Judge — April 16, 1921 — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

=e 7a ee Ss oe eras NEW MOVES IN THE MOVIES How to See a By Myrox M. Stearns (“LeNso” “ OW did you like the picture?” “Oh. Tdunno, How did you like it?” “Oh, I dunno. Pretty fair, I guess Bill said it was good—by saw it “Oh, T guess so. yesterday.” us pretty good—twusn’t it? Or wasn’t it?” Too many: people feeling like that, talking like that, after watching the tlickers. Nobody home. But how do you tell a good photoplay? Thasso? Well, d’jew know, now I come to think of it, it teresting, and we might as well go back to the and be done with wasn't it?” ) Scene But if they do things—these real somebodies—that keep us wondering what they're going to do next, and how they'll get out of such a pickle, and giving us a new slant on this or that human problem besides—then we're watching a real story That new slant on things is a/ways interesting. When the ituations” of the foolish fiction we're watching only lead up to the same old conclusions we've had drumme million or so times into us a be good and you'll be happy—leave little Every film with even the suggestion of a story in it tells wifey for the blonde and you'll be sorry—overlook hubby's neglect at the breakfast table, because his heart is good and he'll ut somebody, doing something, somewhere If those thre picture. The somebodies of a photoplay are interesting, ordinarily, in honest-to-goodness. the County Road, or Broad proportion to their being real people flesh-and-blood folks, right: off Street. If they're real, theyre in a crowd, no two people are exac and have everybody staring at ‘em looks different from any other—thinks differently ently. You never in your life saw any two people eat soup exactly alike, with just exactly the same splash and the same drip and the same wiggle of the jaw. No Sir lay Irene gets into trouble and tells us about ick of her hand up against her forehead. when in the phote it by putting the exactly as Sophie did the night before, there's something phoney about the girl. She's not the real thing. Same trouble with his nibs in the dress suit there—he makes love too much the way all the other Charlies do or. if he makes trouble, he makes that too much the same way All right. Now let's suppose the some- bodies of our photoplay really are some- bodies for a change—real people. Regular folks, with good points to ‘em and bad points—people we can like or dislike and hate or laugh at or forgive. That's a whole Jot, right there. A long way toward a good photoplay, a really interesting one Then, what are they doing? Here’s where the story comes in. If our somebodies only do, in general, the same things the somebodies of the picture we saw last night did, the story’s old. Trite. Worn And if they do things no human being could possibly do, it’s all too impossible to be gripping. Too much on the melo, as they sty in the lingo. Or, if they only do things that are commonplace, without giving us any ideas to turn over, they're plumb unin things are interesting, it’s usual erent. ‘They're themselves. Ewen y alike, unless they're twins Each person in the world a good bh ourselves. something different, something stimulatin something eutertaining, something original, something startling something instructé That's what makes it interestin London once wrote a story to prove that if you cut a man’s story, they do. acts differ head off, he dies. tured b the old buck Inc hat’s why Pi tures Worth Watching: THE GILDED LILY. ‘Cabaret Lily proves better than her reformer THE FOUR HORSEMEN Very long, but apparently sincere effort at real drama THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS Artistic tragedy of the forests WAY DOWN EAST Great entertainment THE SIN THAT WAS HIS Frank Packard story with many fine bits. THE_OLD SWIMMIN’ HOLE Charles Ray and other grown-ups lay kids, THE KIbD* ‘A real kid and a real comedian THE_NUT Comedy 1a Doug, for Fairbanks fons. PASSION* Artistic foreign spectacte-film. THE JUCKLINS fell told story of the mountain South. NOT GUILTY. takes the blame, es usual melodrama on King Lear theme ceptionally good. 2 you couldn't cut it; finally, the tried the thing—took a slash at his cap give you a big check after dinner—fal-de-la-da—we're plain ed. We don’t want to hear lectures by people who know less than we do about their subject, or watch photoplays made by people who can't think up a We want the somebodies to do something 1 vthing more than we can . something funny or something worthwhile. In a good Why, Jack His somebody—London’s—was a guy cap the Indians; the interesting thing he did was to foo ig he could magic his neck so id chief got so worked up he ive's neck, and binge off went the head! Then, he realized the white man had been working to get out of being tortured to death as per schedule —Pleasant? Anyway different, and inter esting, too. Then, somewhere. Somebody, thing. somewhere If the somewhere is outdoors. in beautiful scenery, it helps. If it’s in Alaska, or Turkey, or the middle of Thibet, fine and dandy—provided i really Alaska or Turkey or Thibet, fe picture purposes. Once I saw rocks in a picture that were made of canvas, anc wrinkled when the rain hit em from a hose. Everybody laughed when they weren't sup posed to. In altogether too many pictures the director's Alaska or Turkey or Thibet or bar-room or drawing-room is built a little that wa: Make ‘em show you real people, doing original things that mean something, in interesting places. And when they do, and you see it and know it and like it—get a megaphone and tell the world, so we can have more photo- plays of the same sort n into believ ing some comicbooks.com