy, now, seeing "Rebecca OF
Sunnybrook Farm" and Scar
face" in the same day. It would
be bad enough having to be Re-
becca for a few hours, and skip,
vince and be coy, and try to be
comfortable in buggy! But i'm
agine, a few minutes later, find
ing yourself Mr.. Paul MUM, fall
ing fiat on your nose, tearing
around the city in a bulletproof
automobile, killing your sisters
husband and finding yourself full
of lead as the curtain comes
down!
Worse than that, too, would be
going to see Bring En- Back
Alive" and being a tiger With
python curled around your middle.
There would, of course, be
many Solaces to this emotional
sport. If at this moment you
could 60 to a theater, sit down in
comparative quiet and find out
what La Garbo is thinking about
this system would be called sue
cess. Or again, imagine the ex-
citement of local working prima
donnas, if at the stroke of 4:30
pm. they could run off to a talkie
aUd be made love to in a film in