HOLLYWOOD

QUARTERLY
Editors
JOHN
COLLIER
SAMUELT.
FARQUHAR
FRANKLIN FEARING
JAMES
HILTON
KENNETHMACGOWAN
IRVING PICHEL
ABRAHAM POLONSKY
FRANKLIN P. ROLFE
Assistant Editor
SYLVIA
JARRICO
Volume III: 1947-1948
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIAPRESS
BERKELEYANDLOS ANGELES
COPYRIGHT,
1947, 1948,
BY
THEREGENTS OF THEUNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA
Contents
ARTICLES
PAGE
Henry Morgan-Radio
Satirist,
by
Flora Rheta Schreiber ... . 1
Radio
Broadcasting
in
Sweden,
by
Henrik Hahr
........
11
"Vectors": A
Script-Mathematics through
Film,
by
C.
J.
Wickwire .
15
Cartoon in the
Classroom,
by
Charles Palmer
........
. 26
Coffee in a
Teacup:
Notes on an
English
Adventure,
by John
Paxton .
34
English
Influences on the Work of Edwin S.
Porter,
by Georges
Sadoul,
trans.
by
Yvonne
Templin
....
..... .....
41
Areas of
Silence,
by Irving
Pichel ........... .
51
On Children's Cinema: America and
Britain,
by
Sondra
Gorney
.
56
Violence,
1947:
Three
Specimens, by John
Houseman ......
63
Audivisual
Music,
by Ralph
K. Potter
...........
. 66
Film Music of the
Quarter, by
Lawrence Morton
....... 79
Experimental
Cinema in
America,
Part One:
1921-1941, by
Lewis
Jacobs
....
. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 111
Remembrances of
Jean Vigo, by Gyula
Zilzer ... . ...
125
ANew Generation of Radio
Comedians,
by
Flora Rheta Schreiber .
129
A
Survey
of Film
Periodicals,
II: Great
Britain,
by
Peter Noble . .
140
A
Survey
of Film
Periodicals,
III:
France,
by
the director of L'I.D.H.E.C.
152
The British Cinema
Audience,
by
Mark Abrams.
155
Performance under
Pressure,
by
Alexander Knox ... .....
159
Homage
to
Raimu,
by
Herbert L.
Jacobson
........
.
169
An Exhibitor
Begs
for
"B's,"
by
Arthur L.
Mayer
........
172
Films for the
Church,
by
Michela Robbins .........
178
The Camera's
Bright Eye
Is Lowered
Becomingly, by
William Seril .
185
Spiders
in His
Mind,
by
Nathan Norman Weiss ........
189
Film Music of the
Quarter,
by
Lawrence Morton .
....
. .
192
Motion Picture
Economics,
by Anthony
H. Dawson .. . .. ..
217
British and American Motion Picture
Wage
Rates
Compared,
by Anthony
H. Dawson
................241
Radio's Attraction for
Housewives,
by
Ruth Palter .......
248
Television: ADouble
Take,
by Joan
Aucourt . ........
58
Requirements
of Research on Instructional
Film,
by
C. R.
Carpenter
. 262
"To Secure These
Rights":
A
Script, by
Arnold Perl .......
267
Experimental
Cinema in
America,
Part II: The Postwar
Revival,
by
Lewis
Jacobs
..................
.
278
"Hamlet": The
Play
and the
Screenplay, by
William
Shakespeare
and
Laurence Olivier ....... ..
293
"Le Silence est d'or": AStudent Film
Analysis, by
students of
L'I.D.H.E.C .......... 301
Introductory
Note,
by
Robert Pirosh
..
..... ...
301
[iii]
PAGE
The
Development
of Australian
Films,
by
Eric Goldschmidt
. . . . 311
Film Music of the
Quarter,
by
Lawrence Morton
.. ...... 316
"The
Hollywood
Picture": A
Script, by
Peter
Lyon
....... 341
The British
Way
of
Radio,
by
Dorotheen
Ingham
Allan
. .... 362
The Palette and the
Revenuer,
by
Louis M. Brown and Morris E. Cohn
. 368
Aspects
of War and Revolution in the Theater and Film of the Weimar
Republic, by
William W. Melnitz
.. ......
372
Movies' Role in Hitler's
Conquest
of German
Youth,
by John
Altmann
.
379
The
Emergence
of a New Film
Industry, by Egon
Larsen
..... 387
Film Music of the
Quarter,
by
Lawrence Morton
... . . .
395
Literature on Music in Film and Radio: Addenda
(1943-1948), comp.
by
Walter H. Rubsamen
................
403
The
Dangerous Compromise, by
Curtis
Harrington
.......
405
A
Long Rope, by Irving
Pichel
.......... ... 416
AReturn to
Reason,
by
Herman G.
Weinberg
..
..... 421
Documentary
in
Transition,
Part I: The United
States,
by
Robert and
Nancy
Katz
......... ....
425
The Domestic Motion Picture Work of the Office of War
Information,
by
Cedric Larson
..... ...........
434
NOTES ANDCOMMUNICATIONS
On "Miracles Come
C.O.D.,"
by Edgar
Dale
..........82
Reply
to a
Critic,
by
Charles Palmer . ........
.
.
85
Mr. Dickens and Mr.
Pichel,
by Stanley
Ellin
........
87
Houseman
Replies
to
Asheim,
by John
Houseman .. ... .
89
Suggestion
for a New Film
Anthology, by
William Seril
......
go
Birth of a
Stereotype, by Luelyne
Doscher . .. . .. .
90
Concerning
Von
Stroheim,
by
Peter Noble . ....... .
93
Cooperative
Production,
by
K. M
..
.
.........
93
Sight
and Sound's Motion Picture
Index,
by
The Editors ... .
93
Motion Pictures in
Denmark,
by Judith
Podselver .. . .....
195
A
University
Course in the
Moving
Pictures,
by
A. R. Fulton . . ..
199
Broadcast in New
Zealand,
by J.
E. Blennerhassett
.......
320
Music for
Crown,
by
Muir Mathieson
............323
Comment on a
Review,
by
Gerald Cockshott.
326
Screen Credits as Reference
Material,
by Jack
Morrison
..444
Appendix
to the
Survey
of British Film
Periodicals,
by
Peter Noble
.
445
Studio Salaries in
England
and the United States
A
Misleading Comparison, by George
H. Elvin ......
446
A
Reply, by Anthony
H. Dawson
..........447
Film Research at
Pennsylvania
State
College, by
F. F. .....
449
Distribution Center for
Experimental Films,
by
Curtis
Harrington
. .
450
iv CONTENTS
BOOK REVIEWS
PAGE
Franklin
Fearing:
Mass Persuasion: The Social
Psychology of
a War
Bond
Drive,
by
Robert K.
Merton,
with the assistance of
Marjorie
Fiske and Alberta Curtis .......
.95
Helene Maxwell Hooker: The Eternal
Light, by
Morton
Wishengrad;
Untitled and Other Radio
Dramas,
by
Norman Corwin .. .
97
Chet
Huntley:
Radio Drama
Production,
by
Rome and
Walter Krulevitch .
....
...........
99
Harry Hoijer: Biografbladet
.
............. 0oo
Lawrence Morton:
Composers
in
America,
by
Claire R. Reis .... .lo
Stuart Novins: How to Audition
for Radio,
by
Ted Cott .....
104
Richard Collins: Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a Movie
Story, by
Arthur L. Gaskill and David A.
Englander .........
105
Leon Becker: Radio's
Conquest of
Space, by
Donald McNicol
...
.
105
S. M.: Handbook
of
Radio
Writing, by
Erik Barnouw .. ... 106
Arthur
Knight:
Grierson on
Documentary,
ed.
by Forsyth Hardy,
with
American notes
by
Richard Griffith and
Mary Losey
.. .. . 202
Newton E. Meltzer: Radio's Best
Plays,
ed.
by Joseph
Liss .....
207
Lawrence Morton:
Composing
for
the
Films,
by
Hanns Eisler .... 208
Lawrence Morton: British Film
Music,
by John Huntley;
Incidental
Music in the Sound
Film,
by
Gerald Cockshott
........ 211
Richard Rowland: Chestnuts in Her
Lap, 1936-1946, by
C. A.
Lejeune
.
214
Robert Rahtz: Films in Business and
Industry, by Henry Clay Gipson
. 216
Roger
Manvell,
Max Radin:
Hollywood
on
Trial,
by
Gordon Kahn
.328
K. M.: Picture Maker
of
the Old West: William H.
Jackson,
by
Clarence S.
Jackson
..................
332
K. M.:
Working for
the
Films,
ed.
by
Oswell Blakeston ... .
332
William W. Melnitz:
Acting:
AHandbook
of
the Stanislavski
Method,
comp. by Toby
Cole ... . ........ .
333
Maurice Kessman:
Getting
a
Job
in
Television,
by John
Southwell;
Television Primer on Production and
Direction,
by
Louis A.
Sposa;
Television
Techniques, by Hoyland Bettinger
.. . ...
452
Jacques Queval:
Histoire du
cinema,
by Giuseppe
Lo
Duca;
Panorama
du
cinema,
by Georges
Charensol;
Un nouvel
art, le cinema
sonore,
by Jean-A.
Keim
.....
..........
454
F. F.: Briefer Mention
.......... ..
.
106,
335, 456
CONTENTS v
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
Volume III
*
FATL,
1947 * Number 1
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIAPRESS
BERKELEYANDLOS ANGELES
Contents
RADIO
Henry Morgan-Radio
Satirist . ... FLORARHETASCHREIBER
Radio
Broadcasting
in Sweden . . HENRIK HAHR
PROBLEMS IN COMMUNICATION: The Classroom
"Vectors": A
Script-Mathematics Through
Film .
C.J.
WICKWIRE
Cartoon in the Classroom ...... CHARLES PALMER
MOTION PICTURES
Coffee in a
Teacup:
Notes on an
English
Adventure
JOHN
PAXTON
English
Influences on the Work of Edwin S. Porter GEORGES SADOUL
Translated
by
YVONNETEMPLIN
Areas of Silence .....
On Children's Cinema: America and Britain
Violence,
1947-Three Specimens
..
MUSIC
Audivisual Music.
Film Music of the
Quarter
NOTES ANDCOMMUNICATIONS
On "Miracles Come C.O.D."
Reply
to a Critic
Mr. Dickens and Mr. Pichel
Houseman
Replies
to Asheim
Suggestion
for a New Film
Anthology
Birth of a
Stereotype.
Concerning
Von Stroheim.
Cooperative
Production
Sight
and Sound's Motion Picture Index.
BOOK REVIEWS
Technicians in Sentiment .
. . .
IRVING PICHEL
? . SONDRAGORNEY
.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
.
RALPHK. POTTER
. LAWRENCEMORTON
EDGARDALE
CHARLES PALMER
STANLEYELLIN
.JOHN
HOUSEMAN
WILLIAM SERIL
LUELYNEDOSCHER
PETERNOBLE
K. M.
THEEDITORS
FRANKLIN FEARING
Mass Persuasion: The Social
Psychology of
a War Bond
Drive,
by
Robert K.
Merton,
with the assistance of
Marjorie
Fiske
and Alberta Curtis
Radio
Growing Up
.... .
HELENEMAXWELLHOOKER
The Eternal
Light, by
Morton
Wishengrad
Untitled and Other Radio
Dramas, by
Norman Corwin
1
11
15
26
34
41
51
56
63
66
79
82
85
87
89
90
90
93
93
93
95
97
iv CONTENTS
BOOK REVIEWS
(Continued)
The Radio Director as
Magician
..
....
CHETHUNTLEY 99
Radio Drama
Production,
by
Rome and Walter Krulevitch
Our Swedish
Contemporary
. ...... . HARRY
HOIJER
100
Biografbladet,
Volume
27,
No.
4,
and Volume
28,
No. 1
Film Music in the Mainstream .. LAWRENCEMORTON 101
Composers
in America
(revised
and
enlarged edition),
by
Claire R. Reis
Hints for the Radio Actor ..... STUARTNOVINS 104
How to Audition
for
Radio,
by
Ted Cott
For the Amateur ...... RICHARDCOLLINS 105
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a Movie
Story, by
Arthur
L. Gaskill and David A.
Englander
The
Story
of Radio .......
..
. LEON BECKER105
Radio's
Conquest of Space, by
Donald McNicol
Writing
for Radio
................ s.M. 106
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing, by
Erik Barnouw
Briefer Mention .......... F. . 106
Henry Morgan Radio Satirist
FLORA RHETA SCHREIBER
FLORA RHETA SCHREIBER's contributions on
theater arts have
appeared
in the New York
Times,
Mademoiselle, Collier's,
the
Quarterly Journal of
Speech,
and other
periodicals,
both
popular
and
scholarly.
She has been the
producer
of a series of
forums for radio station
WNYC,
an assistant di-
rector of a Stratford-on-Avon All's Well That Ends
Well,
and drama critic for
Players Magazine.
She has
taught
at
Brooklyn College
and at Exeter
College
in
England,
and is now an instructor at
Adelphi College.
ON A
mythical
street corner in front of
a
mythical cigarstore
each
Wednesday
at
10:30
P.M., E.S.T.,
stands
Henry
Mor-
gan, contemplating
the American scene.
His
contemplations,
broadcast nation-
ally by
the American
Broadcasting
Company,
have
newly brought
him into
the ranks of
top-flight
radio comedians.
The
cigarstore, being mythical,
is not
at
Broadway
and
42d
Street,
New
York,
nor on Main Street in Pine
Ridge,
nor
on Vine Street in
Hollywood.
Since it
is on no
particular
street,
it is on
any
street.
Being anywhere,
it is also
every-
where. It is the whole American scene
in
passing parade
which moves
by
while
the humorist watches.
In the
parade
are
strikes, Senate in-
vestigations, shortages,
international
diplomacy. Figures prominent
in this
morning's newspaper
stalk
by-Harry
S.
Truman,
John
L.
Lewis,
Senator
Taft. Sometimes the names are dis-
guised,
but the
disguise
is
transparent,
for one doesn't have to be
slickly sly
to
guess,
for
instance,
who is the
prototype
of
Dorothy
Battleaxe,
the
lady
colum-
nist of
tempestuous opinions. Along
with the
people
march the institutions
that mold their
opinions; particularly
prominent
in the
procession
are
radio,
newspapers,
and
advertising.
Morgan
is not interested in
merely
making jokes
out of what he sees. He is
not interested in
telling jokes
at all. He
is more interested in ideas than in situ-
ations or in
gags.
He is an observer and
his humor is a humor of comment. The
interpretations,
the
shadings,
are the
interpretations
and
shadings given
the
world
by
a disillusioned
young
man of
thirty-one,
a member of the
generation,
born in the midst of World War
I,
which came of intellectual
age during
the
depression
and which
fought
in
World War II. The
interpretations
are
those of someone who looks at the
world with a rebel's
eyes,
the
eyes
of
one who has found the status
quo
an
uncomfortable
sight. Morgan
also looks
at the world as an educator
might,
with
a desire to rouse his listeners out of
lethargy;
and as a
political pamphleteer
might
look,
with
eyes
bent on
reform;
and with
eyes
that have a definite
polit-
ical bias-the bias of the New Deal.
Morgan's political point
of view is no
passive thing.
At a dinner of the Radio
Correspondents'
Association which was
attended
by
President
Truman,
the
Cabinet,
J. Edgar
Hoover,
and
many
Congressmen, Morgan spoke belliger-
ently:
"Whenever it's
quiet
in
Washing-
ton,
you
can count on the Un-American
Committee to issue a
report.
Maybe
sometime
later,
when it has a
chance,
it
will start
gathering
the facts." He has
been active in
unionizing
radio em-
ployees
and in volunteer
broadcasting
for the Veterans' Administration. He is
a vice-chairman of the
recently organ-
ized New York State
chapter
of the
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
Progressive
Citizens of America. This
kind of
political
and social behavior is
unusual in a radio comedian. Eddie
Cantor and
George Jessel,
for
instance,
have a
very
different
relationship
to the
world,
reaching
out to it not
through
group
action but
through personal
philanthropy.
The
typical Morgan
listener is in
many ways
like
Morgan
himself,
for
the humorist is
particularly popular
with
young people
of the liberal
per-
suasion. He is their
mouthpiece,
ex-
pressing
their views and
giving
them a
cathartic identification. The identifica-
tion,
though
on a
higher
intellectual
level,
is not unlike that which a listener
to
soap opera
makes with her favorite
character,
nor is it unlike the identifica-
tion which a
bobby
soxer makes with
Frank Sinatra. But the letters the Mor-
gan
fans
write,
being
literate and criti-
cal,
are
strikingly
different from radio's
usual flood of hosannahs scrawled
illiterately
on discarded
birthday
cards
or valentines. The mail shows that this
is listener identification
transplanted
from its habitual
habitat,
the
libido,
to
new
territory, group ideology.
And the
fans are vocal. In
Cleveland, Ohio,
they
have been able to effect a
startling
radio
innovation. When
WJW,
the American
Broadcasting Company's
local Cleve-
land
outlet,
decided to
carry
a
spon-
sored
hockey
match in
place
of
Morgan,
the Cleveland fans were able to
get
WHK,
the local Mutual
outlet,
to
carry
their favorite. American Youth for
World
Youth,
utilizing Morgan's popu-
larity
with
young people,
chose him as
narrator of "Peter and the Wolf" for its
Christmas broadcast at
Carnegie
Hall.
The new humorist arrives on the
radio scene at a
propitious
moment,
for
the antics of the old
top-flight
co-
medians have
grown rigid
with
repeti-
tion. So sterile is the
general
atmos-
phere surrounding
radio humor that
the
industry
itself is
growing
restive and
is
beginning
to look at this risible com-
modity
with
dismay.
In the
program
analyzer,
a new mechanical
device,
the
industry
has found a
gadget
for record-
ing
audience reaction. The
analyzer
is
proving
a
Cassandra;
it indicates
clearly
that audiences are
tiring
of
gag comedy,
that
old-fashioned,
long-familiar staple
of radio humor.
In such a
setting any
newcomer is
likely
to be
judged uncritically.
The
old
guard
fears and resents his uncon-
ventionality
and
regards
him
merely
as
a neurotic little
boy.
The
fans,
on the
other
hand,
regard
him as a
prophetic
voice,
heralding
a new era of radio
comedy.
The true measure of
Morgan
is some-
where between these extremes. What
in
general
Frank
Kingdon
is to radio
commentators and Norman Corwin to
radio
dramatists,
Henry Morgan
is to
radio humorists. Like
Kingdon
and
Corwin,
he is
part
of the liberal infiltra-
tion of radio.
Aesthetically,
too,
there is a com-
parison
with Corwin.
Morgan's reputa-
tion,
like
Corwin's,
feeds to some extent
at least on the
typically
low
literary
standards of radio. In a dramatic atmos-
phere
dominated
by
such dramatur-
gical "geniuses"
as Irna
Phillips
and
Elaine Sternes
Carrington,
the "dis-
tinguished"
writers of
soap opera,
it is
not difficult for a literate radio drama-
tist to create an
atmosphere
of
compara-
tive
literary
excellence. Miss
Phillips,
it must be
remembered,
has
publicly
attributed her success to her own
very
limited
vocabulary. Compared
with
such
writers,
Corwin would shine even
2
HENRY MORGAN-RADIO SATIRIST
if he were not as
good
as he is. But he
is not in the same class with such drama-
tists for the
legitimate stage
as S. N.
Behrman,
George Kelly,
or Thornton
Wilder.
Similarly, though Morgan
is
head and shoulders and then several
inches above
Jack Benny
or Red Skel-
ton,
the
quality
of his humorous im-
agination
is not as rich as that of the
best
contemporary
humorists in films
or literature-of film satirists like
Chap-
lin and Groucho
Marx,
and of
literary
satirists like S.
J.
Perelman.
Morgan
is
not the
psychologist
that
Chaplin
is. He
does not understand the unconscious
as the Marx Brothers and Perelman
do.
Though
he sees the world in
pretty
much the same terms as Perelman
does-in terms of
high-pressure
sales-
manship,
for
instance,-he
does not see
it as
subtly
and does not
express
it in a
prose
of individual
quality.
Morgan
is not above some of the
stock tricks of radio comedians-of
cheaply deriding
other comedians and
of
self-consciously using
himself as the
butt of humor. His
program
is uneven.
His
thinking
tends to be surface-shrewd
rather than
wise,
observing
rather than
discerning, representational
rather
than
interpretative. Ridiculing people
as
part
of the
age,
he has not
always
probed
to what the
age
has made of
people.
Events and attitudes are the
source of the
laughter
he
evokes,
but
he has not as
yet
created a humor of
character,
a humor rooted in
pathos,
that
opposite
side of the comic coin.
But he does make an
important
con-
tribution. His format is fresh and fluid.
He
brings
a
maturity
of outlook into
a mass medium which has
always oper-
ated on a level far beneath that of the
Broadway play
or the
contemporary
novel. And
although
that medium
has,
on the
whole,
except
for Fred
Allen,
been as free from satire as a
Sunday
School class from
blasphemy,
he
ap-
proaches
the medium as a satirist.
He is a modern
counterpart
of the
court
jester,
for
right
in the court of
advertising
he mocks
advertising,
right
in the Rockefeller Plaza citadel of
big
business he mocks
bigness.
The
prevail-
ing passion firing
his humor is a hatred
of
bigness
and
bombast,
of bravado and
braggadocio,
of sham and
shallowness,
of
highly
huckstered
hollowness,
of the
colossus
complex
that haunts our
age.
But,
unlike the charter of the ideal
court fool
pictured by Jacques
in
Shakespeare's
As You Like
It,
Mor-
gan's
charter is not "as
large
as the wind
to blow on whom it
pleases." Though
it is true that
Morgan
has the
only
con-
tract in radio
permitting
a
performer
to satirize a
sponsor,
the
satire,
almost
by gentlemen's agreement,
must not be
too
devastating.
While the court fool
could
freely
mention names and make
those "most
galled by
his
folly" laugh
most,
Morgan
is never direct. He holds
professions up
to
ridicule,
but not indi-
viduals;
he makes
general,
not
specific
charges.
And,
of
course,
he does not
have the direct
rapport
with the butt
of his attacks which the
jester
had. Be-
tween him and his
audience,
as between
all radio artists and their
audiences,
are
artificial barriers and
imposed
stand-
ards. What is
priggishly
defined as
"good
taste"
by
the
broadcasting
indus-
try
has a
way
of
becoming
a strait-
jacket
for
keeping
the level of
expres-
sion within bounds. "Within bounds"
has too often meant on a level of im-
maturity.
Instead of
being
the direct
and
spontaneous expression
of the hu-
morist,
radio
comedy
is a
commodity
which,
like the other commodities of
3
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
an industrial
age,
is
prepared
with cal-
culation and delivered with the ulte-
rior motive of
selling
a
product.
And
since it is delivered
weekly,
the
pres-
sure is
great
and the
output
inevit-
ably
suffers. Artemus Ward and Mark
Twain,
humorists of another
day, flatly
turned down offers to write a
weekly
humorous
column,
on the sound
theory
that
they simply
could not be at their
best on order and once a week.
Morgan-and
indeed all
present-day
humorists-may
well look back with
grudging eyes
to the
liberty
of the
court
jester;
also to a satirist of ancient
times,
Aristophanes,
whose satire could
be as uninhibited as
any
Freudian
might
desire. For the old Attic
comedy
was an internal affair of the
sovereign
people
as a
whole,
and between the
people
and the satirist were no market-
minded middlemen.
Suiting
his manner to the medium in
which he must
express
himself,
Morgan
has
developed
a
technique
that is tem-
perate
and mellow. While he carries re-
sponsibility
like a
torch,
he
gives
the
effect of
irrepressible irresponsibility.
He
points
his
finger
at a
foible,
asking
the listener to look it in the face while
he lifts it to a
platform
of observation.
He
speaks directly
to the listener. His
voice is
calm,
its
repeated
"Oh,
well"
or "I was
only asking"
is a shoulder
shrug
of wistfulness. Gross evils he
sees,
but he is no radio Swift to
pillory
them
with
savage indignation.
His satiric
darts are bathed in
good
humor,
so that
he will not follow the satirists of the
great
tradition into ostracism or
jail.
Yet this much can be said for the mel-
low manner: it is an
evasion,
of
course,
but it is an evasion
which,
like Charlie
Chaplin's big
feet,
has become an in-
tegral part
of an effective comic
style.
As is the
way
with
satirists,
Morgan
creates a
stylized
world out of the
pass-
ing
scene. His hatred of bombast he
expresses by
use of comic
exaggeration,
a
technique
reminiscent of the tall
tale,
and
by
its
opposite,
a
technique
of
say-
ing nothing solemnly
and with an
ironic overtone.
A
good example
of the tall-tale at-
mosphere
is his treatment of the man in
Gary,
Indiana,
who heard "the
Henry
Morgan
Show,"
yet
did not
buy
an
Eversharp
Schick
Injector
Razor,
the
sponsor's product.
"That's all
right.
This is a
democracy," says Morgan.
"But I wonder if that man realizes what
he almost did." Then comes a
montage,
producing
a comic effect. "Because he
didn't
buy
an
Eversharp
razor,
his cor-
ner
drugstore
could have
stopped carry-
ing
them. In a few
days
this would
spread
to other
drugstores-first
in
Gary,
then in
Chicago,
then in the en-
tire state of Illinois. In a week it would
spread
from state to state until it blan-
keted the nation. The
mighty
Ever-
sharp Company
would
collapse.
Other
big companies
would
follow,
one
by
one,
until the entire
country
was
thrown into a
gigantic depression.
Mil-
lions out of work-breadlines-starva-
tion-the U.S. becomes a backward
nation! But-it's not too late! If that
man in
Gary,
Indiana,
will
go
into his
drugstore
tomorrow and
buy
an Ever-
sharp
Schick
Injector
Razor,
he
may
save his
country!
Thank
you."
The
technique
of excessive solemn-
nity
for little cause was
expressed
when
solemnly Morgan
intoned:
"Exactly
one hundred and
fifty years ago,
on De-
cember
4,
1796,
a
huge
man of
military
bearing
dismounted from his
weary
steed before a small tavern on the Bos-
ton Post Road. One
thing
we can be
4
HENRY MORGAN-
sure of-had he known that
150 years
later Bernie Green and his orchestra
would
play
'The Bee!' "... The voice
changes,
the effect that follows is of
utter
irrelevancy:
"it wouldn't have
made
any
difference to him." Here it
is the
loud-voiced, solemn, oracular,
hammer-hitting style
of "The March of
Time" which is held
up
to ridicule.
The
expectation
of comic
plenty
is held
out,
but it comes to
absolutely nothing.
In this world it is not the abnormal
which is
funny,
but the
normal;
not the
deviation from the
norm,
but the norm
itself;
not the
departure
from
custom,
but the custom itself. It is a world that
has a
good
deal in common with the
world of W. S. Gilbert.
Morgan,
in
fact,
tries to model himself on
Gilbert,
hop-
ing
that within ten
years
he will be as
good. Politically, socially,
and economi-
cally
the two are
poles apart.
Gilbert
was a
tory
of the most die-hard kind
and had no
sympathy
whatever with
the
political
and social demands of the
wage-earning
classes.
Yet,
despite
this
difference in
orientation,
there is a real
affinity
between
Morgan
and
Gilbert,
an
affinity
which indicates that al-
though
satire wears the earmarks of
partisanship
it also has broader
impli-
cations.
Essentially,
the
point
of con-
tact between
Morgan
and Gilbert is a
hatred of what is counterfeit in
society
and in
daily living,
and the
expression
of that hatred in a
stylized
world in
which
reality
is made more real
by
in-
version.
This
topsy-turvy technique
is some-
times mere
perversity,
the childish
up-
setting
of
seemingly
stable blocks. More
profoundly,
it becomes not
nonsense,
but sense
daring
to show itself. It is a
technique
which
Aristophanes
used fre-
quently,
which
John Gay
used in "The
-RADIO SATIRIST
5
Beggar's Opera,"
which Fred Allen
uses
today.
Not
long ago,
when Allen featured
Tallulah Bankhead as the saccharine
wife,
he turned radio's
homey, syrupy
breakfast clubs on their heads. Now
Morgan
does as much for radio's
soap
operas,
those
daytime
serials
designed
to sell
soap by inducing perpetual
emo-
tion in the distaff heart. In this bur-
lesque Morgan plays
somersaults not
only
with the
tear-jerking
serials,
but
with the American dream as well. In
the take-off there are reversals for the
ideals held
by
the
typical
American
family
of radio and
advertising glorifi-
cation. The child is voted the most
likely
to
succeed,
but succeeds as a
ju-
venile
delinquent. Brought up strictly
according
to the best traditions of
topsy-turvydom,
he
obediently
saves his
pickpocket pennies.
The
mother,
tradi-
tional devotee of the mores of
topsy-
turvydom, dutifully
does her Christmas
shoplifting.
And all
this,
appropriately
enough,
is
sponsored by
the
Burglars'
Protective
Association,
whose
proud
boast is that it will
protect yours
while
you
are out
stealing
others'. The suc-
cess-story complex
is further inverted
in
parodies
of so-called
inspirational
magazine
articles
which,
in the world
of
Morgan, preach
"Be
glad you're
stu-
pid"
and "Be
glad you're poor."
Morgan
has
developed
a
technique
of
deflation,
a
weapon
of the satirist
used as
early
as Biblical times. Preten-
tious
greatness
has
always
been the
target
of the satirist.
Long
before Aris-
tophanes,
a Palestinian author had fa-
bled in
Judges
that
only
the bramble
would consent to be the
king
of the
trees. The olive tree and the
fig
tree and
the vine had declined and even the
bramble's consent had the
proviso
that
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
the
subject
trees
put
their trust in its
shadow. But the bramble's shadow is
much like the
emperor's
new suit of
clothes in the Hans Christian Andersen
satirical tale. And even earlier than
Judges,
another Biblical satirist had
pricked
the bubble of
greatness by
ini-
tially granting
the
gift
of
prophetic
vision,
not to
Balaam,
prophet
and son
of
Beor,
but to Balaam's ass.
So, too,
Aristophanes,
in a well-known
passage
in The
Frogs, presents
the
god,
Diony-
sus,
footsore and
weary
with the
long
descent into
Hades,
as overtaken
by
a
funeral and outwitted
by
a
corpse.
Morgan
loves to
upset
our
contempo-
rary gods
and
prophets,
our men of
prestige
and
power, impishly tripping
them as
they pass.
He has his fun with
Senators who evade issues and conceal
their
thoughts
behind their
pompous
circumlocutions,
dubbed
goddledygook
by Maury
Maverick.
"Gobbledygook"
is an
appropriate linguistic counterpart
of
political
evasion. The
very
use of
"gobbledygook"
is
implied burlesque.
He also likes to take the
puff-puff
out
of a
celebrity,
to turn him into a mere
bramble. Once he featured Dana An-
drews,
the film
star,
but allowed him to
say only
one word: "Hell-o." Often he
will
open
a broadcast with a list of
per-
sonalities who are to
appear,
then shat-
ter their
prestige
with a
seemingly
in-
nocuous "if we have time." He will
say,
with all the unction of a conventional
M.C.:
"Betty
Garde will
sing,"
and
then
collapse
the effect with "when we
come to it." And he has
special
defla-
tionary
vitriol for doctors who are
quacks giving sage
answers to
easy ques-
tions,
and for
journalists
who are char-
latans with a conscience
which,
despite
a
struggle,
works
inevitably
in their
own self-interest.
Here is a
parody
of a
newspaper
edi-
torial,
showing
the humorist's view of
a weak-kneed editorial writer at work:
"This
paper
wonders
why
some crack-
pots
think this
country
is on the brink
of inflation.
They say
that
prices
are
going up. Things
cost twice as much.
Savings
are
being
eaten
away.
These
things, they
claim,
add
up
to inflation.
INFLATION,
can
you imagine! Just
think
that over!
(Pause)All right,
so what if we
do have inflation? Some
people
claim
it will lead to another
depression. They
say
that inflation means fewer sales be-
cause
wages
won't
buy
as
much,
and
that
goods
will
pile up
until the
people
who make them are laid off... thus
causing
a
depression.
Think that over!
(Pause)
All
right,
so what if we do have
a
depression?
THEY
say
that a
depres-
sion causes
unemployment.
Isn't that
silly? Why
should
people
decide not to
work
simply
because there's no
jobs?
Why,
of all the...
(pause)
so there's a
little
unemployment....
so some
peo-
ple
starve. So millions are homeless.
What are we
supposed
to do-throw
up
our hands in
despair?
Huh?
(Pause.
Shot.
Thud.)"
The use of the
pronoun
"they"
and the
quiet,
almost naive tone
create a mood of
exasperating
detach-
ment. The editor
emerges
as a man in-
sulated in his own
ego.
The deflation of editors continues:
"I've wondered how
papers
decide their
editorial
policy,
so I did a little re.
search. I found out that an editor is a
man of
principles.
For
instance,
he
wants to come out
against
the black
market. The first
principle
he thinks of
is-the
people
above all. Then he thinks
of another
principle-love thy
brother.
And since his brother made his
money
in the black
market,
he doesn't do that
editorial."
6
HENRY MORGAN-RADIO SATIRIST
This
simple
statement
shrewdly
en-
lists the emotions of the listener. Start-
ing casually,
it at first voices the
curiosity
of the
intelligent layman.
Then comes a bit of
straight
informa-
tion delivered in a matter-of-fact voice.
Then the
possibility
of conflict is set
up.
The
surprise springs
from the conflict
of
principles
and is based on a familiar
technique
of humor-that of
making
the
figurative
literal;
in this
instance,
taking
the
spiritual
brother of the
Bible and
making
him the literal
brother of
biology.
The animus is di-
rected
against
editors
sacrificing
the
public good
to
private
considerations,
against
editors
giving support
to anti-
social forces
by
their
very
refusal to act.
The
surprise,
or
punch,
is
satisfying
to
the
listener, for,
making
ironic com-
ment on the current
scene,
as the Greek
chorus commented on the action of the
acted
drama,
the voice on the radio is
virtually
his own voice. In
debunking
the
editor,
it inflates the
listener,
giving
him the same kind of satisfaction he
gets
when an
expert
on "Information
Please" misses a
question
he can an-
swer.
Later in the same
script
the editor is
represented
as
thinking
of
writing
an
editorial,
DOWN WITH HIGH
PRICES,
but
not
doing
so.
"First,"
says Morgan,
"he
looks
through
his
paper
and sees
forty
pages
of store
advertising,
so he
changes
the editorial
slightly
and calls it-
DOWN WITH RUSSIA."
Here the take-off is to satirize how
advertisers
presumably
control edito-
rial
policy
and how editors use Russia
as a
scapegoat,
an outlet for the
jour-
nalistic
vigor they
must otherwise
sup-
press
in the name of
expediency.
This
particular
take-off is
definitely
partisan
humor
geared
for
Russophiles
because it is
funny only
to those who
believe
that,
on the
whole,
the
press
has
been unfair in its treatment of Russia.
There is a
secondary point
for those
who believe that editorial
policy
is dic-
tated
by
the
advertising department.
There is no
point
for those who cherish
the belief that editors are free men.
If
Morgan
sees absurdities to be cari-
catured in men of
power
and
prestige,
he sees
absurdities, too,
in the
average
man and woman. On his
canvas,
women
characters
appear
strident,
overbear-
ing,
and
crass,
unable to tell the differ-
ence between love and a new Buick.
Hortense,
the little
Brooklyn girl
who
appears regularly
in the
scripts,
is a ster-
eotype
of
simplicity,
a sort of witless
echo of banalities overheard in
busy
places.
Then there are also
portraits
of
bored and
boring
suburbanites,
fawn-
ing, vapid
citizens of
Suburbia,
who
play mahjong, speak platitudes,
and
titter. These
women,
one and
all,
lower-
class and
upper-class
alike,
are barren
creatures,
rattling through
life with the
soulless,
metallic tick of T. S. Eliot's
hollow men.
The
average
man
emerges
no more
favorably
from
Morgan's
caricature.
By
extension he
appears
as a creature of
automatism,
as the victim of
slogans.
This view the humorist
expresses
most
fully by creating
caricatures,
like Har-
vey
Mush,
who succumb in full to the
exhortations of radio commercials.
There is no
peace
for
poor, spineless
Harvey.
The unseen
voice,
powerful
in
its
entreaty,
coaxes him into
develop-
ing symptoms
for
headache,
neuralgia,
shooting pains,
and bursitis. All morn-
ing
there echoes in the House of Mush
the
single, oft-repeated
command: "Go
now to
your neighborhood
dealer."
"Gee,"
says Harvey wistfully,
"I'm
get-
7
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
ting
to be a
pest
down at
my neighbor-
hood dealer's." All
through
the
day
the
exhortations
drone,
reaching
a climax
at six
P.M.,
when the
friendly
voice,
in-
vading
the
intimacy
of the
family,
takes
a stand on a
family
matter,
saying,
"So
ask mother if
you
can have a
heaping
bowl of
Crispie
Crunches for
supper
tonight!" Harvey's
mother lives in Chi-
cago,
and to reach her he must call
long-
distance,
but reach her he must. He
makes the call and then
wails,
"Boy,
what an
expensive day!"
And the voice
of common sense
asks, "But,
Mr.
Mush,
if
you
can't afford to listen to the
radio,
why
don't
you stop listening?"
Then
Harvey
confesses his bondage to radio
advertising.
"You
see,"
he
says,
"at the
end of each
program
some
guy always
says,
"DON'T FORGET! TUNE IN AGAIN TO-
MORROW AT THE SAME TIME."
Disillusionment with the
average
man-and this disillusionment is an
artistic
attitude,
not a social
philoso-
phy-is again apparent
in a
travesty
on
public opinion
called
"Big
Mouth of
the
People,"
a series of letters to the
editor.
Typical
letters follow:
Dear Editor: ... Last
night
I dreamed
that Russia invaded this
country
and
cap-
tured it in three weeks. Who is
responsible
for this
sorry betrayal?
Who has been sell-
ing
our secrets to Russia?
And,
incidentally,
why
is
nothing being
done in this
country
for the men who
punch
holes in the
tops
of
salt shakers?
Signed,
INDIFFERENT.
Dear Editor: ... I
certainly enjoyed your
editorial about
traveling. Boy, you
shoulda
seen
my
wife Irma's face when I told her I
was
leaving
her.
Signed,
EN ROUTE.
Dear Editor: ...
Anyone
which
says
its
gonna
rain in their
paper
and I
get
all
dressed
up
in
my
celluloid cuffs and it
comes down in buckets should have their
head examined.
Signed,
DRENCHED.
Dear Editor: I am a
young girl, going
on
forty-two,
and have been
going steady
with
a
young
man for five
years.
He seems seri-
ously
inclined, and
yet
I cannot seem to
make him ask me the
question
that
every
girl
wants to be asked. Can
you help
me?
How can I
bring
the conversation around
to where he will ask me what
my
name is?
Signed,
ANONYMOUS.
Dear Editor: ... I have
bought your
stu-
pid rag
for the last time. Where do
you get
off to
print
all them
stupid
letters from
stupid people? Why
don't
they keep
their
stupid opinions
to themselves? It's a free
country,
ain't it?
Signed,
STUPID.
The
slogans
themselves are also held
up
to ridicule
through topsy-turvy
ad-
vertising
and in a series of mock com-
mercials.
Typical
of a
topsy-turvy
commercial he used on his earlier fif-
teen-minute local New York
program
on WOR is "Old Man Adler claims
that Adler Elevators make
you
two
inches taller the instant
you put
them
on. That claim is
correct-you
can be
two inches
taller,
if
you're
able to stand
up
in them."
Out-huckstering
the huck-
sters,
Morgan perversely
offers not mere
presents
to the
pious clippers
of box
tops,
but
Superpresents.
Presents be-
come even more desirable when he
exhorts the
young
to trade in their
mothers' left arm for a
special
de luxe
"Frammis Portistan." "Not her
right
arm,"
Morgan
reiterates,
"she needs
that to
pour your morning's
Benze-
drinies."
(Benzedrinies,
of
course,
are
the
sponsor's product.) By setting up
the
right
arm as more
important
than
the
left,
since it is the
right
arm that
pours
the
product
for
sale,
Morgan
makes ironic comment on a
greater
con-
cern with function than with human
beings,
with
things
rather than
people-
the
haunting malady
of our time.
Morgan
has a trick of
interweaving
the
historical with the
contemporary,
or the
mythical
with the
realistic,
creat-
ing
the effect of
parable
or
allegory.
8
HENRY MORGAN-RADIO SATIRIST
Again
one thinks of the fable of the
emperor's
new suit of clothes. This use
of fable lends a
quasi-poetic
overtone
that is rare in
contemporary
humor.
And he
knows, too,
how to use a
popu-
lar sentiment or
myth
as the
spring-
board for
laughter.
Sometimes the sentiment is no more
than
gentle nostalgia.
It is a
gentle
nos-
talgia
that is
expressed
when
Morgan
facetiously
traces the
origin
of a crew
haircut. It seems it all started with the
Pilgrims defending
themselves
against
the redskins. In self-defense
they scalp
half the crew and thus create the first
crew haircuts. "The results of this
ghastly
event,"
Morgan
declares with
tongue-in-cheek solemnity,
"can be seen
at Harvard to this
day.
It has
gone
down in
history
books as the Boston
Toupee Party."
Or the sentiment
may
be of a
polit-
ical nature. An emotional context
surrounds a child's naive
asking why
Santa Claus wears a red suit. Mor-
gan's reply skillfully crystallizes
the
audience's
emotion-again
a
partisan
emotion,
but one which includes all
liberals who have ever been smeared as
red. "I see what
you
mean,"
he
says.
"No,
he is not subversive. He was in-
vestigated by
the Rankin Committee
and let off with a
warning."
Again,
the sentiment is
political
when,
in the framework of
naivete,
Morgan
tells a
seemingly
unobtrusive
Russian
fairy
tale,
in which there are
key phrases,
of a
provocative
connota-
tion,
acting
as emotional
traps
to catch
the
partisan feelings
of the listener. I
quote
from the Russian
fairy
tale:
Good
evening,
comrade kiddies. Once
upon
a
time,
when there was in Russia a
Tsar,
that
bum,
there was also
living
in the
outskirts of San
Petersboorg
a
pasant.
The
name of this kid was Red
Riding
Hood.
Love that
name,
love that kid. One
day,
Mamitchka said to little
girl-go
see the
baboushka-the
granmamma.
Take here
this basket full of
goodies.
Was in basket
thermos bottle
borscht,
black
bread,
and
nothing.
For
peasants
under the
Tsar,
this
was considered
banquet.
Still is. So this
kid-Red
Riding
Hood-is
walking through
the
Nazdejedjhe
Forest,
she is
meeting
wolf.
Representing capital.
Or the old aristoc-
racy.
Where,
he
says
to her-where
you
are
going?
Little
Red,
representing
the
great
middle class of the
future,
says-to
the
grandma's
house.
Okay,
he
says,
and,
think-
ing
to make a
profit
at the
expense of
the
workers,
he
gets
there first. Red
Riding
Hood comes to the
door, knocks,
and is told
to come in. There in bed is this wolf. What
large-type
ears
you got, says
the kid. All the
better to hear rumors of
revolt,
says
this
counterrevolutionary.
Well,
says
this
kid,
what
big-type
teeth
you got
there. All the
better,
says
this
antibourgeoisie,
to eat
you
with,
without even no ration
points.
At this
moment,
the door
opens
and in comes a
big
revolutionary
character,
kills that wolf to
pieces.
Red
Riding
Hood is
saved,
the revo-
lution is a
success,
they
are
given
a
piece
of
collective
farm,
and live
happily
until the
war
against
fascism. Isn't that
lovely?
Next
week we tell
story
of Goldilocks and the
three
Trotskyites. Goodnight.
The sentiment sometimes
grows
out
of a current mass obsession.
Shrewdly
juxtaposing
one of these current
epi-
demics with a historical
setting,
Mor-
gan
shoots for a sure-fire success. A dia-
logue
of this
type
follows:
Mb:GAN: Think of
it,
Standish. You are
the first white man to set foot on
Plymouth
Rock.
STANDISH:
Oh,
no! ... I am the second.
MORGAN: Who was the first?
STANDISH: Look at that
inscription.
MORGAN:
By Jove! Kilroy!
In each
case,
the emotional effect
grows
out of
key
words:
Kilroy,
Ran-
kin, comrade,
representing capital,
little
red,
counterrevolutionary,
anti-
9
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
bourgeoisie, big revolutionary
charac-
ter, Harvard,
Boston
Toupee party.
This is the same kind of roll
calling,
of
cataloguing
of emotional
phrases,
which wins
quick
fame and endless
emulation for the
pamphleteer.
These
are the words
by
which the humorist
releases
tensions, dreams,
and
antipa-
thies in his
audience;
by
which he rides
into
prominence
on the crest of
popu-
lar
feeling; by
which he
acquires public
license to stand on a
mythical
street
corner in front of a
mythical
cigarstore,
deriding
the
passing
scene.
10
R a d i o Bro a d ca sti ng i n S w e d e n
HENR IK HAHR
HENR IK HAHR i s
Fo re i gn
Di re cto r o f the S w e d i sh
Bro a d ca sti ng
S e rvi ce .
Jo i ni ng
the S w e d i sh ra d i o i n
1934 a nd
be co mi ng
a
"ro vi ng re po rte r,"
he to ure d
S w e d e n w i th
mi cro pho ne s
a nd
re co rd i ng va ns,
a nd
ma d e se ve ra l bro a d ca sts fro m a bro a d . In
1938,
a s
w a r
a ppro a che d ,
he le ft ra d i o to be co me a
fo re i gn
co rre spo nd e nt
fo r a S w e d i sh
ne w spa pe r.
He co ve re d
the
S e pte mbe r
cri si s i n
1938;
the o utbre a k o f w a r i n
1939,
fro m
Lo nd o n;
the Na zi
o ccupa ti o n
o f
Be lgi um
a nd
Ho lla nd ,
fro m Brusse ls a nd The
Ha gue ;
a nd
Musso li ni 's
a cti vi ti e s,
fro m R o me . In 1943 he re -
turne d to S w e d e n a nd ra d i o .
Mo sT
Ame ri ca ns
re ga rd Euro pe a n
ra d i o
a s
co mple te ly go ve rnme nt-co ntro lle d ,
ce nso re d ,
a nd d i re cte d
by
the
pa rty
i n
po w e r
i n a
co untry;
a s a
co ntra st,
Ame r-
i ca ns
a ppro ve
ra d i o a s i t i s run i n the
Uni te d
S ta te s,
fre e fro m
go ve rnme nt
co ntro l a nd fi na nce d
by a d ve rti si ng.
It
must be ma d e cle a r tha t thi s i s a n i n-
co mple te
a nd ,
a t
ti me s,
e rro ne o us
o pi n-
i o n,
no t
o nly
a bo ut the
Euro pe a n
ra d i o ,
but a bo ut the Ame ri ca n a s w e ll.
S o fa r a s
Euro pe a n
ra d i o i s co n-
ce rne d ,
the re a re
a ctua lly
thre e d i ffe re nt
fo rms o f
o pe ra ti o n
a nd
o rga ni za ti o n:
1.A ra d i o
syste m co mple te ly
co n-
tro lle d a nd run
by
the
go ve rnme nt.
2. A ra d i o
syste m
w hi ch i s und e r the
co ntro l o f the
go ve rnme nt.
3.
A ra d i o
syste m
i n w hi ch the te ch-
ni ca l
o pe ra ti o n
i s run
by
a
go ve rnme nt
o rga ni za ti o n
but i n w hi ch the
pro gra ms
a re
pla nne d
a nd run
by
a
pri va te
o r
se mi pri va te co mpa ny
w hi ch ha s o b-
ta i ne d the co nce ssi o n fo r
o pe ra ti o n.
The S w e d i sh ra d i o fi ts mo st
ne a rly
i nto the la st
ca te go ry.
In the
o rga ni za -
ti o n o f i ts ra d i o
syste m
S w e d e n
ha s,
a s
i n o the r
fi e ld s,
tri e d to fo llo w the "mi d -
d le
w a y." Eve ry a tte mpt
w hi ch the sta te
mi ght
ma ke to e nfo rce co ntro l o f the
ra d i o co uld
a lw a ys
be w a rd e d o ff
by
the
pri va te
i nte re sts i n the ra d i o
syste m
i n
S w e d e n,
a nd vi ce ve rsa .
Whe n ra d i o fi rst ca me to S w e d e n i n
1925,
the
De pa rtme nt
o f Co mmuni -
ca ti o ns ma d e the S w e d i sh
Te le gra ph
Bo a rd
re spo nsi ble
fo r the te chni ca l e nd
o f the
syste m. (It
sho uld be me nti o ne d
tha t
qui te
a numbe r o f
pi o ne e r
clubs
ha d be e n fo rme d
thro ugho ut
the
co untry
a nd ha d
purcha se d
sma ll tra ns-
mi tte rs. The re a re
sti ll,
to d a y,
fo urte e n
o f the se tra nsmi tte rs i n
use .)
The
que sti o n
o f w ho sho uld ha nd le the
pro gra m
e nd o f the ra d i o
syste m
ca use d
qui te
a
struggle a mo ng
d i ffe re nt
pri va te
co nce rns.
Ho w e ve r,
the d i ffe re nt i nte r-
e sts succe e d e d i n
uni ti ng.
The re sult
w a s the fo rma ti o n o f a
pri va te co mpa ny
kno w n a s A. B.
R a d i o ji nst (R a d i o
S e rvi ce
Co mpa ny), e njo yi ng co mple te
i nd e pe nd e nce .
At the
pre se nt
ti me ,
the
Bo a rd o f Go ve rno rs o f the S w e d i sh
ra d i o co nsi sts o f se ve n me mbe rs: fo ur
se le cte d
by
the
go ve rnme nt,
tw o cho se n
by
the S w e d i sh
pre ss,
a nd o ne
re pre -
se nti ng
the ma nufa cture rs o f ra d i o
ma te ri a ls.
The re i s a Go ve rnme nt
Co mmi tte e ,
co mpo se d
o f ni ne te e n
pe rso ns,
w hi ch
a cts a s a cri ti c o f the
pro gra m syste m;
but thi s
gro up
ha s
o nly
the
ri ght
to
cri ti ci ze the
pro gra ms re tro a cti ve ly
a nd
ca nno t i nte rfe re i n the
runni ng
o f the
busi ne ss. The co mmi tte e
a cts, to o ,
a s
a fo rum fo r
o ffi ci a ls,
o rga ni za ti o ns,
the
pre ss,
a nd the
publi c
i n the e ve nt tha t
so me
gro up
o r i nd i vi d ua l w i she s to
pre se nt
a
co mpla i nt
o f
ha vi ng
be e n
mi stre a te d
by R a d i o ja nst.
The sta te 's
po w e r
to e nfo rce unw a nte d co ntro l a nd
HOLLYWOOD
QUAR TER LY
ce nso rshi p
i s a lso
ve ry
li mi te d . Publi c
o pi ni o n
a nd the
pre ss
a re
a lw a ys
o n
gua rd
to se e tha t such d o mi na ti o n a nd
i nte rfe re nce d o no t o ccur.
The y
w a nt
the
syste m
to be d i re cte d w i th e ffe cti ve -
ne ss a nd a t the sa me ti me w i th i m-
pa rti a li ty.
In a
re po rt
to Pa rli a me nt
co nce rni ng
a ra d i o
que sti o n,
the Mi n-
i ste r o f Co mmuni ca ti o ns
re ce ntly
sa i d
tha t the
pro gra ms
sho uld be
ma na ge d
co mple te ly by
tho se
re spo nsi ble
fo r
the m.
In
spi te
o f the fa ct tha t
S w e d e n,
be -
ca use o f he r
ge o gra phi c le ngth
a nd
to po gra phy,
i s no t a
co untry
fa vo ra ble
to
go o d
ra d i o
re ce pti o n,
i n
1939
the
co untry
ha d the
hi ghe st
numbe r o f
li ce nse d ra d i o s
pe r
tho usa nd i nha bi -
ta nts o f
a ny
na ti o n i n
Euro pe .
S w e d e n
ha s a bo ut tw o mi lli o n li ce nse d ra d i o s
fo r a
po pula ti o n
o f si x a nd a ha lf mi l-
li o n,
o r a to ta l o f tw o hund re d a nd
e i ghty-se ve n
li ce nse s
pe r
tho usa nd i n-
ha bi ta nts.
Eve ry
o w ne r o f a ra d i o se t
pa ys
a li ce nse fe e o f i o cro w ns
pe r ye a r.
S w e d e n ha s
thi rty-thre e
ra d i o
sta ti o ns,
spre a d
o ut o ve r the e nti re
co untry.
The
la rge st
o ne i s a t Mo ta la
(150 kw .),
a nd o the rs a re Fa lun
(lo o
kw .), Ho rby (60 kw .), S pa nga (55 kw .),
S to ckho lm
(50 kw .),
Lule a
(lo kw ),
Oste rsund
(1o kw .),
S und sva ll
(lo kw .),
Go the nburg (lo kw .).
The
stre ngth
o f
the
Go the nburg,
S und sva ll,
a nd S to ck-
ho lm sta ti o ns w i ll so o n be i ncre a se d .
All the sta ti o ns bro a d ca st the
pro gra m
pro vi d e d by
the S w e d i sh R a d i o
S yste m
-S w e d e n ha s
o nly
o ne
pro gra m
fo r he r
li ste ne rs w i thi n the
co untry's
bo und a -
ri e s. Be si d e s
thi s,
the re a re
spe ci a l
sho rt-w a ve
pro gra ms
d i re cte d to the
co untri e s a bro a d .
The
bi g que sti o n
fo r the future o f
S w e d i sh
ra d i o ,
a t
pre se nt,
i s ho w to
so lve the
pro ble m
o f
ge tti ng
thre e
pro gra ms
o n the a i r a t o ne ti me . Thi s
pro ble m
i s
be i ng
d i scusse d fro m a
pure ly
so ci a l
po i nt
o f vi e w be ca use the
o bje ct
i s to re a ch a ll the li ste ne rs i n
S w e d e n,
a nd no t
just
tho se i n
d e nse ly
po pula te d
a re a s. Be ca use the te chni ca l
so luti o ns be co me
e xtre me ly co mpli -
ca te d ,
the re a re no t a va i la ble
e no ugh
w a ve
le ngths
i n the
lo ng-w a ve
a nd
mi d d le -w a ve ba nd s to bui ld
up
the
sta ti o n
ne tw o rks,
a nd i t i s no t
po ssi ble
to re a ch
e ve ryo ne thro ugh e re cti ng
fre que ncy-mo d ula ti ng
tra nsmi tte rs.
The mo st
li ke ly
so luti o n i s the e sta b-
li shme nt o f a
hi gh-fre que ncy
w i re d
ra d i o ne tw o rk o ve r the e nti re
co untry.
The S w e d i sh
te le pho ne
ne tw o rk,
w hi ch
i s
a lre a d y w i d e ly
d i stri bute d ,
co uld be
use d to the be st
a d va nta ge . Thro ugh
the w i re d ra d i o ne tw o rk o ne w o uld be
a ble to tra nsmi t
si multa ne o usly
thre e
d i ffe re nt
pro gra ms
o ve r the
te le pho ne
w i re s.
Furthe rmo re ,
the
pro gra ms
w o uld be
co mple te ly
fre e fro m
sta ti c,
re ga rd le ss
o f w hi ch se cti o n o f the
co untry
w a s tune d i n o n the m. Thi s
w o uld no t i nte rfe re w i th the
te le pho ne
syste m
a s such. At the sa me
ti me ,
the
bro a d ca sts o ve r the
lo ng-w a ve
a nd me -
d i um-w a ve sta ti o ns
a lre a d y e xi sti ng,
a s
w e ll a s tho se
pla nne d
fo r the
future ,
w o uld
go
o n i n the i r usua l ma nne r.
The S w e d i sh
Pa rli a me nt,
w hi ch ha s
ta ke n
pa rt
i n the se
pla ns,
se e ms to
co nsi d e r tha t the e sta bli shme nt o f the
w i re d ra d i o ne tw o rk i s
pro ba bly,
fro m
a S w e d i sh
sta nd po i nt,
the be st te chni ca l
so luti o n.
Ho w e ve r, Pa rli a me nt thi nks
i t a d vi sa ble to
i nve sti ga te
o the r
po ssi -
bi li ti e s be fo re
ma ki ng
a fi na l d e ci si o n.
Pa rli a me nt ha s a lso re co mme nd e d tha t
the S w e d i sh ra d i o 's te chni ca l
d e ve lo p-
me nt sha ll be ca rri e d o ut i n a cco rd a nce
w i th the mo st mo d e rn
pri nci ple s,
so a s
be st to se rve the e nti re
co untry.
12
R ADIO BR OADCAS TING IN S WEDEN
Be ca use o f the la ck o f la bo r a nd
ma te ri a l i t w i ll
pro ba bly
be o ut o f the
que sti o n
to re a li ze the o utli ne d thre e -
pro gra m syste m d uri ng
the ne xt fe w
ye a rs.
Inste a d ,
e ffo rts w i ll be co nce n-
tra te d o n
d e ve lo pi ng
a s
qui ckly
a s
po ssi ble
mo re lo ca l w i re d ra d i o ne t-
w o rks i n tho se se cti o ns o f the
co untry
w he re li ste ne rs a t the
pre se nt
ti me sti ll
ha ve
d i ffi culty
i n
o bta i ni ng
sta ti c-fre e
re ce pti o n.
Thi s
a ppli e s pa rti cula rly
to
re mo te a re a s a nd
pla ce s a lo ng
the
e le ctri fi e d
ra i lw a ys.
In S w e d i sh ra d i o the re a re no
pro gra ms spo nso re d by
a d ve rti se rs.
The
pro gra m
d i re cto rs ha ve tri e d to
stri ke a
ha ppy
me d i um
be tw e e n
li ght
a nd
he a vy pro gra ms. Ge ne ra lly spe a k-
i ng,
ha lf the ti me i s d e vo te d to musi c.
The S w e d i sh ra d i o d o e s no t w a nt to be
co nsi d e re d a s
o nly
a cultura l i nsti tu-
ti o n. Ne i the r d o e s i t w a nt to be co me
me re ly
a n e nte rta i nme nt sho w .
Inste a d ,
i t a i ms a t
be i ng
a fo rum fo r a ll the
va ry-
i ng
i nte re sts w hi ch
to d a y
a re
pre se nt
i n a mo d e rn d e mo cra ti c
so ci e ty.
Co n-
se que ntly
the S w e d i sh ra d i o d e vo te s a
gre a t
d e a l o f
e ne rgy
to
bui ld i ng up
i n-
te re sti ng
a nd
e nte rta i ni ng
e d uca ti o na l
pro gra ms,
a s w e ll a s to
bri ngi ng
w ho le -
so me
li ght
e nte rta i nme nt to the
publi c.
As fa r a s the
spo ke n
w o rd i s co n-
ce rne d ,
the ra d i o ha s
e xpe ri me nte d
i n
tw o fi e ld s. One i s co nce rne d w i th re -
po rts
fro m the S w e d i sh
co untry
se cti o ns
a nd the li fe o f the
e ve ryd a y
S w e d e . The
o the r i s co nce rne d w i th
po li ti ca l
a nd
so ci a l
e d uca ti o n,
i n the fo rm o f fre e
d i scussi o ns a nd o the r
pro gra ms.
Fo r the
a ll-o ve r-the -co untry re po rts, re co rd i ng
va ns a re use d tha t a re
spe ci a lly
e qui ppe d
w i th
re co rd i ng a ppa ra tus.
Wi th the se the
ro vi ng re po rte rs
tra ve l
a cro ss the
co untry, i nte rvi e w i ng pe r-
so ns fro m va ri o us
pro fe ssi o na l
a nd so -
ci a l
gro ups. The y
ha ve tri e d to o bta i n
i nte rvi e w s tha t w o uld be
spo nta ne o us
a nd re a li sti c a s w e ll a s
i nte re sti ng,
a nd
ha ve
a tte mpte d
to
pro je ct
the re a l vo i ce
o f the
pe o ple ,
w i tho ut the use o f ma nu-
scri pts
o r re he a rsa ls. As a
re sult,
a
numbe r o f
unusua lly i nte re sti ng
i nte r-
vi e w s w i th
typi ca l re pre se nta ti ve s
fro m
va ri o us
gro ups
ha ve be e n
pre se nte d .
Qui ck co me ba cks,
o utspo ke n o pi ni o ns,
a nd humo r ha ve no t be e n
la cki ng
i n
the
re pli e s
to the
re po rte rs' que sti o ns.
Be ca use
the y
a re
ge nui ne ,
the se
e ve ry-
d a y "pi cture s
o f the
pe o ple "
ha ve be -
co me bo th va lua ble a nd
po pula r
pro gra ms,
ma d e
by
the li ste ne rs the m-
se lve s i n the d i ffe re nt se cti o ns o f the
co untry.
Mo st o f the se
pro gra ms
ha ve
be e n re co rd e d o n
gra mo pho ne
re co rd s,
a nd the se the re fo re co nsti tute a
uni que
re fe re nce
li bra ry
o f the S w e d i sh
pe o ple 's
ma nne rs a nd
spe e ch,
a s w e ll
a s the i r
w a y
o f li fe .
S o fa r a s
po li ti ca l
a nd so ci a l
pro gra ms
a re
co nce rne d ,
the S w e d i sh ra d i o ha s
be e n succe ssful i n
tryi ng
the fre e -d i s-
cussi o n me tho d .
Pre pa ra ti o n
ha s co n-
si ste d
o nly
o f a ti me sche d ule a nd a
re he a rsa l o f the d i ffe re nt
spe a ke rs'
to pi cs
i n
ge ne ra l.
The fo rm fo r the d i s-
cussi o ns a nd the
po le mi c re pli e s
ha ve
co me fo rth
na tura lly
i n the co urse o f
the
pro gra m.
In thi s ma nne r so me
ve ry
e xci ti ng spo nta ne o us
d e ba te s ha ve
be e n
put
o n the a i r.
Fo r the
po li ti ca l pro gra ms
a ne w
fo rm w a s tri e d o ut i n co nne cti o n w i th
the
1946
e le cti o ns. In fi ve
i nte rvi e w i ng
pro gra ms
the
pla tfo rms
o f the va ri o us
po li ti ca l pa rti e s
w e re d i scusse d . In e a ch
o ne o f the se
pro gra ms
the
pa rty
le a d e r
a nd hi s
a d juta nt pa rti ci pa te d . The y
w e re
que sti o ne d by jo urna li sts
fro m
the o the r
po li ti ca l pa rti e s.
The
jo urna l-
i sts a nd the
pa rty
le a d e rs d i d no t me e t
13
HOLLYWOOD
QUAR TER LY
be fo re the se
bro a d ca sts;
the re w e re no
re he a rsa ls,
a nd the
pa rty
le a d e rs ha d
no
pri o r kno w le d ge
o f the
que sti o ns
to
be fi re d a t the m. In the fi ve d i ffe re nt
pro gra ms,
co nse rva ti ve s, li be ra ls,
fa r-
me rs,
so ci a l
d e mo cra ts,
a nd co mmuni sts
w e re
gi ve n
a cha nce to ha ve the i r
sa y.
As a
gra nd
fi na le be fo re the
e le cti o ns,
the ra d i o
pre se nte d
a
bi g
d i scussi o n i n
w hi ch tw o
re pre se nta ti ve s
fro m e a ch
po li ti ca l pa rty pa rti ci pa te d .
The d i s-
cussi o n w e nt o n fro m 8 unti l o 1 P.M.
a nd fro m 10:20 P.M. unti l a fte r mi d -
ni ght. Inve sti ga ti o ns
sho w e d tha t thi s
d e ba te w a s li ste ne d to
by 65 pe r
ce nt o f
the S w e d i sh
pe o ple
be fo re i o
P.M.,
a nd
by 41 pe r
ce nt a fte r te n o 'clo ck.
Expe ri me nts
a re no w
be i ng
ma d e
w i th a vi e w to
re co rd i ng
d e ba te s i n
Pa rli a me nt,
a ltho ugh
ce rta i n me mbe rs
o bje ct
to the
se tti ng up
o f
mi cro pho ne s
i n the cha mbe rs. If the se
e xpe ri me nts
a re
succe ssful,
i t w i ll me a n the re co rd -
i ng
o f the mo st
i mpo rta nt a rgume nts
o f
the
spe e che s
o f the me mbe rs o f Pa rli a -
me nt,
w hi ch w i ll be
pre se nte d
i n sum-
ma ri e s o f the d e ba te s.
S e xua l
pro ble ms
ha ve a lso be e n d i s-
cusse d i n a
re ma rka bly
fre e a nd o ut-
spo ke n w a y
o n the S w e d i sh ra d i o . The
re a cti o ns fro m the li ste ne rs ha ve be e n
ve ry po si ti ve ,
vi vi d ,
a nd
i nte re sti ng.
S o
fa r a s ro und -ta ble d i scussi o ns a nd le c-
ture s a re
co nce rne d ,
a numbe r o f o the r
i nte re sti ng
so ci a l
pro ble ms
ha ve be e n
d i scusse d , a s,
fo r
e xa mple ,
a lco ho li sm,
ca re o f the
i nsa ne , a nd
juve ni le
d e -
li nque ncy.
The S w e d i sh ra d i o a lso
re gula rly
o ffe rs a se ri e s o f
ve ry
fi ne le c-
ture s. We ll-kno w n sci e nti sts i n d i ffe re nt
fi e ld s ha ve
ge ne ro usly pre se nte d
the
re sults o f the i r re se a rch a nd
fi nd i ngs,
a nd ha ve d o ne
so ,
a s much a s
po ssi ble ,
i n a
la yma n's la ngua ge ,
und e rsta nd a ble
to the bro a d ma sse s. It
mi ght
be
me nti o ne d tha t le cture s o f
tw e nty-fi ve
to
thi rty
mi nute s' d ura ti o n a re
no thi ng
unusua l i n S w e d i sh ra d i o .
The the a te r o f the a i r ha s be e n
pa rti -
cula rly po pula r
w i th S w e d i sh
li ste ne rs,
a nd the S w e d i sh ra d i o ha s
spo nso re d
e xte nsi ve co nte sts to sti mula te na ti ve
a utho rs to w ri te
go o d
ra d i o d ra ma .
R e ci ta ls o f mo d e rn a nd o ld
lyri cs
a nd
fi cti o n a re
re gula r
i te ms o n the
pro gra ms.
Ne w s bro a d ca sts a nd co mme nta ri e s
a re so me o f the mo st
i mpo rta nt
i te ms
o f ra d i o
pro gra ms
i n S w e d e n. An e ffo rt
ha s be e n ma d e to bui ld
up
a
re po rti ng
syste m
w i th
pe rma ne nt
a nd
te mpo ra ry
co rre spo nd e nts
a ll o ve r bo th the Euro -
pe a n
a nd Ame ri ca n co nti ne nts. The se
fo re i gn
ra d i o
co rre spo nd e nts
o fte n
tra ve l i n the i r o w n
re po rti ng
ca rs o r
pla ne s, ca rryi ng po rta ble re co rd i ng
e qui pme nt
to d e scri be
ha ppe ni ngs
fro m the fo ur co rne rs o f the w o rld .
14
"Vectors": A S cri p t
Mathemati cs Through F i l m
C.
J.
WICKWIRE
C. J. WICKWIRE, formerl y
a sci ence
teacher,
worked
duri ng
the war as a servi ce engi neer
i n
charge of the i nstal l ati on of the 40-mm. mounts on
many
of the
Navy's fi ghti ng shi p s, i ncl udi ng
the
carri er
Essex,
"The
F i ghti ng Lady."
He was al so
concerned i n the
p roducti on,
for the
Navy,
of moti on
p i ctures deal i ng
wi th the 40-mm.
gun,
and of certai n
p i ctures
i n the radi o-techni ci an seri es. In 1944 he
wrote, di rected,
and
sup ervi sed
for the Loucks &
Norl i ng S tudi os i n New
York,
whi ch made
many
fi l ms for the
Navy.
THE moti on
p i cture
Vectors i s one of
a seri es
p rep ared
for the
Trai ni ng
F i l m
Branch of the Uni ted S tates
Navy.
The
fi l ms i n thi s seri es were
p rep ared
for
the i nstructi on of radi o techni ci ans
and i ncl uded fi l ms
exp l ai ni ng
certai n
si mp l e
mathemati cal
concep ts
whi ch
were to be used i n the
study
of more
advanced
subjects
i n
radi o, radar,
and
fi re control .
S i nce most of the audi ence for whom
the
p i cture
was
p l anned
were the
l ower
grades
of enl i sted
p ersonnel ,
i t
coul d not be assumed that
they
had had
extensi ve mathemati cal
p rep arati on.
Chi efl y
for thi s reason the i l l ustrati ons
used i n the
p i cture
for
teachi ng
math-
emati cal i deas had to be chosen care-
ful l y
from the actual
exp eri ences
of
such men. The i dea of a ci rcus woul d
be fami l i ar to
nearl y everyone,
and
the
p erformance
and the acci dents that
coul d
hap p en
to a sai l or at a fun house
woul d catch thei r i nterest.
It was the
p ol i cy
of the
Trai ni ng
F i l m Branch to l et
sep arate
contracts
for the
p rep arati on
of the
scri p t
and
the
p roducti on
of the
p i cture.
The
scri p t
of thi s fi l m was
p rep ared by
C.
J.
Wi ckwi re wi th the assi stance of
Jack
Roche and other wri ters on the staff of
the Loucks 8c
Norl i ng S tudi os,
and the
p i cture
was
p roduced by
Caravel
F i l ms,
Inc.
THEEDIT
THE EDITORS
THE S CRIPT
S ai l or's
quarters
i n barracks room. F ade
i n on ci rcus
p oster
as seen
through op en
wi ndow. Camera dol l i es back i nto
room,
fi rst
reveal i ng
wi ndow
frame,
then
toy
bal l oon on sti ck. Camera
p ans
to show sai l or at desk. On desk there i s
a
mi meograp hed
workbook
op en
at
Vectors,
as wel l as other
p ap ers
i ndi cat-
i ng study.
Dol l l i es on desk. S ai l or
gl ances
at
objects
brought
home from
ci rcus.
(Ci rcus
musi c
background)
EC15
CONTINUITY
NA RRA TION
HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
Insert-Lazy tongs
as hel d i n sai l or's
hands. S how name
"Barnyard
& Bal -
chay's
Ci rcus" on
tongs.
CU of sai l or at desk. He exami nes
p ri nt-
i ng
on
l azy tongs, smi l i ng
remi ni s-
centl y.
He comes out of
daydream,
si ghs, l ays
asi de
tongs,
and l ooks at
op en
p age
of book.
Insert-Top
hal f of
p age
of workbook
on Vectors. F i l l screen wi th defi ni ti on
and
di agram
of vector. "Defi ni ti on: A
vector i s a l i ne whose
l ength
and di rec-
ti on
rep resent
the
magni tude
and di -
recti on of a
p hysi cal quanti ty."
S ai l or reads defi ni ti on al oud.
(Musi c fades out)
S A ILOR'S VOICE: A vector i s a l i ne whose
l ength
and di recti on
rep resent-
CUT TO
CU of sai l or at desk. A tti tude i ndi cates -the
magni tude
and di recti on of a
that he fi nds i t hard to understand
p hysi cal quanti ty-whew!
meani ng
of defi ni ti on. S cratches
head,
regi sters
frustrati on. Deci des to
try
agai n.
CUT TO
Insert-Lower hal f of
p age
1 of work-
book.
Page
shows: "A vector
may
be
used to
rep resent many
di fferent
quan-
ti ti es,
such as-
A
vel oci ty
of
40
mi l es
p er
hour.
A force downward of o
p ounds.
A
di sp l acement,
or di stance
moved,
of 200 feet."
S ai l or at desk-thi nks-then
sp eaks
al oud.
S A ILOR'S VOICE: A vector
may
be used
to
rep resent many
di fferent
quanti ti es,
such as-a
vel oci ty
of
forty
mi l es
p er
hour;
a force of ten
p ounds;
a
di sp l ace-
ment,
or di stance
moved,
of two hun-
dred feet.
S A ILOR'S VOICE: Di stance-two hundred
feet-sure,
the di stance from the bus
stop -
DIS S OLVE TO
A ni mati on scene of short street wi th ci r-
(Carni val
musi c
fades
i n
fai ntl y)
cus entrance at
ri ght.
A ni mate i n bus -to the entrance to the
carni val ,
that's
stop p i ng
at l eft si de of screen. A ni mate about two hundred feet.
i n smal l
fi gure l eavi ng
bus and
wal ki ng
to entrance.
16
"VECTORS ": A S CRIPT
A ni mate i n sol i d vector.
[Il l us.
1]
That
(Ci rc
DIS S OLVE TO
Page
1 of workbook wi th vector di a-
gram
i n
regi ster
wi th vector i n l ast
scene. S i l en
:'s a vector!
us musi c
fades out)
t track
CUT TO
S ai l or at
desk,
thi nki ng.
He i s
getti ng
i nterested. Turns
p age.
CUT TO
Insert-Top
hal f of
p age
2 of workbook.
Page
shows: "Two vectors i n the same
di recti on
may
be added
by
ari thmeti c."
Bel ow thi s i s
di agTam showi ng
addi ti on
of two
vectors,
l abel ed "200'
p l us
oo00'
equal s 300'." [2]
S ai l or reads al oud. S A ILOR'S VOICE: Two vectors i n the
same di recti on
may
be added
by
ari th-
meti c. Two
hundred-p l us
one hun-
dred-equal s
three hundred.
DIS S OLVE TO
A ni mati on scene of ci rcus entrance
[as
(Ci rcus musi c
fades
i n
fai ntl y)
i n i l l us.
i ],
but shi fted to l eft to
p rovi de
S A ILOR'S VOICE: Let's
see;
when I
room for addi ti on of second vector. A n- wal ked down the
mi dway-p ast
the
i mate i n l i ne to
ri ght
of ti cket booth. i ndi a-rubber man-the snakecharmer-
F l ash i n tents i ndi cated as l i ne
grows.
Hawai i an
gi rl s-to
the cl own's
booth,
-
[3]
Harden l i ne i nto vector.
Combi ne two vectors i nto a
si ngl e
vector.
-I added a vector to a vector-
-and I
got
a resul tant.
(Ci rcus
musi c
fades
out)
DIS S OLVE TO
Insert-Up p er
hal f of
p age
2 of work-
(S i l ent
track)
book
agai n.
CUT TO
CU-S ai l or at desk. He chuckl es as he S A ILOR'S VOICE: S ure l ooks l i ke I was on
l ooks
up .
a vector l ast
ni ght.
CUT TO
Lower hal f of
p age
2 of workbook. Book Two vectors i n
op p osi te
di recti ons-
reads: "Vectors i n
op p osi te
di recti ons
17
18 HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
can al so be added. F or
examp l e"-then
di agram showi ng
addi ti on of vectors i n
op p osi te
di recti ons.
[4]
CUT TO
CU-S ai l or's face. He l ooks
up
and S A ILOR'S VOICE:
S ay-that
cl own-
sp eaks
as i f the
di agram
had remi nded
hi m of the cl own act at the ci rcus.
DIS S OLVE TO
Establ i shi ng
shot i n fun house at the
carni val . A t l eft i s rai sed
p l atform
of
deal er i n ci rcus tri nkets. A cross front (Carni val musi c
background)
i s a
stage,
wi th
JA IL
at l eft.
S tage
fl oor
contai ns treadmi l l whi ch runs from
ri ght
to l eft. A t
ri ght
are curved
bump y
sl i de,
stai rway
wi th ai r
jet,
and,
at
stage
l evel ,
movi ng
si dewal k about
ei ght
feet
wi de.
Peop l e
are
movi ng
about,
i ncl ud-
i ng
the sai l or and
p al s.
CUT TO
Cl oser shot of l eft si de of set.
S mal l cl own
ap p roaches
deal er's
stand,
snatches arti cl e from
di sp l ay,
turns,
and
begi ns
to si dl e off toward
stage.
Deal er
sees
theft,
rai ses
up roar,
turns i n al arm.
Huge gong cl angs.
Cl own starts across
stage
to
ri ght, wal ki ng
on treadmi l l . He
stays
about even.
Cop
enters at
ri ght
of
stage,
Cl own does a
"take," turns,
and
runs wi th the treadmi l l and
goes fl yi ng
i nto the
jai l . [5]
DEA LER:
S top -you-thi ef-(Voi ce
i s
drowned out i n
up roar
of p eop l e, bel l s.)
DIS S OLVE TO
A ni mati on shot of cartoon cl own wal k-
i ng.
He does not move
forward-just
wal ks as i f on treadmi l l .
S A ILOR'S VOICE: Let's see-the cl own
was
wal ki ng-
F ade i n vector.
[6]
F ade i n earl i er scene
showi ng top
hal f
of workbook on
Vectors,
whi ch
gi ves
defi ni ti on and
di agram
of vector. "Defi -
ni ti on: A vector i s a l i ne whose
l ength
and di recti on
rep resent
the
magni tude
and di recti on of a
p hysi cal quanti ty."
-i n thi s di recti on-
-at four mi l es an hour-
"VECTORS ": A S CRIPT
19
CONTINUE
F ade i n treadmi l l . A ni mate di recti on. -and the treadmi l l was
goi ng-
F ade i n vector i n
op p osi te
di recti on.
[7]
F ade
i n,
agai n,
earl i er scene
showi ng
-four mi l es an hour i n thi s di recti on.
top
hal f of workbook on Vectors whi ch
gi ves
defi ni ti on and
di agram
of vector.
CONTINUE
A ni mate vectors
together
unti l
they
di s- S o when he added these
vectors,
he
ap p ear.
went
exactl y
nowhere.
CONTINUE
F ade i n zero where resul tant
di sap -
But where's
my
resul tant?-Oh,
yeah,
p eared. [8]
i t adds
up
to
nothi ng!
CONTINUE
F ade i n two
equal
vectors i n same di rec- But when he turned around-
ti on,
rep resenti ng
cl own's and tread-
mi l l 's
sp eed.
CONTINUE
F ade i n
"4
+4"
over vectors. -he added vectors that were i n the
same di recti on-
CONTINUE
A ni mate vectors to form resul tant 8 -and scooted off at
ei ght
mi l es an
uni ts
l ong.
Cl own reverses di recti on hour.
and runs off l eft of screen.
DIS S OLVE TO
CU of book. Hand turns
p age. Page 3
shows: "When vectors at
ri ght angl es
are
added,
they
must be combi ned
geo-
metri cal l y."
S ai l or reads al oud. S A ILOR'S VOICE: When vectors at
ri ght
angl es
are
added,
they
must be com-
bi ned
geometri cal l y.
Ooh-that's bad!
Hand starts to
fi gure
on
di agram
on One vector
goes
thi s
way-
p age.
S ai l or tal ks to hi msel f. Penci l
traces out hori zontal vector. Penci l
traces out verti cal vector.
HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
Penci l traces out resul tant.
[9]
-and one
goes
that
way-
-and the resul tant i s here.
CUT TO
CU of sai l or
comp l eti ng
the acti on of
traci ng
out the
di agram.
He shows that
l ast
ni ght
was fun.
Drop s p enci l ,
rubs hands
together.
S A ILOR'S VOICE: That's how I met
Mami e l ast
ni ght-
-and was she
somethi ng!
DIS S OLVE TO
Carni val fun house
agai n,
but from di f-
(Carni val
musi c
fades
i n
strongl y)
ferent
angl e.
S ai l or i n
foreground.
S ol di er and
gi rl
i n
background.
[l o]
CUT TO
Medi um shot of
stage
l eft of fun-house
(Ci rcus
musi c
fades
to
fai nt background
set. S ol di er wi th
gi rl
fri end at
top
of
effect)
sl i de.
They
are
l aughi ng,
out of breath.
S ol di er
urges gi rl
to sl i de down.
[11]
S OLDIER: Come
on,
Mami e-try
thi s
one-
GIRL: Ooh-not me-I'm
scared-you
go-
CUT TO
Longer
shot to i ncl ude
sl i de,
stai rway,
and
movi ng
si dewal k. S ol di er sl i des
down.
Gi rl starts down the
stai rs;
when she i s
hal fway
down,
the ai r
jet
bl ows her
dress around her ears.
[12]
S he
squeal s,
grabs
her
dress,
and makes a dash for
the
sol di er,
who
by
now i s
wai ti ng
for
her to reach hi m. S he starts across the
movi ng
si dewal k,
but
gets
carri ed
away
and l ands i n the arms of the sai l or. S he
grabs hi m-anyone
wi l l do
by
now.
[13]
MS of sai l or wi th
gi rl
i n arms.
-I'm
goi ng
down the stai rs.
CUT TO
S A ILOR:
Wel l , H-E-L-L-O,
Gorgeous!
CUT TO
CU of
gi rl
i n sai l or's arms.
They l augh.
GIRL:
HOW
di d I
get
here?
(Carni val
musi c
fades out)
20
1 5
2 6
3
4 8
1l i
10 14
11 15
12
y
16
17 21
22
19 23
20 z2
25 29
26 30
31
28 32
VECTORS ": A S CRIPT
DIS S OLVE TO
CU of sai l or at hi s
desk,
as i n earl i er S A ILOR:
Wel l ,
that was one for the
shot,
l ooki ng
down at
op en
book. He i s
Navy!
chuckl i ng
over hi s
l ucky
break.
CUT TO
CU of
op en
book. S ai l or's hand i n the
scene
p uts p enci l
on tai l end of vectors.
Penci l traces verti cal vector. Penci l
traces out hori zontal vector.
Penci l traces out resul tant.
S A ILOR'S VOICE: Mami e was
standi ng
here-
-and she started for the sol di er over
there-but she di dn't thi nk about the
crosswal k
goi ng
thi s
way.
S o she trav-
el ed
al ong
the resul tant and I
got
re-
sul ts here.
Poi nts to end of resul tant vector.
CU of sai l or at desk. He i s sti l l amused.
He
p ul l s
a
p ad
of
grap h p ap er,
rul ed
four l i nes to the
i nch,
toward hi m.
S A ILOR'S VOICE
(rep resenti ng
hi s
thoughts): Boy,
she
real l y bump ed
i nto
me! I wonder how fast she was travel -
i ng.
Let's see-
CUT TO
Insert of hands
drawi ng
verti cal vector
four
squares l ong.
Count off
squares
to
check i ts
l ength.
Hands draw hori zontal
vector 6 i nches
l ong.
[14]
He draws the other two si des of the
vector
p aral l el ogram.
Draws the resul tant.
Pi cks
up comp ass, p l aces p oi nt
at i nter-
secti on of
vectors,
adjusts comp ass
to
l ength
of
resul tant,
and draws arc to cut
extensi on of verti cal vector. He counts
the
squares
to fi nd
l ength
of resul tant.
[151
-i f she was
runni ng
at four mi l es an
hour-
1-2-3-4-
-and the crosswal k moved si x mi l es an
hour i n thi s
di recti on-1-2-3-4-5-6
Now for the resul tant-
draw thi s l i ne-
and thi s l i ne-
and that's a
p aral l el ogram.
S o thi s must
be the resul tant. Now l et's see how
l ong
i t i s. Two
-
four
-
si x
-
seven
-
about
seven mi l es an hour. No wonder she
nearl y
knocked me over.
Lower
p art
of
p age 3. Page
reads: "If
ei ther of the vectors i s
i ncreased,
the
magni tude
and di recti on of the resul t-
ant i s i ncreased." S ai l or reads al oud.
Traces out resul tant on
di agram
whi ch
shows how the resul tant i ncreases when
one vector i s i ncreased.
[16]
S A ILOR'S VOICE: If ei ther of the vectors
i s i ncreased-the
magni tude
and di rec-
ti on of the resul tant i s i ncreased.
21
HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
Poi nts to end of resul tant.
Hey,
I don't l i ke thi s. If the crosswal k
was
goi ng
twi ce as
fast,
Mami e woul d
have
gone al ong
here-and some other
l ug
woul d have
got
her-
CUT TO
CU of sai l or at hi s desk
agai n, l ooki ng
S A ILOR:-but he di dn't.
at
op en
book. He
gri ns
and turns the
p age.
CUT TO
CU of
p age 4
of workbook. Book reads:
"A
change
i n the
angl e
between two
vectors wi l l
change
the
l ength
and di -
recti on of the resul tant."
Di agram
i s
shown bel ow sentence.
[17]
S ai l or reads al oud. Hands
bri ng
two
p enci l s
i nto
scene,
p l ace
them on di a-
gram,
and
op erate
them as
vectors,
changi ng
the
angl e
between them.
S A ILOR'S VOICE: A
change
i n the
angl e
between two vectors wi l l
change
the
l ength
and di recti on of the resul tant.
Let's
see,
how does thi s work?
CUT TO
Longer
shot of sai l or at desk. He i s sti l l
p l ayi ng
wi th the
p enci l s.
He i s
thi nki ng
about the
p robl em.
Then he noti ces the
l azy tongs
on the corner of the tabl e
top .
CUT TO
CU of corner of
tabl e,
reveal i ng l azy
tongs
wi th l i ttl e
boxi ng gl ove
on the
end.
[18]
CUT BA CK TO
Longer
shot of sai l or at
desk,
as i n S A ILOR'S VOICE:
Why,
I
got
hi t wi th a
earl i er scene. He
p i cks up l azy tongs
resul tant l ast
ni ght!
and
op erates
them.
[19]
DIS S OLVE TO
CU of deal er i n ci rcus
tri nkets,
i n fun
house. He has
l azy tongs
i n hi s hand.
He does ri ot
op erate
them,
but
merel y
conti nues to shout.
DEA LER
(i n
ci rcus-barker
styl e):
Here
you
are-here
you
are-the worl d's ol d-
est, funni est,
most
astoundi ng toy-a
real l y
sci enti fi c
devi ce,
guaranteed
to
get a
l augh-anywhere-any
ti me.
Longer
shot of sai l or
l i steni ng
to deal er. S A ILOR: How does i t work?
S ai l or
i nterrup ts
the
sp i el .
Deal er
stop s
short.
DEA LER: You wanta know?
22
"VECTORS ": A S CRIPT
Deal er
p op s
sai l or on the nose wi th
l azy
tongs. [20]
S ai l or
l aughs,
reaches out for S A ILOR
(l aughi ng): Hey,
l et me see-
the
tongs.
A s scene
fades,
deal er i s show-
i ng
hi m how to hol d
tongs.
DIS S OLVE TO
Longer
shot of sai l or at
desk,
as i n S i l ent track
earl i er scenes. He sti l l hol ds
l azy tongs
i n hi s l eft hand. He
op erates
them
sl owl y.
[21]
CUT TO
CU of l eft hand
hol di ng l azy tongs.
One S A ILOR: These arms are vectors-the re-
secti on
onl y
i s vi si bl e. Hands
op erate
sul tant runs from here to here.
tongs
to i l l ustrate effect of
changi ng
the
angl e
between two vectors. He i ndi cates
the two
arms,
whi ch act as
vectors,
then
p oi nts
out where the resul tant i s
i mag-
i ned to be.
[22]
CUT TO
Longer
shot of sai l or at desk
agai n.
He S A ILOR:
Boy,
resul tants are
funny
l ays
down
l azy tongs.
S hakes hi s head.
thi ngs-one
ti me I
get
ki ssed-the next
ti me I
get
socked.
He turns
p age.
Let's see what
hap p ens
next.
CUT TO
CU of
p age 5
of
workbook,
whi ch reads:
"The forces
acti ng
on a
ti ny
north
p ol e
near a
magnet may
be
rep resented by
vectors." Bel ow thi s there i s a
di agram
of a
magnet
and a test
p ol e. [23]
S ai l or reads. S A ILOR: The forces
acti ng
on a
ti ny
north
p ol e
near a
magnet may
be
rep -
resented
by
vectors.
CUT TO
S emi -CU of sai l or at desk. He l ooks off S A ILOR: NOW l et's see-
thoughtful l y.
He i s
tryi ng
to thi nk of a
ci rcus scene that
ap p l i es
to thi s
p rob-
l em.
S LOW DIS S OLVE TO
Carni val scene at the fun
house,
as
(Carni val
musi c
fades
i n
fai ntl y)
shown earl i er. Narrator's voi ce breaks
i n before di ssol ve i s
comp l ete.
23
24
HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
S up eri mp ose
CU of sai l or's head over NA RRA TOR: Hol d
i t,
bud-you've
had
ci rcus scene. He l ooks
up
startl ed at the
enough
ci rcus.
sound of the narrator's voi ce.
(Carni val
musi c
fades out)
DIS S OLVE TO
S emi -CU of sai l or at desk. He i s
l ooki ng
over hi s shoul der toward audi ence as i f
wonderi ng
where the voi ce came from.
NA RRA TOR: You're
sup p osed
to be a
radi o
man,
and thi s
p robl em
i s
ri ght
down
your groove.
A t end of scene he turns back to desk.
He i s
wi l l i ng
to
try
the
p robl em.
CUT TO
CU of bottom of
p age 5
i n
workbook, S i l ent track
showi ng di agram
of a
magnet
and a test
p ol e. [24]
DIS S OLVE TO
A ni mati on shot of
magnet
and test
p ol e.
Poi nt to and l abel TES T POLE.
Bri ng
i n dotted l i nes
i ndi cati ng
di rec-
ti on of force of
p ol es
of
magnet
on test
p ol e. [25]
Change
di recti on l i nes to form sol i d
vectors.
[26]
A ni mate i n dotted l i nes
p aral l el
to the
vectors. A ni mate i n sol i d resul tant.
[27]
A ni mate test
p ol e
to
up p er
l eft of
mag-
net. A s i t
moves,
the vector
p aral l el o-
gram changes shap e
so that the vectors
are
al ways
i n l i ne wi th the
p ol es.
A s the
p ol e ap p roaches
the north
p ol e,
the at-
tracti on vector decreases and the
rep ul -
si on vector i ncreases.
[28]
F ade i n
ti ny comp ass
over the test
p ol e.
Vector
p aral l el ogram
remai ns.
[29]
NA RRA TOR: The south
p ol e
wi l l attract
the test
p ol e
thi s
way.
The north
p ol e
wi l l
p ush
i t i n that di recti on.
These l i nes are not vectors
yet,
but
by
maki ng
thei r
l ength rep resent
the
amount of the
p ul l
or
p ush they
become
vectors.
Now l et's
get
the resul tant. Thi s
rep -
resents the total effect of the
magnet
on
the test
p ol e.
If the test
p ol e
moves,
the forces on i t
wi l l
change,
and the
l ength
and di rec-
ti on of the vectors wi l l
change
too.
Now l et's
p ut
a smal l
comp ass
i n
p l ace
of the test
p ol e.
You can see that the
needl e's di recti on i s i n l i ne wi th the
resul tant.
VECTORS ": A S CRIPT
A ni mate
comp ass
to move back to
ori g-
i nal
p osi ti on
of the test
p ol e.
Vector
p aral l el ogram
ani mates back to
ori g-
i nal
p osi ti on (as
i n i l l us.
27).
The di rec-
ti on of the
comp ass
needl e must
rep eat
exactl y
the di recti on of the resul tant.
[301
DIS S OLVE BA CK TO
Whol e
p age
of
workbook,
as i n earl i er S i l ent track
scene,
whi ch reads: "The forces
acti ng
on a
ti ny
north
p ol e
near a
magnet may
be
rep resented by
vectors." Bel ow i s a
di agram
of a
magnet
and a test
p ol e.
[31]
CUT TO
S emi -CU of sai l or at desk. He turns the S A ILOR'S VOICE: Gee! There are ex-
p ages
toward the front of the book
amp l es
of vectors
everywhere.
sl owl y, p age by p age.
He
stop s
on reach-
i ng p age
i .
Insert-Top
hal f of
p age
1 of
workbook,
showi ng
defi ni ti on and
di agram
of
vector. "Defi ni ti on: A vector i s a l i ne
whose
l ength
and di recti on
rep resent
the
magni tude
and di recti on of a
p hysi -
cal
quanti ty."
NA RRA TOR: That's
ri ght-and al ways
remember,
"A vector i s a l i ne whose
l ength
and di recti on
rep resent
the
mag-
ni tude and di recti on of a
p hysi cal
quanti ty."
Get i t
now, S ai l or?
CUT TO
Conti nuati on of semi -CU of sai l or at
desk. S ai l or turns toward camera. Hi s
exp ressi on
shows that the defi ni ti on
real l y
makes sense to hi m now.
[32]
25
C a r t o o n i n t h e C la ssr o o m
C HARLES PALMER
C HART.FS PALMER, wh o h a s wo r ke d a s a scr e e n -
wr i t e r i n
Ho llywo o d
fo r so me
ye a r s,
h a s wr i t t e n bo t h
fi ct i o n a n d fa ct ua l ma t e r i a l fo r ma ga zi n e s, bo o ks,
r a di o ,
a n d fi lms. Hi s
a r t i cle ,
"Mi r a cle s C o me C .O.D.,"
o n t h e
ge n e r a l subje ct
o f e duca t i o n a l
fi lm, a ppe a r e d
i n t h e
July, 1947,
i ssue o f t h e
Ho llywo o d Qua r t e r ly,
a n d h e
si gn s
a co mmun i ca t i o n
co n ce r n i n g
i t o n a
la t e r
pa ge
i n t h i s i ssue .
THE FIRST wo r ds I h e a r d a t t h e
Di sn e y
st udi o
we r e ,
"But h o w do e s t h e h o r se
ge t
i n t h e bubble ?"
Scr e wy, ye s,
but
si gn i fi ca n t -si gn i fi -
ca n t
e n o ugh
t o i n di ca t e a fut ur e use -
fuln e ss fo r t h i s
wa cky
a n d wo n de r ful
ca r t o o n
i n dust r y
t h a t
ma y
r a n k wi t h
t h e
gr e a t e st t h i n gs
i t h a s do n e i n t h e
pa st .
Fo r t h a t t h e a t r i ca l
ph r a se
di s-
so lve s i n t o a
pa r a lle l
o f so me
pr o mi se
t o t h e fi e ld o f
e duca t i o n ,
n a me ly,
"But
h o w do e s t h e ve r b
ge t
i n t h e se n t e n ce ?"
Th e
ca r t o o n ,
o f
co ur se ,
h a s be e n a
po we r ful
e duca t i ve fo r ce e ve r si n ce
a r t i st s
r o ugh e d
o ut t h e i r st uff wi t h
sle dge
a n d ch i se l. Th e
spo t
ca r t o o n ,
po li t i ca l
o r
h umo r o us,
h a s
a lwa ys
be e n
a fo r m o f fr o ze n
a n i ma t i o n ,
di st i lli n g
a wh o le
se que n ce
o f a ct i o n o r ch a r a ct e r
i n t o a
si n gle si gn i fi ca n t
mo me n t . Th e
co mi c
st r i p
a dde d a n e le me n t o f
pr o -
gr e ssi o n
i n t h e
ma ki n g
o f a
po i n t .
But
t h e
co mpa r a t i ve ly
r e ce n t
de ve lo pme n t
o f fi lme d a n i ma t i o n , a n d t h e st i ll mo r e
r e ce n t e mbe lli sh me n t o f
so un d,
h a ve
br o ugh t
i n t o
be i n g
a
t r uly
n e w t e a ch -
i n g
t o o l-a t o o l
wh i ch ,
wh e n t h e
me di um i s
pr o pe r ly
use d a n d i t s
ph i -
lo so ph y
i s
un de r st o o d,
ca n
cla r i fy
a n d
ma ke r e me mbe r a ble
ma n y
vi t a l
t h i n gs
wh i ch h i t h e r t o h a ve be e n di ffi cult t o
i mpa r t by
t r a di t i o n a l me t h o ds.
Th e e duca t i ve
po ssi bi li t i e s
o f li ve -
a ct i o n fi lm a r e
r e a so n a bly a ppa r e n t ,
a n d,
r e ga r dle ss
o f o n e 's
o pi n i o n
o f t h e
e xi st i n g li br a r y, pr e t t y
we ll
e xplo r e d;
t h o se o f ca r t o o n a n i ma t i o n a r e n o t so
a ppa r e n t ,
a n d n e e d a
go o d
de a l o f e x-
plo r a t i o n .
An d wh i le a n a r t i cle o f t h i s
le n gt h
ca n do n o mo r e t h a n ma ke a
br i e f r un o ve r t h e
t e r r a i n ,
pe r h a ps
we
ca n t a ke a
pr e li mi n a r y si gh t
o n t h e
fun ct i o n o f t h e a n i ma t e d ca r t o o n i n t h e
t e a ch i n g pr o ce ss by
fi r st
de li n e a t i n g
i t s
fi e ld fr o m t h a t o f li ve a ct i o n .
Alt h o ugh o n ly
a t h e o r i st wo uld
de n y
a n a r e a o f
o ve r la p,
t h e fi e lds o f t h e t wo
me di a a r e r a t h e r
cle a r ly
ma r ke d.
Fun da me n t a lly:
t h e li ve -a ct i o n ca me r a
r e pr e se n t s
t h e
ph ysi ca l e ye ,
a n d t h e
a n i ma t i o n ca me r a
r e pr e se n t s
t h e mi n d's
e ye .
Li ve a ct i o n wi ll
r e pr o duce a n y-
t h i n g
t h a t ca n be
se e n ; a n i ma t i o n ,
a n y-
t h i n g
t h a t ca n be
i ma gi n e d.
Pa r a lle l t o t h e di ffe r e n ce i n
ph i -
lo so ph y
be t we e n a
ph o t o gr a ph
a n d a
ca r i ca t ur e ,
li ve a ct i o n ca n sh o w su-
pe r bly
h o w
t h i n gs
lo o k,
wh e r e a s a n i -
ma t i o n ca n sh o w wh a t
t h e y
me a n . Ta k-
i n g
o ff fr o m
ph ysi ca l r e a li t y
a s a st a r t -
i n g po i n t ,
a n i ma t i o n ca n
pr o je ct
a
po i n t
un t i l i t
a ct ua lly
be co me s "t r ue r
t h a n
t r ut h ,"
a s i s
e xe mpli fi e d
i n Di s-
n e y's
fi lm,
Je t
Pr o pulsi o n ,
wh e r e i n t h e
co n ve n t i o n a l
a i r pla n e pr o pe lle r
di s-
so lve d i n t o a
gi a n t
bi t t h a t
vi sua lly
"bo r e d" i t s
wa y t h r o ugh
a ma t e r i a li ze d
a t mo sph e r e .
Th e r e i s n o
i mpli ca t i o n
h e r e t h a t
a n i ma t i o n i s "be t t e r " t h a n li ve
a ct i o n ,
a n y
mo r e t h a n Vi t a mi n D i s "be t t e r "
t h a n Vi t a mi n B1. Ea ch o f t h e me di a h a s
po we r s pe culi a r
t o
i t se lf;
e a ch fi e ld i s
vi t a l,
a n d r i ch i n
po t e n t i a l.
C 26]
C ARTOON IN THE C LASSROOM
No w,
a n d i n t h e fo r e se e a ble
fut ur e ,
much o f t h e sch o o ls' cur r i cula wi ll be
r i gh t ly
co n ce r n e d wi t h t h e fa csi mi le
ph ysi ca l
a n d so ci a l
a spe ct s
o f t h e wo r ld
i n wh i ch t h e st ude n t s wi ll li ve . In t h i s
br o a d
fi e ld,
li ve a ct i o n i s
un ch a lle n ge d.
But t o clo t h e t h e se fa csi mi le s wi t h
si gn i fi ca n ce
a n d
r e le va n cy,
t h e st ude n t s
must a ch i e ve a
co mpr e h e n si o n
o f t h e
gr e a t bo dy
o f
i n t a n gi ble s
wh i ch un de r -
li e t h e m-t h e
a bst r a ct i o n s,
i de a s,
co n -
ce pt s,
a n d
pr i n ci ple s. Ma n y
o r mo st o f
t h e se
i n t a n gi ble s,
a t le a st i f t h e
subje ct
i s t o be
t r uly
vi sua li ze d r a t h e r t h a n
pr i ma r i ly
t a lke d
a bo ut ,
fa ll i n t h e fi e ld
o f a n i ma t i o n .
Th e
e xi st i n g li br a r y
o f e duca t i o n a l
fi lm le a n s
h e a vi ly
t o wa r d li ve a ct i o n . It
i s a lso
h e a vy
o n t h e si de o f fa csi mi le
a n d
fa ct ,
a n d
li gh t
o n a bst r a ct s a n d
pr i n ci ple s.
It
pr e se n t s
much
"wh a t ,"
so me
"h o w,"
but
ve r y
li t t le
"wh y."
Th i s
co n di t i o n i s n a t ur a l
e n o ugh .
No wr i t e r
o r
pr o duce r
wo uld fe e l
a n y qua lms
a bo ut
e mba r ki n g
o n a
pi ct ur e
a bo ut ,
sa y,
t h e Po r t o f Ne w Yo r k. But t h e
sa me
wr i t e r ,
i f a ske d t o fi n d a
wa y
t o
bui ld a fi lm o n
Alge br a i c
Subt r a ct i o n ,
wo uld
just i fi a bly
fe e l t h a t t h e r e must
be a n e a si e r
wa y
o f
e a r n i n g
a
li vi n g.
On
so me ,
subje ct s yo u o bvi o usly
ca n ma ke
a
pi ct ur e ;
o n o t h e r s
yo u
ca n 't . An i -
ma t i o n 's r i ch e st fi e ld i n clude s t h e
pi c-
t ur e s t h a t "ca n 't " be ma de .
Act ua lly,
t h e r e i s n o
jur i sdi ct i o n a l
di sput e
be t we e n t h e t wo me di a . Ea ch
ca n do
so me t h i n g
t h e o t h e r ca n n o t .
An d t h e r e sult i s t h a t
t h e y
a r e
co mple -
me n t a r y.
Fo r
e xa mple ,
a
Di sn e y
fi lm
o n musi ca l i n st r ume n t s
pla n s
t o a lt e r -
n a t e
fr e e ly
be t we e n t h e me di a : li ve
a ct i o n wi ll sh o w wi t h ma xi mum i de n t i -
fi ca t i o n a n d
va li di t y
wh a t t h e
ph ysi ca l
i n st r ume n t s lo o k li ke a n d h o w
t h e y
a r e
pla ye d;
a n d a n i ma t i o n wi ll vi sua li ze
t h e i n vi si ble
pr i n ci ple s by
wh i ch t h e
ge n e r i c
i n st r ume n t s
pr o duce
a n d co n -
t r o l t h e vi br a t i o n s wh i ch r e a ch t h e
h e a r e r a s musi ca l t o n e s. Th e a n i ma t e d
ma ps
o f Th e Ama zo n
Awa ke n s,
wh i ch
sh o we d
wh y
t h e a r e a
de ve lo pe d
a s i t
di d,
di sso lve d
lo gi ca lly
i n t o t h e li ve -
a ct i o n "wh a t " o f t h e lo ca le a n d i t s
pe o ple .
Ne i t h e r me di um co uld h a ve
fully de ve lo pe d
e i t h e r
subje ct by
i t se lf.
Th i s
ge n e r a l co n ce pt i o n
o f a n i ma -
t i o n a s t h e
ph ysi ca l e xpr e ssi o n
o f t h e
i ma gi n a t i o n ,
un fe t t e r e d
by
t h e
fi n i t e ,
ma n i fe st s i t se lf i n ce r t a i n de fi n i t e a n d
h i gh ly pr o mi si n g
ch a n n e ls.
Spe ci fi ca lly,
t h e fi lm t e a ch e r s ca n
ma n i pula t e
t h e
me di um t o do t h e
fo llo wi n g:
1) So li di fy
t h e
i n t a n gi ble .
Be fo r e I
we n t wi t h
Di sn e y,
I subscr i be d t o t h e
li ve -a ct i o n t r ui sm t h a t "Yo u ca n 't t a ke
a
pi ct ur e
o f a
t h o ugh t ."
But i n t h e
pr o pa ga n da
fi lm Re a so n a n d Emo t i o n
Di sn e y
mo ve d h i s ca me r a
r i gh t
i n si de
a ch a r a ct e r 's br a i n t o
pla y spe ct a cle d
Re a so n
a ga i n st
ca ve ma n Emo t i o n i n a
vi vi d co n fli ct wh i ch r e n de r e d a n a b-
st r a ct
psych o lo gi ca l pr i n ci ple
i n t o a
co mpr e h e n si ble
a n d r e me mbe r a ble
co n cr e t e . In i llust r a t i o n o f
e co n o mi cs,
a
"ma r gi n a l
ma n " ca n
spi n
o ff t h e
wh i r li n g
t ur n t a ble o f C o st .... C o n -
cr e t e
pi ct ur e s
ca n a n swe r t h e a bst r a ct
que st i o n s
o f wh a t a Ta x
i s,
a n d
wh y
we
n e e d La w...."Ti me " ca n
pa ss
i n full
vi e w.
2)
Vi sua li ze t h e i n vi si ble . In vi si ble
o bje ct s
a n d fo r ce s ca n be ma t e r i a li ze d
i n t o vi si ble fo r ms
symbo li c
o f t h e i r
i n vi si ble i n n e r n a t ur e s. So un d wa ve s,
li gh t
wa ve s, vi br a t i o n s,
n e r ve
i mpulse s
...
r a di a t i o n s,
ma gn e t i c
fi e lds,
ce n t r i -
fuga l
fo r ce s,
t h e
pull
o f
gr a vi t y...
ch e mi ca l
co mpo n e n t s,
t h e
ga se s
o f t h e
a t mo sph e r e ,
o do r s,
t o n e co lo r s... t h e
co mpo si t i o n
a n d
r e a r r a n ge me n t
o f a
27
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
h ydr o ca r bo n
mo le cule . On e fo r t h -
co mi n g
fi lm e ve n ma ke s a
pr e t t y
fa i r
t r y
a t
vi sua li zi n g i n fi n i t y.
3)
An i ma t e t h e i n a n i ma t e . C h r o mo -
so me s ca n ch o o se t h e i r
pa r t n e r s, di gi t s
st r uggle
t o
e sca pe
t h e
ca pt i vi t y
o f a
plus si gn ,
musi ca l n o t e s
ch a n ge pla ce s
o n a ch o r d
la dde r ,
a dve r bs
li t e r a lly
mo di fy
t h e i r
ve r bs,
n o un s
ch a n ge a p-
pe a r a n ce
a s
t h e y
do n t h e i r
a dje ct i ve s,
a n d t h e si de s o f a n
e qui la t e r a l t r i a n gle
fo ld
up
li ke a clo t h e s
dr ye r
t o de mo n -
st r a t e t h e i r
e qua l le n gt h s.
4)
Re -cr e a t e
ph ysi ca l o bje ct s
wh i ch
a r e
e xt i n ct ,
i n a cce ssi ble t o t h e
ca me r a ;
o r
de pi ct
t h e
"fut ur e ."
Th e i n fi n i t e
sce n e do ck st o r e d a t t h e
t i p
o f t h e
a r t i st 's
pe n ci l
ca n r e bui ld t h e
Pyr a mi ds,
i n ve n t t h e
wh e e l,
r e e n a ct t h e Ice
Age ,
br i n g
ba ck t h e di n o sa ur s fo r a r e t ur n
e n ga ge me n t (r e me mbe r
t h e Ri t e s o f
Spr i n g se que n ce s
i n
Fa n t a si a ?),
r e bui ld
t h e la n d
br i dge s
wh i ch o n ce co n n e ct e d
t h e co n t i n e n t s a n d
pe o ple
t h e m wi t h
t h e
mi gr a t i o n s
o f
lo n g-fo r go t t e n
r a ce s.
Th e a n i ma t o r ca n e xa mi n e ma r i n e li fe
mi le s be lo w t h e
de e pe st
de sce n t o f t h e
ba t h ysph e r e
a n d li ft a
squa r e
mi le o f
se a wa t e r fr o m i t s
e n ve lo pi n g
o ce a n t o
se pa r a t e
i t s ch e mi ca l co n st i t ue n t s. He
ca n de lve un de r t h e e a r t h t o
ge t
a fo cus
o n h i dde n
ge o lo gi ca l
st r a t a : h e ca n
t r a ce t h e
pa t h
o f
un de r gr o un d spr i n gs,
sh o w
wh y t h e y
flo w,
a n d de mo n st r a t e
t h e i r
r e la t i o n sh i p
t o t h e wa t e r t a ble .
He ca n so a r i n t o
spa ce
t o
e xplo r e
t h e
Mi lky Wa y,
a n d
br i n g
t h e va st so la r
syst e m
i n t o
co mpr e h e n si ble sco pe .
Th e
smo ki n g
clo ud o f a vo lca n o do e s n o t
o bscur e h i s
vi e w,
n o r do e s t h e fle sh o f
t h e
bo dy
co n ce a l i t s bo n e st r uct ur e .
An d h i s
pr e vi e w
o f
t h i n gs
t o
co me ,
t h e
Wo r ld o f To mo r r o w a n d i t s
wa ys,
i s
li mi t e d
o n ly by
t h e cr e a t o r 's
ca pa bi li -
t i e s i n
i ma gi n a t i o n .
5)
Br o a de n t h e
pe r so n a l,
a n d
ge n e r -
a li ze t h e
spe ci fi c.
So me o f t h e
ve r y
di r e ct
subje ct
ma t t e r i n
Di sn e y's St o i y
o f
Me n st r ua t i o n co uld h a ve be e n o f-
fe n si ve a n d i n de li ca t e i f
pr e se n t e d
i n
t e r ms o f a
li vi n g
a ct r e ss. In t h e sa me
pr o duce r 's
Da wn
o f
Be t t e r
Li vi n g,
h a d
t h e h o use i n wh i ch t h e a ct i o n ce n t e r e d
be e n a n a ct ua l h o use o n a n a ct ua l
st r e e t ,
i t wo uld h a ve ca r r i e d n o i de n t i -
fi ca t i o n fa ct o r t o mo st o f t h e a udi e n ce .
Th e Br o t h e r h o o d
o f
Ma n i n li ve a ct i o n
wo uld h a ve t e n de d t o
pr o be
i t s br o a d
pr o ble ms
i n t e r ms o f i n di vi dua l a ct o r s'
pe r so n a li t i e s
r a t h e r t h a n o f un i ve r sa l-
i ze d r a ce s. Th e
pe culi a r po we r
o f a n i -
ma t i o n t o
de pe r so n a li ze ,
a n d t o
ge n e r -
a li ze ,
pe r mi t s
t h e me di um t o
pr e se n t
such br o a d
pr o ble ms
i n t e r ms o f t h e i r
full
sco pe .
6)
C h a r a ct e r i ze a n d
symbo li ze .
In t h e
h a n ds o f a
t r uly
cr e a t i ve (a n d co n -
sci e n t i o us)
cr a ft sma n ,
t h i s
po we r go e s
fa r
be yo n d
t h e
e le me n t a r y st a ge
o f
pa i n t i n g
a r ms a n d
le gs
o n a
pi ll
a n d
ca lli n g
h i m Vi ct o r Vi t a mi n .
Tr uly
cr e a t i ve
t h i n ki n g
ca n "ch a r a ct e r i ze " a n
o bje ct
o r fo r ce o r i de a i n such a t r ut h -
pr o je ct e d
fa sh i o n t h a t t h e e sse n ce o f i t s
i n n e r n a t ur e ca n be
br o ugh t
o ut a s a
vi sua l, do mi n a n t ,
ch a r a ct e r i st i c: Th e
a n i ma t e d so un d t r a ck i n Fa n t a si a wa s
t h e
pr i n ci ple
o f vi br a t i o n "i n t h e fle sh ."
Un r e a so n i n g o bje ct s
o r fo r ce s ca n be
si gn i fi ca n t ly
mo t i va t e d:
gr e e dy
bla ck
ca n ce r ce lls ca n t h r ust t h e i r wa y
t h r o ugh
t h e blo o d st r e a m wi t h
fr i gh t -
e n i n g
ma le vo le n ce ...
mi dge t
Vi br a -
t i o n ca n
st i n g gi a n t
Re so n a n ce i n t o r e -
i n fo r ci n g
h i s fe e ble
cr y.
An
e a ge r
li t t le
lo co mo t i ve ca n
push
ba ck t h e wi lde r -
n e ss a n d
dr o p
o ff i t s lo a d o f ci vi li za t i o n
i n i t s wa ke . An d wh e n i t i s
n e ce ssa r y
t o a n ch o r a
po i n t
wi t h a r e me mbe r a ble
symbo li c i ma ge ,
a r a di o a n t e n n a ca n
28
C ARTOON IN THE C LASSROOM
co ck a n a t t e n t i ve e a r ...
mi gr a t i n g
t r i be s ca n be vi e we d fr o m a fa r a s
plo ddi n g
li n e s o n t h e
sph e r e
o f t h e
wo r ld... da r k clo uds o f
"i r r e gula r i t y"
ca n blo t o ut a co smi c sun di a l. In ci -
de n t a lly,
wi t h i n t h i s
po we r
o f ch a r a c-
t e r i za t i o n li e s o n e se cr e t o f a n i ma t i o n 's
a bi li t y
t o
gi ld cla r i t y
wi t h i n t e r e st -
h o ldi n g
"e n t e r t a i n me n t ,"
e spe ci a lly
t h a t t o uch o f
i n di ge n o us
h umo r wh i ch
ma y
ma ke a
po i n t
mo r e r e me mbe r a ble
t h a n t h e
st r a i gh t
t r e a t me n t .
Tr ue ,
t h i s
po we r
i s o ft e n mi suse d. But i t n e e d n o t
be i f t h e ma ke r wi ll a vo i d t h e
e a sy
i n t e r -
po la t i o n s,
a n d,
by
t h e fr e sh but
lo gi ca l
ma n i pula t i o n
o f
pr o ps
wh i ch must be
o n t h e scr e e n
a n ywa y
t o ma ke h i s
po i n t ,
ke e p
h i s "r o o t s i n t r ut h ."
7)
Di st i ll a n d
de pi ct "pr o ce ss."
Li ve
a ct i o n ca n a ch i e ve so me
e xt r a o r di n a r y
r e sult s wi t h
mo n t a ge ,
ma t ch e d di s-
so lve s,
fa st a n d slo w
cr a n ki n g,
t i me -
la pse ph o t o gr a ph y,
a n d
st o p
mo t i o n .
But wh e r e t h e
subje ct
de ma n ds
i t ,
a n i -
ma t i o n ca n
go be yo n d a n y
o f t h e se
t e ch n i que s
t o sh o w a
pr o ce ss
i n i t s co m-
ple t e , flo wi n g,
st e p-by-st e p co n t i n ui t y,
ma n i pula t i n g
t h e se ve r a l
po we r s
de -
scr i be d a bo ve t o di st i ll t h e
pr o ce ss
t o
i t s
si mple
e sse n ce a n d
pr e se n t
i t wi t h
i t s ba si c
me a n i n g
a n d r e me mbe r a ble
si gn i fi ca n ce .
A fla t
ge o me t r i c
a r e a ca n
e xpa n d
i n t o a cube a s we wa t ch . A blue -
pr i n t
ca n
gr o w
i n t o a h o use . Oi l-
be a r i n g
sa n ds ca n be la i d do wn
t h r o ugh
t h e
a ge s.
A vi o li n ca n e vo lve
fr o m a wa r r i o r 's
bo wst r i n g.
Gla n ds ca n
fun ct i o n a n d fo o d be
di ge st e d.
Mo i s-
t ur e ca n
e va po r a t e
a n d co n de n se . A
vo t e ca n le a d a
pa r a de up t h r o ugh
t h e
le ve ls o f
r e pr e se n t a t i ve go ve r n me n t
un t i l i t
co mpe ls
t h e r a t i fi ca t i o n o f a
t r e a t y.
So much fo r t h e ma i n
po we r s
o f t h e
a n i ma t e d me di um. Th e r e a r e
o t h e r s,
ma n y
o t h e r s,
but
t h e y
a r e
i mpli ci t
i n
t h o se wh i ch h a ve be e n ske t ch e d.
Th e se
po we r s, e xt r a o r di n a r i ly
fle x-
i ble ,
ca n be
ma n i pula t e d by
t h e fi lm
t e a ch e r t o bui ld a
st o r y
st r uct ur e o n
a n y
o n e o f t h e t h r e e co mmo n t r e a t -
me n t ba se s.
By
t h e di r e ct
a ppr o a ch ,
fo r
e xa mple , "t h i n gs
wh i ch a r e
e qua l
t o
t h e sa me
t h i n g"
ca n be
supe r i mpo se d
t o sh o w t h a t
t h e y
a r e
"e qua l
t o e a ch
o t h e r ,"
a n d t h e sh e ll o f a
ga so li n e
e n gi n e st r i ppe d a wa y
t o sh o w t h e wo r k-
i n g cycle
o f a
di a gr a mma t i c pi st o n . By
t h e dr a ma t i ze d
t r e a t me n t ,
a n
a ggr e ssi ve
De ma n d a n d a
co y Supply
ca n fi n d
t h e i r
t ug
o f wa r
umpi r e d by
a fluc-
t ua t i n g
Pr i ce . But i t i s
pr o ba bly
i n t h e
fi e ld o f
a n a lo gy
t h a t t h e
po we r s
o f a n i -
ma t i o n fi n d t h e i r mo st e ffe ct i ve
e xpr e s-
si o n .
In t h e r e a lm o f t h e a bst r a ct i o n o r
pr i n ci ple ,
i f a
pi ct ur e
i s wo r t h a
t h o usa n d
wo r ds,
a
co n vi n ci n g
a n d co m-
pe lli n g a n a lo gy ma y
be wo r t h fi ve
t h o usa n d. It i de n t i fi e s t h e n e w
subje ct
wi t h
so me t h i n g a lr e a dy a cce pt e d by
t h e
vi e we r ,
un de r st o o d
by
h i m,
a n d i n -
clude d i n h i s
i n ve n t o r y
o f
e xpe r i e n ce ;
i t i n t r o duce s t h e un fa mi li a r i n t e r ms
o f t h e fa mi li a r . An d o f co ur se t h e i m-
a gi n a t i ve a n a lo gy
i s
a n i ma t i o n 's me a t .
In a n i ma t e d
a n a lo gy,
fo r
e xa mple ,
t h e fo r ce o f
gr a vi t y
be co me s a
ma gn e t ;
di se a se
ge r ms
be co me
i n va di n g
a r mi e s
wh i ch i n fi lt r a t e t h e
bo dy's de fe n se s;
a
cyclo t r o n
i s o ve r la i d wi t h a
t a r ge t
r a n ge ;
t h e musi ca l o ve r t o n e s
ma y
be
ch a r a ct e r i ze d a s
a cr o ba t s,
wh o
pe r fo r m
o n t h e
t r a pe ze
o f a
vi br a t i n g
vi o li n
st r i n g. Di sn e y's
fi lm,
Si gh t ,
a ft e r a n i -
ma t i n g by
di r e ct
a ppr o a ch
t h e a ct ua l
o pe r a t i o n
o f t h e h uma n
e ye , pa r a lle le d
t h e sa me a ct i o n i n t e r ms o f a Ko da k
a n a lo gy;
a n d
t h e n , t o dr a w t h e co n -
clusi o n
vi sua lly
o n t h e scr e e n r a t h e r
29
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
t h a n
ve r ba lly
i n t h e
n a r r a t i o n , t h e
a r t i st use d h i s
pe culi a r po we r
t o li n k
a n i ma t i o n a n d
a ct ua li t y t o ge t h e r
i n
t h e sa me sce n e a n d
supe r i mpo se d
t h e
o pe r a t i n g
ca me r a
upo n
t h e
si mi la r ly
o pe r a t i n g e ye .
Wh e n t h e sh o r t
se que n ce
wa s
fi n i sh e d,
t h e a n i ma t e d
a n a lo gy
h a d
e mbe dde d a n un fa mi li a r a bst r a ct i o n
i n t h e co n cr e t e n e ss o f t h e vi e we r 's o wn
fa mi li a r li fe
e xpe r i e n ce .
At t h i s
po i n t ,
o n e
t h i n g
must be
a dmi t t e d. So li t t le a n i ma t e d e duca -
t i o n a l
fo o t a ge
h a s be e n
pr o duce d
t h a t
t h e
po ssi bi li t i e s
li st e d a bo ve a r e mo r e
i n t h e n a t ur e o f fo r e ca st t h a n
r e ca pi t u-
la t i o n -ca mpa i gn pr o mi se s.
Ho we ve r ,
t h e ca n di da t e ca n
po i n t
t o h i s e xce lle n t
r e co r d i n t h e t h e a t r i ca l fi e ld t o i n di -
ca t e wi t h co n si de r a ble
va li di t y
t h a t
ce r t a i n
pr o ve d
t r e a t me n t
t e ch n i que s,
i n h e r e n t i n t h e me di um a n d
pr a ct i ca lly
pe culi a r
t o
i t ,
ca n be
e xpe ct e d
t o
i mple -
me n t t h e
po we r s
h e cla i ms fo r
t e a ch i n g.
Th e se
t e ch n i que s
a r e ,
i n t h e
ma i n ,
t h e
fo llo wi n g:
A)
Se le ct i o n . Wh e r e a s t h e li ve -a ct i o n
di r e ct o r must
a cce pt t h i n gs
i n so me de -
gr e e
a s h e fi n ds
t h e m,
t h e a n i ma t i o n
a r t i st h a s
co mple t e
di scr i mi n a t i o n wi t h
r e spe ct
t o wh a t h e sh a ll
"st a ge ."
He ca n
e li mi n a t e o r subo r di n a t e
a n y clut t e r i n g
e n vi r o n me n t i n o r de r t o
spo t li gh t
t h e
si gn i fi ca n t
e sse n ce o f t h e
po i n t
a t i ssue .
A
symph o n y
sco r e ca n di st i ll i t s
t h e me ;
blo o d
wi pe s a wa y
t o di sclo se t h e sur -
ge o n 's o pe r a t i o n ;
a
pa r a gr a ph
fa de s
o ff be h i n d i t s
pun ct ua t i o n .
B) Si mpli fi ca t i o n pe r mi t s
t h e a n i ma -
t o r t o
st r i p
t h e ma t h e ma t i ca l
co mple xi -
t i e s fr o m o ur a cr o ba t s o f t h e h a r mo n i c
se r i e s a n d sh o w
o n ly
t h e i r
si gn i fi ca n t
i n t e r va l
r e la t i o n sh i ps
t o t h e fun da me n -
t a l
t o n e ,
o r t o r e duce a n i n t r i ca t e t ur -
bi n e t o t h e
co mpr e h e n si ble si mpli ci t y
o f a wa t e r wh e e l.
C )
Accumula t i o n e n a ble s t h e fi lm
t e a ch e r t o st a r t wi t h a ba se e le me n t a n d
a dd
o t h e r s,
e a ch "r e la t e d" a s i t e n t e r s
t h e
scr e e n ,
un t i l a
co mple t e d a sse mbly
h a s be e n ma de
co mpr e h e n si ble
bo t h i n
fr a ct i o n a n d i n sum. Bo n e s ca n
gr o w
i n t o a
ma n ,
t ube s a n d va lve s i n t o a
t r umpe t , blue pr i n t s
i n t o a
ma ch i n e ,
pa r t s
o f
spe e ch
i n t o a se n t e n ce . An d
wh e n t h e
t e ch n i que
i s r e ve r se d i n t h e
pr o ce ss
o f
Subt r a ct i o n ,
a
ga so li n e
e n -
gi n e
r e duce s
pa r t by pa r t
t o i t s cr a n k-
sh a ft
(t o
de mo n st r a t e t h e co n ve r si o n o f
r e ci pr o ca t i n g
mo t i o n t o
r o t a r y),
a n d a
musi ca l Ba mbi di sca r ds h i s
"pe r so n -
a li t y"
o f
me lo dy
a n d h i s "fle sh " o f h a r -
mo n y
t o
la y
ba r e h i s ske le t o n o f
r h yt h m.
D) Exa gge r a t i o n ,
t h e t e a mma t e o f Se -
le ct i o n i n t h e a r t o f
ca r i ca t ur e ,
pe r mi t s
t h e
pla ci n g
o f
e mph a si s
a n d a cce n t e x-
a ct ly
wh e r e t h e t e a ch e r wa n t s i t . Th e r e
n e e d be n o
do ubt ,
i n a fi lm o n He r e d-
i t y, co n ce r n i n g
wh i ch ch a r a ct e r i st i cs
a r e do mi n a n t a n d wh i ch
r e ce ssi ve ;
n o
n a r r a t o r n e e d t e ll t h e a udi e n ce wh a t t o
wa t ch ,
fo r t h e
po i n t
i s o n t h e scr e e n
wh e r e i t
be lo n gs, h e i gh t e n e d by e xa g-
ge r a t i o n
i n t o a n un mi st a ka ble a n d r e -
me mbe r a ble co n clusi o n . A le ve r ca n
vi sua lly
mo ve a mo un t a i n . Ge o me t r i ca l
pr o gr e ssi o n
ca n fi ll a un i ve r se wi t h
"do uble d"
o bje ct s
i n t h e
t wi n kli n g
o f a
se que n ce .
E) Juxt a po si t i o n
e a se s t h e vi sua li -
za t i o n o f co n t r a st s a n d
r e la t i o n sh i ps.
Th e
juxt a po si t i o n
ca n be
h o r i zo n t a l,
wh e r e i n a
st a ge co a ch
a n d a lo co mo t i ve
ma y a ppe a r
si de
by
si de t o
fi gh t
t h e i r
ba t t le fo r e co n o mi c
supr e ma cy. Juxt a -
po si t i o n
i n
de pt h
i s t h e o ld
t e ch n i que
o f
supe r po si t i o n , wh e r e by
a n i so sce le s
t r i a n gle
ca n be la i d
upo n
i t s
e qui la t e r a l
br o t h e r t o de mo n st r a t e t h e i r di ffe r -
e n ce s. An d
juxt a po si t i o n
i n
pr o gr e ssi o n
ma ke s
po ssi ble
t h a t
flo wi n g-co n t i n ui t y,
30
C ARTOON IN THE C LASSROOM
un br o ke n
"mo n t a ge ,"
di scusse d a mo -
me n t
a go ,
wh i ch i s so use ful i n
po r t r a y-
i n g
t h e va r i o us so r t s o f
e vo lut i o n a r y
pr o ce sse s.
F)
Pe n e t r a t i o n i s a n i ma t i On 's we ll-
kn o wn
X-r a y e ye .
But i t ca n n o w
go
be -
yo n d
t h e o ld
cut a wa y t e ch n i que
a n d,
pa r t i cula r ly
wh e r e t h e
Mult i pla n e
ca m-
e r a i s
a va i la ble ,
pe r mi t
t h e si mult a n e -
o us
st a gi n g
o f
mult i ple
le ve ls. Th e
a n i ma t o r ca n vi e w i n t e r n a l co mbust i o n
fr o m i n si de t h e
cyli n de r
wa lls,
e xa mi n e
a
sph e r e
fr o m i t s
ce n t e r ,
r e duce h i dde n
st r a t a t o cr o ss
se ct i o n ,
a n d
e xplo r e a n y
o r ga n
o f t h e h uma n
bo dy
n o t
o n ly
i n
r e n de r e d
pe r spe ct i ve
but i n
mult i ple -
le ve l
r e la t i o n sh i p
t o t h e o t h e r
o r ga n s.
G)
Mut a t i o n ,
use d
pr i n ci pa lly
a s a
me a n s o f
pr o je ct i n g r e a li t y
t o fa n t a st i c
a n a lo gy,
i s n o t
n e a r ly
a s e so t e r i c a s
i t so un ds.
Eve r y t h e a t e r go e r
i s co n di -
t i o n e d t o
se e i n g
ca r t o o n
e ye s
t ur n i n t o
bi n o cula r s,
h a n ds t r a n smut e i n t o
pli e r s,
a ca n n i ba l's vi ct i m i n t o a h o t
do g,
a n d
so o n . It i s n o t
r e a lly
a fa r
st e p
fr o m t h i s
so r t o f
t h i n g
t o t h e
t r a n smut i n g
o f a
blo wt o r ch i n t o a r o cke t
mo t o r ,
a co ld
fr o n t i n t o a
sn o wplo w,
o r a n ume r i -
ca l fr a ct i o n i n t o
mo vi n g pr o po r t i o n a l
sh a pe s.
Of t h e
ma n y
o t h e r
t e ch n i que s, o n ly
fo ur wo uld se e m t o r a t e me n t i o n i n
t h i s br i e f a r t i cle .
Ma n i pula t i o n
le t s us
so r t a n d r e a sso r t o ur
pr o ps
a n d mo ve
t h e m a bo ut : mo un t a i n s r e a r t h e mse lve s
a n d r i ve r s
be gi n
t o flo w o n a n i ma t e d
ma ps;
t h e
di gi t s
i n a
si mple -di vi si o n
e qua t i o n
a r e
ma n i pula t e d
i n t o a fr a c-
t i o n ;
a
st r a i gh t
co lumn o f a i r i s t wi st e d
i n t o t h e
lo o ps
o f a t uba . Dr a ma t i za t i o n
h e lps
ma ke o ur
po i n t s
wi t h vi vi d r e -
me mbe r a bi li t y:
a n o ve r lo a de d fuse
do e s a n
Edga r Ke n n e dy
bur n be fo r e i t
fi n a lly
blo ws;
a t a ct i le
i mpulse
r a ce s i t s
me ssa ge up t h r o ugh
t h e n e r vo us
sys-
t e m;
a n e xci t e d e xcla ma t i o n
po i n t
sh o ve s a
que r ulo us que st i o n
ma r k o ff
t h e cli ff a t t h e e n d o f a
se n t e n ce ;
ve r bs
be co me
vi sua lly
a ct i ve o r
pa ssi ve .
Th e
St o ck de vi ce s o f t h e
a n i ma t o r -dy-
n a mi c
di a gr a ms,
la be ls,
do t t e d
li n e s,
a r -
r o ws, ci r cle s,
supe r i mpo se d ma gn i fyi n g
gla sse s, fo o t pr i n t s,
a ct i o n
gr a ph s,
a n d
wh a t n o t
e lse -i mple me n t
t h e di r e ct
a p-
pr o a ch
wi t h
cla r i t y.
Th e
Symbo li ze d
so un d o f a
gr un t i n g
le ve r ,
a
ya wn i n g
di gi t ,
o r a
pr e da t o r y
ve r b
r o a r i n g
a t i t s
o bje ct
br o a de n s t h e
i ma ge be yo n d
t h e
bo un da r i e s o f t h e fr a me t o
h e i gh t e n
i t s
r e me mbe r a ble
si gn i fi ca n ce .
Th e se t e ch -
n i que s
a r e a lmo st
i n va r i a bly
use d i n
co mbi n a t i o n ,
a n d
a n y gi ve n
sh o r t fi lm
wi ll
usua lly
co n t a i n a t le a st a h i n t o f a ll
o f t h e m.
An d
fi n a lly,
t o
co mple t e
t h e t o o l ki t :
i n t h a t a r e a wh e r e li ve a ct i o n a n d a n i -
ma t i o n
o ve r la p,
t h e t wo me di a ca n
be
e ffe ct i ve ly
co mbi n e d i n t h e sa me
fr a me s. It i s a n a t ur a l
pr o gr e ssi o n
fr o m
t h e li ve
Edga r Be r ge n fa i n t i n g
a t t h e
si gh t
o f t h e ca r t o o n Gi a n t i n Fun a n d
Fa n cy
Fr e e t o t h e
a da pt a t i o n
o f t h e
sa me
t e ch n i que
t o
t e a ch i n g a ppli ca -
t i o n s,
wh e r e i n t e a ch e r s a sk us t o scr e e n
such
pr i n ci ple -fa ct
co mbi n a t i o n s a s a n
a n i ma t e d Fr i ct i o n
gr i n di n g sa n dpa pe r
a ga i n st
a li ve -a ct i o n
be a r i n g,
a n i ma t e d
i mpr e ssi o n s e n t e r i n g
a li ve
bo y's e ye s
a n d e a r s a n d
e me r gi n g
fr o m h i s li ve
mo ut h a s a n i ma t e d
wo r ds,
a n i ma t e d
so un d wa ve s
spr e a di n g
i n a n
e xpa n d-
i n g sph e r e
fr o m a li ve -a ct i o n
o r ch e st r a ,
a li ve wo r kma n
le a vi n g
a t r a i l o f a n i -
ma t e d
fo o t pr i n t s
be h i n d h i m
(t h us
t r a n sfo r mi n g
a "t i me fo r m" i n t o a
"spa ce fo r m").
Th i s co mbi n a t i o n t e ch -
n i que
i s
e xpe n si ve ,
but i n ce r t a i n
r ug-
ge d spo t s
wi ll
just i fy
i t s co st .
It i s a lmo st
la bo r i n g
t h e
po i n t
t o co n -
clude t h a t t h e sum o f a ll t h e se
pe culi a r
31
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
po we r s
a n d
t e ch n i que s
i s a n e w ki n d
o f e n t e r t a i n me n t -fun ct i o n a l e n t e r t a i n -
me n t .
Th i s,
i n
co mpe t e n t
cr e a t i ve
h a n ds,
i s e n t e r t a i n me n t i n i t s st r i ct
se n se o f
le gi t i ma t e ly a t t r a ct i n g
a n d sus-
t a i n i n g
a ct i ve a udi e n ce i n t e r e st i n t h e
subje ct
a t i ssue . An d t h i s
fa cult y
o f
fun ct i o n a l e n t e r t a i n me n t
pe r mi t s
a
fr e sh ,
i n t e r e st i n g, a ppe a li n g,
a n d r e -
me mbe r a ble t r e a t me n t o f a bst r a ct sub-
je ct s
wh i ch i n o t h e r me di a o f ma ss
co mmun i ca t i o n wo uld t e n d t o be dull.
In t e r ms o f i t s
ve r y
r e a l
po t e n t i a l,
a n i ma t i o n fo r
t e a ch i n g pur po se s,
li ke
a ll
t e a ch i n g
fi lm,
i s n o w i n a n
e mbr y-
o n i c
st a ge .
Th e se r i o us
da n ge r
t o i t s
fut ur e ut i li za t i o n i s t h a t i t
ma y
be use d
mo r e
wi de ly
t h a n
wi se ly,
a n d t h a t i t
wi ll be use d t o o
much ;
mo r e
spe ci fi -
ca lly,
t h a t i t wi ll be
a ppli e d
o ut si de
o f
i t s
pr o pe r
a r e a .
Th e a n i ma t e d me di um sh o uld n o t
be
r e ga r de d
a s a so r t o f un i ve r sa l
wr e n ch wh i ch t ur n s a ll n ut s.
An y a t -
t e mpt
t o i n va de li ve a ct i o n 's fi e ld o f
fa csi mi le r e a li sm i s a n i n vi t a t i o n t o
mi ss a
bo a t ;
t h e
r e sult i n g pi ct ur e
lo se s t h e e sse n t i a l i de n t i fi ca t i o n a n d
va li di t y
o f li ve a ct i o n a n d co st s a lo t
mo r e . Ot h e r
subje ct s si mply
do n o t
n e e d a n i ma t i o n o r mo t i o n
t e ch n i que s
o f
a n y
ki n d,
but a n i ma t i o n
ma y
be
fo r ce d i n wh e r e sli de fi lms o r st a t i c di a -
gr a ms
wo uld h a ve be e n
pe r fe ct ly
a de -
qua t e
fo r t h e
jo b
a t h a n d.
An d e ve n wh e n a
subje ct le gi t i ma t e ly
r e qui r e s
t h e use o f
a n i ma t i o n ,
t h e r e a r e
ma n y pi t fa lls a lo n g
t h e cr e a t i ve
pa t h .
Th e r e i s a co n st a n t
t e mpt a t i o n ,
i n
fr a mi n g
t h e
st o r y,
t o se ll o ut
ch e a p,
t o
do i t t h e
e a sy wa y
r a t h e r t h a n be a t o n e 's
br a i n s o ut
di st i lli n g
t h e
co n ce pt
a n d
i ma ge s
t o t h a t ut t e r a n d
co mple t e
si m-
pli ci t y
o f
t e lli n g
wh i ch t h e me di um
r e qui r e s.
It i s e a si e r t o st uff i n a n i n t e r -
po la t e d ga g
t h a n t o se a r ch o ut t h e i n -
di ge n o us
bi t o f fr e sh
busi n e ss;
e a si e r t o
use t r i cks t h a n t r ut h wh e n a "cle ve r "
ma t ch e d di sso lve ca n co ve r a bo t h e r -
so me h o le i n t h e
lo gi c;
e a si e r t o use a
mult i pli ci t y
o f
i ma ge s,
wi t h
co n se que n t
lo ss o f
un i t y
a n d
si n gle i mpr e ssi o n ;
e a si e r t o use t h e
i ma ge s
t h a t co me fi r st
t o mi n d but a r e
a pt
t o be un fa mi li a r t o
t h e a udi e n ce
(t h e
se i smo gr a ph
di a l vs.
t h e
r i pple s
o n a
po o l)
t h a n t o
ke e p
pr o bi n g
fo r t h e
a pt i ma ge
t h a t wi ll
e st a bli sh i t s
si gn i fi ca n ce
i n st a n t ly.
Immi gr a n t s
fr o m o t h e r me di a fa ll
fo r t h e
t e mpt a t i o n
t o use
subt le t y
i n a
fi e ld wh e r e
cla r i t y
i s
pa r a mo un t ;
t o
o ve r lo a d t h e
ch a r a ct e r s wi t h
ga b
i n a
me di um
wh i ch ,
la cki n g
so ft bo so ms
a n d h a r d sh o ulde r s t o sust a i n i n t e r e st
un de r
le n gt h y di a lo gue ,
must
ke e p
i t s
ch a r a ct e r s so
co n st a n t ly
i n
i n t e r e st i n g
mo t i o n t h a t t h e wo r d "No " i s a fa t li n e .
Th e r e i s a
t e n de n cy
t o duck t h e mo -
n o t o n o us de t a i l o f
st o r y
wo r k wh i ch r e -
so lve s t h e
ba ck-a n d-fo r t h
pr o gr e ssi o n s
i n t o a
st r a i gh t st o r y
li n e , r e duce s t o
o r de r t h e co n fusi o n o f
mult i ple
di s-
so lve s,
a n d cut s i n t h e
i n e vi t a bi li t y
o f
h o n e st
lo gi ca l
se que n ce
wh i ch
a ut o ma t -
i ca lly
i n sur e s smo o t h
pi ct o r i a l
flo w.
A succe ssful r e sult i n a n i ma t i o n de -
ma n ds mo r e i n t h e
wa y
o f cr e a t i ve a bi l-
i t y,
i n t ui t i ve
fe e li n g
fo r t h e
ph i lo so ph y
o f t h e
me di um,
a bi li t y
t o t h i n k i n i m-
a ge s
r a t h e r t h a n
wo r ds,
a n d
do wn r i gh t
ye a r s
o f
pr a ct i ca l
wo r ki n g e xpe r i e n ce
i n i t s
t e ch n i que s,
t h a n
a n y
o t h e r mo de
o f ma ss
e xpr e ssi o n .
Act ua lly,
t h e se a n d t h e
ma n y
o t h e r
"li mi t a t i o n s" a r e
e n co ur a gi n g.
Fo r ,
i n
ca r t o o n
a n i ma t i o n ,
t h e
scr e e n e d r e sult
o f
i n co mpe t e n ce , sla ckn e ss,
h a ppy
a ma -
t e ur i sm,
o r
un sh o wma n li ke
t h e o r e t i cs
i s a
pi ct ur e
wh i ch fa i ls mo r e e mba r r a ss-
i n gly
t h a n a
li ve -a ct i o n fi lm. In
fa ct ,
t h e
32
C ARTOON IN THE C LASSROOM
pe n a lt y
o f fa i lur e i s so
spe ct a cula r
t h a t
i t
pr a ct i ca lly co mpe ls
a
fun ct i o n i n g
a n -
swe r t o t h e e duca t o r s' de ma n d t h a t o ur
fi lms
t r uly "i de n t i fy, si mpli fy, cla r i fy,
a n d ma ke r e me mbe r a ble " t h e i r sub-
je ct s.
All t h i s le a ds t o t h e e n d r e sult t h a t
a n i ma t i o n ,
t h r o ugh
i t s
e xt r a o r di n a r y
fa cult y
o f di r e ct st a t e me n t a n d i t s
pe -
culi a r
po we r
t o co n cr e t i ze t h e
a bst r a ct ,
ca n li ft t h e bur de n o f t h e
me ssa ge
fr o m
t h e
"t e lli n g"
so un d t r a ck a n d mo ve i t
up
o n t h e
"sh o wi n g"
scr e e n ,
t h e r e by,
si n ce t h e e a r
fo r ge t s
but t h e
e ye
r e me m-
be r s,
i n t r o duci n g
n e w fa ct o r s o f co m-
pr e h e n si o n
a n d r e t e n t i o n wh i ch
ma y
t a ke o n
a ppr e ci a ble i mpo r t a n ce
fo r t h e
t e a ch i n g pr o ce sse s
o f t h e fut ur e .
We ll,
gr a n t e d
t h a t a n i ma t i o n ca n do
a ll t h e se
t h i n gs
t h a t a r e cla i me d fo r
i t ,
wh y
h a s i t be e n use d so
li t t le ;
n o t much
mo r e t h a n a t o ke n
fo o t a ge
i n t h e wh o le
br o a d fi e ld o f fa ct ua l ma t e r i a l?
Pa r t ly,
i t i s be ca use t h e vi t a l
po o l
o f t r a i n e d
a n d a ble t a le n t i s
de fi n i t e ly
li mi t e d a n d
n o t
qui ckly e xpa n de d.
Th i s i s a busi -
n e ss o f o ld
h a n ds,
a n d t h e ba si c
cr e a t o r ,
t h e t r ue
"vi sua li ze r ,"
i s a r a r e a n i ma l.
It i s n o t
e n o ugh
t o h a n d a n a r r a t i o n o r
o ut li n e ,
co n ce i ve d i n t e r ms o f wo r ds
r a t h e r t h a n
i ma ge s,
t o a n a r t i st a n d a sk
h i m t o i llust r a t e
i t ;
a n a n i ma t e d
st o r y
must be co n ce i ve d a n d
e xe cut e d,
r i gh t
fr o m t h e
ge r m st a ge ,
i n t h e me di um.
Pa r t ly,
t o o ,
i t i s a ma t t e r o f
h i gh e r
n e ga t i ve
co st . So me o f t h e se co st s a r e
i n e sca pa ble . St o r y
co st s a r e
h i gh e r ,
fo r
a vi sua li ze d
st o r y
t a ke s mo r e t i me t o
wo r k o ut t h a n t h e ve r ba l
a ppr o a ch .
Pr o duct i o n la bo r co st s a r e
h i gh ,
fo r a n i -
ma t i o n i s a cust o m "h a n dma de "
o pe r a -
t i o n .
Tr ue ,
t h e r e a r e
le gi t i ma t e wa ys
o f
ch e a t i n g
so me o f t h i s
co st ,
e spe ci a lly
o n e duca t i o n a l fi lm.
Expe n si ve
ch a r a c-
t e r a n i ma t i o n ca n be mi n i mi ze d i n
fa vo r o f
di a gr a mma t i c po r t r a ya l,
o r
symbo li ze d by
le ss
e xpe n si ve
si lh o ue t t e s
a n d
sh a do ws;
sce n e s ca n be
pla n n e d
so
t h a t
t h e y o pe n
o n t h e
h i gh po i n t
o f t h e
a ct i o n ,
o mi t t i n g
a n i ma t e d
bui ld-up,
a n d t h e n use a n i ma t i o n
o n ly
i n t h e
si g-
n i fi ca n t co r n e r o f t h e
sce n e ,
a ga i n st
h e ld
ba ckgr o un ds;
a n i ma t i o n ca n be
"cycle d"
o r
r e pla ce d by sli di n g
ce lls,
a n d a n i llusi o n o f a n i ma t i o n ca n be i n -
e xpe n si ve ly
a ch i e ve d
by mo vi n g
t h e
ca me r a o ve r a st i ll
ba ckgr o un d.
Th e fi n a l a n swe r t o t h e co st
pr o b-
le m, h o we ve r ,
li e s i n a n
e xpa n de d
di s-
t r i but i o n .
No w,
i n a n
un de ve lo pe d
ma r ke t ,
a n i ma t i o n 's
h i gh e r n e ga t i ve
co st must be
spr e a d
o ve r a
co mpa r a -
t i ve ly
fe w
pr i n t s.
But i n t h e Un i t e d
St a t e s a lo n e
(a n d
t h e a n i ma t e d
fi lm,
be i n g e sse n t i a lly
vi sua l a n d
"si le n t ," i s
i n t e lli gi ble
a ll o ve r t h e
wo r ld)
t h e r e
a r e mo r e t h a n
lo o ,o o o
e le ct r i ca lly
se r v-
i ce d sch o o ls o f mo r e t h a n o n e
r o o m, a
ma r ke t wh i ch
ma y e ve n t ua lly just i fy
pr i n t
o r de r s i n t h e t h o usa n ds. Me r -
ch a n di si n g e xpe r i e n ce
i n o t h e r i n dus-
t r i e s i n di ca t e s t h a t wh e n we o ffe r t h e
sch o o ls
go o d
fi lms o n
go t -t o -se e
sub-
je ct s,
fi lms t h a t
h e lp
t o t e a ch e sse n t i a l
t h i n gs
be t t e r a n d
fa st e r ,
a n d t h e r e fo r e
ch e a pe r ,
a n i ma t i o n wi ll
be gi n
t o co n -
ve r t i t s o wn a bst r a ct
po t e n t i a l
ma r ke t
i n t o a co n cr e t e o n e . An d t h e
buddi n g
n o n t h e a t r i ca l
a udi e n ce ,
a lr e a dy spe n d-
i n g h e a vi ly
i n o t h e r me di a o f se lf-i m-
pr o ve me n t , ma y
we lco me a n i ma t i o n 's
a n swe r t o i t s de ma n d fo r
e n t e r t a i n i n gly
pr e se n t e d
i n fo r ma t i o n .
In t h e
pa st
fe w
mo n t h s,
Ho llywo o d
h a s
pe r i o di ca lly
be e n
r e a di n g
t h e Re -
qui e m
o ve r t h e a n i ma t i o n
i n dust r y.
Ha t o n
br e a st ,
i t wa i t s
r e ve r e n t ly
a t t h e
ya wn i n g gr a ve .
But n o fun e r a l i s co m-
ple t e
wi t h o ut a
bo dy,
a n d
n o t h i n g
i s
de a d wh i ch
pr o mi se s
t o fi ll a
vi t a l,
un i -
ve r sa l,
a n d
ur ge n t
n e e d.
33
C o f f e e i n a T e a c u p : N o t e s o n a n E n g l i s h
Adve n t u re
JOHN
PAXT ON
JOHN PAXT ON i s a s c re e n wri t e r. Hi s
s c ri p t s
i n -
c l u de
Mu rde r, My Swe e t , C o rn e re d,
So We l l Re me m-
be re d,
a n d
C ro s s f i re .
T HE N o rt h At l a n t i c wa s
ro u g h
f o r
Ju n e .
T h e
Qu e e n
Ma ry's p a n e l i n g
g ro a n e d,
a n d s h e ro l l e d o ve r. N o w a n d
t h e n a
di g n i f i e d, u n wa ry p a s s e n g e r
wo u l d s h o o t o u t o f h i s c h a i r a n d
g o
s c o o t i n g
a c ro s s t h e
c a rp e t l e s s
f l o o r o f
t h e Gra n d Sa l o n o n h i s ba c ks i de . A
di g n i f i e d
s t e wa rd wo u l d re t ri e ve h i m
a n d
re p l e n i s h
h i s dri n k....
T h i s wa s s o me t i me
a g o ,
o f c o u rs e .
A
g re a t
de a l h a s
h a p p e n e d
s i n c e t h e n .
We we re o n o u r
wa y
t o Lo n do n wi t h a
s c ri p t
we h a d ma de f ro m
Ja me s
Hi l -
t o n 's
n o ve l , So We l l Re me mbe re d. We
we re
e a rn e s t ,
f e e l i n g s o me t h i n g
l i ke
p i o n e e rs .
Ot h e r Ame ri c a n s h a d
g o n e
t o
E n g l a n d
t o ma ke
p i c t u re s ,
bu t n e ve r
qu i t e
o n t h i s
s c a l e ,
wi t h t h i s
l a rg e
a
c o mp a n y,
wi t h t h i s s e n s e o f i n t e rn a -
t i o n a l
c o o p e ra t i o n ....
A
g re a t
de a l h a s
h a p p e n e d
s i n c e
t h e n ,
p a rt i c u l a rl y
o n
t h e
p o l i t i c a l
a n d e c o n o mi c l e ve l . T h e
Bri t i s h
g o ve rn me n t
h a s
ju s t
l e vi e d a
h u g e , de s p e ra t e
t a x o n o u r
f i l ms ,
f o r
o n e
t h i n g .
N o o n e kn o ws
qu i t e
wh a t i t
me a n s
ye t . C e rt a i n l y
we a re i n n o
p o s i -
t i o n t o h a ve a n
o p i n i o n
o n i t . We
u n de rs t a n d
o n l y
t h a t On e Wo rl d h a s
a rri ve d,
wro n g
e n d
t o ,
c ra wl i n g
ba c k-
wa rd. We kn o w n o w f ro m f i rs t h a n d
e xp e ri e n c e
t h a t
E n g l a n d
i s
t e rri bl y,
t e rri bl y
bro ke . We re me mbe r t h a t
by
a n y
s t a n da rds ,
e s p e c i a l l y
Ame ri c a n
s t a n da rds ,
o u r
E n g l i s h
f ri e n ds h a ve
p i t i f u l l y
f e w re c re a t i o n s a t be s t : be e r
a n d
da rt s ,
a
n i g h t
a t t h e
do g
t ra c ks ,
a
Su n da y
a t
Bri g h t o n
wh e re t h e
p e n n y
ma c h i n e s a re i n i l l
re p a i r,
a wa l k i n
t h e
c o u n t ry,
t a l k, f i l ms ,
a n d t h e i r o wn
re s o u rc e s ,
wh i c h
a re ,
o n t h e
wh o l e ,
be t t e r t h a n o u rs . We re me mbe r t h i s
a n d c a n
o n l y h o p e
t h a t t h e me n wh o
u n de rs t a n d
wh y
a do l l a r i s be t t e r t h a n
a
p o u n d
wi l l s o me h o w wo rk i t o u t . We
s t i l l be l i e ve t h a t re a l
i n t e rc h a n g e
be -
t we e n o u r t wo f i l m i n du s t ri e s wo u l d be
a
g o o d t h i n g ,
n o w t h a t t h e Re vo l u -
t i o n a ry
Wa r i s o ve r. We
h o p e
t h a t o t h e r
Ame ri c a n s wi l l be
g o i n g
t o
E n g l a n d
t o
ma ke
p i c t u re s
a n d t h a t t h e
E n g l i s h
wi l l
be
c o mi n g
h e re . It i s a va l u a bl e
e xp e ri -
e n c e e i t h e r
wa y.
An d we
h o p e
t h a t i n
t h i s
p re s e n t
c ri t i c a l
a t mo s p h e re
t h i s
s o rt o f di s c u s s i o n do e s n 't s o u n d t o o
mu c h l i ke
f i ddl i n g
o n t ri vi a l i t i e s .
We di dn 't re a l i ze h o w
p o o rl y p re -
p a re d
we we re t o
g o
t o
E n g l a n d,
a t
f i rs t .
Irvi n g
Re i s h a d
g i ve n
u s h i s
c o p y
o f t h e bo o kl e t
(wri t t e n by
t h e l a t e
E ri c
Kn i g h t ,
wa s n 't
i t ?)
t h a t h a d be e n
i s s u e d t o o u r
t ro o p s
t o
re a dy
t h e m f o r
E n g l a n d.
An d we re a d
t h a t ,
c a re f u l l y,
i n o u r l i t t e r-bu n ks . It s a i d t h e u s u a l
t h i n g s .
It c a u t i o n e d u s n o t t o mi s t a ke
t h e
E n g l i s h ma n 's
mi l d ma n n e rs f o r e f -
f e mi n a c y-f o r
h e wa s
re a l l y
a
t o u g h
f e l l o w;
i t a s ke d u s n o t t o u n de rra t e h i s
s e n s e o f h u mo r o r h i s
h o s p i t a l i t y.
Al l
t h i s
p ro ve d g o o d
a dvi c e . It o f f e re d t h e
t h e o ry
t h a t t h e Bri t i s h e r's c o de o f ma n -
n e rs ,
h i s
s e l f -c o n t a i n me n t ,
we re a l l
t ra c e a bl e t o t h e
p h ys i c a l
s ma l l n e s s o f
h i s i s l a n d. We c o n s i de re d
t h i s ,
p o n -
E 1343
C OFFE E IN A T E AC UP
de re d i t , a n d
t h o u g h t
a bo u t N e w
Yo rk,
wh e re me n a re t h ro wn e ve n c l o s e r t o -
g e t h e r
o n t h e N e w Lo t s
E xp re s s
a t s i x
o 'c l o c k,
wi t h o u t
de ve l o p i n g s h y
s e l f -
c o n t a i n me n t . We de c i de d t h e re mu s t
be a n o t h e r
re a s o n ,
t o o .
An yt h i n g
e l s e t h a t we kn e w a bo u t
t h e
E n g l i s h
h a d c o me f ro m
s c ra p s
o f
a dvi c e ,
f ro m t h e i r
f i l ms ,
t h e i r l i t e ra -
t u re ,
f ro m t h e
i n t i ma c y
o f wa rt i me
i n f o rma t i o n . We we re
p re p a re d
f o r a l -
mo s t wa rt i me
h a rds h i p ,
t o f i n d
E n g -
l a n d i n t h e mi ds t o f a c ri t i c a l
p o l i t i c a l
a n d e c o n o mi c
s t ru g g l e ,
t o e a t a
g re a t
ma n y
Bru s s e l s
s p ro u t s .
We we re
p re -
p a re d
f o r
t h a t ,
a n d e ve n l o o ke d f o r-
wa rd t o t h e
e xp e ri e n c e .
Bu t t h e re we re
c e rt a i n
t h i n g s
we we re n o t
p re p a re d
f o r-t h i n g s h a vi n g mo s t l y
t o do wi t h
o u r
re s p e c t i ve
a t t i t u de s t o wa rd wo rt h
a n d
re a l i t y,
t o wa rd f o rm a n d c o n t e n t .
On t h e s e c o n d
da y
o u t o f N e w
Yo rk,
s o me o n e
p a ra p h ra s e d
t h e o l d
jo ke , p re -
t e n di n g
t o h a ve o ve rh e a rd t h e C o l o n e l
Bl i mp
i n t h e bl a ze r
s a y
t o h i s f ri e n d a t
t h e ba r: "I'm n o t
qu i t e
s u re I l i ke t h e s e
f a s t
bo a t s ,
a c t u a l l y.
It t a ke s a t l e a s t t e n
da ys
t o
g e t
t o kn o w
re a l l y
wo rt h wh i l e
p e o p l e ."
We
l a u g h e d,
a n d
be g a n
t o e s t a bl i s h
re l a t i o n s wi t h t h e Bri t i s h wri t e r a n d
p ro du c e r
wh o we re
re t u rn i n g
f ro m
Ho l l ywo o d.
We
l i s t e n e d,
a n d
s ymp a -
t h i ze d wi t h t h e m.
T h e y
h a d be e n i n -
vi t e d t o a
p ro je c t i o n
ro o m,
a s ke d f o r
t h e i r
o p i n i o n ; t h e y
h a d
g i ve n
i t ,
a s
h o n e s t l y (t h e y h a p p e n e d
n o t t o l i ke
t h e
p i c t u re )
a s
t h e y
wo u l d h a ve do n e
i n
E n g l a n d.
T h e i r
o p i n i o n
wa s n o t
we l l re c e i ve d. We
s ymp a t h i ze d
wi t h
t h e m,
l o o ke d f o rwa rd t o mo re h o n e s t
p ro je c t i o n -ro o m
be h a vi o r a h e a d.
T h e y
o f f e re d t o h a ve a l o o k a t o u r
s c ri p t .
An d we
a c c e p t e d e a g e rl y,
c o n -
s c i e n t i o u s l y
de t e rmi n e d t o a c h i e ve t h e
re a l i t y
o f
E n g l a n d
i n o u r
p i c t u re ,
t o
s h o w
g o o d
f a i t h ,
t o
wi p e
o u t t h e
wro n g s
Ho l l ywo o d
h a d do n e t h e i r
c o u n t ry.
T h e y
di dn 't t h i n k mu c h o f o u r
s c ri p t . T h e y
f o u n d i t
u n re a l ,
i n e s s e n c e
a n d o n t h e wh o l e . We we re a bi t
s h a ke n , be c a u s e ,
a l t h o u g h
we di d n o t
c o n s i de r i t a f i n a l
dra f t ,
we h a d
a l re a dy
do c u me n t e d i t a s be s t we
c o u l d,
wi t h
t h e
p a i n s t a ki n g h e l p
o f a La n c a s h i re
g i rl
n a me d Re n e e . Bu t we
l i s t e n e d,
re me mbe ri n g
t h a t wh e n o n e a s ks f o r
a n h o n e s t
o p i n i o n
o n e
g e t s
i t . We
a s ke d f o r
s p e c i f i c
c ri t i c i s m.
T h e i r
s t ro n g e s t o bje c t i o n s
we re t o
t h e s c e n e s i n wh i c h Hi l t o n 's
h e ro ,
Ge o rg e
Bo s we l l ,
ma ke s a
f i g h t
i n a t o wn
c o u n c i l
me e t i n g
f o r t h e
a p p o i n t me n t
o f t h e h e ro i n e t o a s ma l l
l i bra ry jo b.
So me o f t h e
t e rmi n o l o g y
a n d s o me o f
t h e
p ro c e du re
we re
i n a c c u ra t e ,
bu t t h a t
wa s n o t
s e ri o u s ;
t h a t c o u l d be f i xe d.
An d t h e Ame ri c a n i s ms c o u l d be
e a s i l y
re mo ve d
(a n
E n g l i s h ma n ,
o f
c o u rs e ,
wo u l d n o t
s a y
"I
g u e s s "
wh e n h e me a n t
"I
s u p p o s e ").
Wh a t
re a l l y
a l a rme d u s
wa s t h e i r f i rm c o n vi c t i o n t h a t s u c h a
f i g h t
c o u l d n o t t a ke
p l a c e
i n a t o wn
c o u n c i l
me e t i n g
a t a l l . T h e me mbe rs
wo u l d a ddre s s e a c h o t h e r wi t h mo re
t a c t a n d
g ra c e , t h e y
wo u l d n o t
i n du l g e
i n
p e rs o n a l i t i e s .
We we re
wo rri e d,
be -
c a u s e i f t h e s e s c e n e s s h o u l d be c o me t o o
we l l -ma n n e re d
t h e y
wo u l d l i ke wi s e be -
c o me
dra ma t i c a l l y p o i n t l e s s .
We we re
u n n e c e s s a ri l y
wo rri e d,
a s
i t t u rn e d
o u t ,
bu t we di dn 't kn o w i t
t h e n . An d we di dn 't kn o w t h a t t h i s wa s
me re l y
o u r f i rs t bru s h wi t h a n e xt re me
e xa mp l e
o f a f u n da me n t a l Bri t i s h a t t i -
t u de : a
p a s s i o n a t e
c o n c e rn f o r
p ro c e -
du re a n d f o rm.
Pe rh a p s
we we re
n a i ve -c e rt a i n l y
we
h a d h e a rd o f Bri t i s h
t ra di t i o n ,-bu t
we c a me t o u n de rs t a n d t h i s a t t i t u de
35
HOLLYWOOD
QUART E RLY
g ra du a l l y.
An d we a re
t a l ki n g
a bo u t i t
n o w,
n o t i n a s e n s e o f c h a u vi n i s t i c
c ri t i c i s m,
bu t be c a u s e t h e u n de rs t a n d-
i n g
o f i t h a s i n t e re s t e d u s a n d
e xp l a i n e d
a
g re a t
de a l t o
u s ,
i n c l u di n g
s o me
a s p e c t s
o f t h e Bri t i s h
a p p ro a c h
t o f i l m
ma ki n g .
We a re
g e n e ra l i zi n g
i n
di s c u s s i n g
t h i s
a t t i t u de ,
o f c o u rs e . Bu t t h e a t t i t u de
i t s e l f s e e me d t o u s a
g e n e ra l i za t i o n .
It
s a i d t o
u s ,
c o n s t a n t l y, s t e rn l y,
t h a t t h i s
i s Bri t i s h
be h a vi o r,
t h i s i s Bri t i s h
l i f e ,
t h i s i s Bri t i s h
p ro c e du re -t h e re
a re n o
de vi a t i o n s .
So ,
i n a
s e n s e ,
a
g e n e ra l i za t i o n
wa s
f o rc e d i n t o o u r h a n ds . An d we
be g a n
t o u s e
i t ,
wi t h t h e e n t h u s i a s m o f a
s ma l l
bo y
wi t h a n e w
ru l e r;
we
be g a n
t o f i n d t h i s de vo t i o n t o f o rm a n d
p ro -
c e du re i n
e ve ryt h i n g
Bri t i s h . We f o u n d
i t i n i t s
p o s i t i ve
f o rms ,
t o o .
It t h re w a n e w
l i g h t ,
f o r
i n s t a n c e ,
o n
t h e e xc e l l e n c e o f Bri t i s h
mys t e ry
a n d
me l o dra ma ,
wh i c h i s
u s u a l l y
c o n -
s t ru c t e d wi t h
l o g i c a l
c a re ,
wi t h c o n -
s c i e n t i o u s a dh e re n c e t o t h e s o c i a l
p a ,t -
t e rn
do mi n a t i n g
t h e be h a vi o r o f mu r-
de re rs ,
we e k-e n d
g u e s t s ,
a n d
i n s p e c t o rs
f ro m Sc o t l a n d Ya rd. T h e re wa s a
p l a y
i n t h e We s t E n d l a s t
s u mme r, Gra n d
N a t i o n a l
N i g h t ,
t h e
s t o ry
o f a ma n wh o
mu rde re d h i s h o rri bl e wi f e a n d
g o t
a wa y
wi t h i t . N o t mu c h o f a
s t o ry,
a c t u -
a l l y;
bu t a s a n e xe rc i s e i n
f o rm,
a s a
c o me dy
o f
ma n n e rs ,
i t wa s
de l i g h t f u l -
a s
de l i g h t f u l
a s t h e t wo me n i n T h e
La dy
Va n i s h e s a n d
N i g h t
T ra i n ,
wh o
c l u n g ri g i dl y
t o t h e i r Oxf o rd a t t i t u de s
a n d t h e i r
g o l f
c l u bs i n t h e mi ds t o f
i n t e rn a t i o n a l c h a o s .
We l l ...
As o u r de c k-c h a i r di s c u s s i o n
p ro g -
re s s e d,
we s o me h o w f o u n d o u rs e l ve s de -
f e n di n g
t h e
i n t e g ri t y
o f Ame ri c a n
p i c -
t u re s . At o n e
p o i n t
we we re
c h a l l e n g e d
t o c i t e o n e
p i c t u re ,
o r
t wo ,
wi t h s e ri o u s
s o c i a l
me a n i n g . Amo n g
o t h e rs ,
we me n -
t i o n e d a
p a rt i c u l a r
f a vo ri t e o f
o u rs ,
C a s a bl a n c a .
Bo t h o f t h e s e me n di s mi s s e d
i t ;
o n e
o f t h e m h a d
s l e p t t h ro u g h
i t ,
t h e o t h e r
h a d f o u n d i t
e xc i t i n g , p ro f i c i e n t ,
bu t
me a n i n g l e s s .
We
a rg u e d
t h a t ,
i n
a dve n t u re -s t o ry
t e rms ,
i t h a d be e n a
da ri n g , f o rt h ri g h t
a t t a c k o n
Vi c h y
f a s c i s m a t a t i me
wh e n o u r
g o ve rn me n t
wa s s t i l l
s t ri n g -
i n g a l o n g
wi t h
Pe t a i n ;
a n d a dra ma t i -
za t i o n o f
p e rs o n a l
i s o l a t i o n i s m.
T h e y
c o u l d n o t
a g re e .
On e o f t h e m
c o n t e n de d,
h u mo ro u s l y, bri l l i a n t l y,
t h a t wh a t e ve r e f f e c t t h e
p i c t u re mi g h t
h a ve h a d
wa s
de s t ro ye d
f o r h i m t h e mo -
me n t Pa u l He n re i d
a p p e a re d
a s a
h o u n de d a n t i -N a zi
re f u g e e , we a ri n g
a
c l e a n wh i t e s u i t .
T h a t s u i t t o h i m wa s t h e
e p i t o me
o f
Ho l l ywo o d's
f a n t a s t i c
u n re a l i t y.
We
c o n t e n de d,
a n d s t i l l
do ,
t h a t t h i s i s a
p re c i o u s ,
mi s t a ke n
a p p ro a c h
t o
re a l i t y,
t h a t i t c o n f u s e s
p h ys i c a l
de t a i l wi t h
t ru t h . He n re i d's i mma c u l a t e s u i t wa s
c e rt a i n l y p h o t o g e n i c
a n d,
i n c o n t ra s t
t o t h e
di n g y do i n g s
o f
C a s a bl a n c a ,
p e r-
h a p s
e ve n
s ymbo l i c .
An d t h e ma n i n -
s i de i t
re p re s e n t e d
a ki n d o f
t ru t h ,
a
re a l
p o i n t
o f vi e w. So wh a t di d i t ma t -
t e r wh e re i t h a d be e n c l e a n e d?
We do n o t me a n t o
i mp l y, c a t e g o ri -
c a l l y,
t h a t t h e Bri t i s h a re a l l s o
p re -
o c c u p i e d
wi t h t h i s s o rt o f re a l i s t i c
de t a i l . Bu t t h e re i s i n t h e i r
a p p ro a c h
a
de e p re s p e c t
f o r t h e
ma n n e r,
t h e
f o rm,
t h e s u i t o f
c l o t h e s ,
t h e
t e a ke t t l e ,
t h e
t h i n g .
An d s o me t i me s i t a c h i e ve s
ma g -
n i f i c e n t re s u l t s -a s i n t h e
l o vi n g ,
re ve r-
e n t c a re t h a t wa s l a vi s h e d o n t h e
p ro du c t i o n
o f Di c ke n s ' Gre a t
E xp e c t a -
t i o n s .
We we re a l i t t l e
de p re s s e d by
t h e s e
36
C OFFE E
IN A T E AC UP
"c o n f e re n c e s ,"
o f
c o u rs e ,
p a rt i c u l a rl y
by
t h e c ri t i c i s m o f o u r t o wn c o u n c i l
s c e n e s . Bu t we we re de t e rmi n e d t o s e e
i f t h e c o n t e n t o f t h e s e s c e n e s c o u l d n o t
s o me h o w be c ra mme d i n t o t h e f o rm o f
a c o u n c i l
me e t i n g .
An d
s o ,
o n e wa rm
e ve n i n g (s h o rt l y
a f t e r we we re s e t t l e d i n a
h u g e ,
c ru m-
bl i n g t h i rt e e n t h -c e n t u ry
f a rmh o u s e ,
t h e
ve ry i n a de qu a c i e s
o f wh i c h we re c h e r-
i s h e d
by
i t s
o wn e rs ),
we c ro wde d i n t o
t h e C o u n c i l C h a mbe r o f t h e
Uxbri dg e
Urba n C o u n c i l .
It wa s
e xc i t i n g .
Pa c ke d i n t o o dd c o r-
n e rs wi t h t h e l o c a l
ra t e p a ye rs ,
we l i s -
t e n e d,
a n d
be g a n
t o u n de rs t a n d f o r t h e
f i rs t t i me t h e di re c t
e f f i c i e n c y
o f Bri t i s h
de mo c ra c y,
t h e c l o s e
re l a t i o n s h i p
be -
t we e n t h e s e c o u n c i l s a n d Pa rl i a me n t .
T h e re wa s a
ro u s i n g
de ba t e o n t h e
ma jo r
i s s u e -wh e t h e r o r n o t t h e l o c a l
wa t e r
s ys t e m
s h o u l d
a ma l g a ma t e
wi t h
o t h e r
s ys t e ms
o f Mi ddl e s e x a n d Lo n -
do n c o u n t i e s . It wa s
a rg u e d,
we we re
c h e e re d t o
s e e ,
wi t h
h e a t ,
p a s s i o n ,
a n d
s t ro n g p e rs o n a l f e e l i n g .
T h e La bo ri t e s
f o u g h t
wi t h
g re a t
de t e rmi n a t i o n f o r
a ma l g a ma t i o n .
T h e C o n s e rva t i ve s i de
o f t h e t a bl e re s i s t e d i t wi t h
e qu a l
de -
t e rmi n a t i o n ,
p e rh a p s
a l i t t l e mo re s ki l l -
f u l l y;
i t a c c u s e d t h e La bo r s i de -wi t h
g re a t
s e ri o u s n e s s ,
wh i c h n o o n e s e e me d
t o t a ke
s e ri o u s l y-o f
a s e c re t
a l l e g i a n c e
t o Mo s c o w. Bo t h s i de s
s p o ke
wi t h mo re
g ra c e
t h a n
yo u
wo u l d f i n d i n a c o m-
p a ra bl e
Ame ri c a n
bo dy,
bu t wi t h s u f -
f i c i e n t f i re t o s u i t t h e
p u rp o s e s
o f o u r
s c e n e s .
Re l i e ve d,
bu t
wa n t i n g
t o be
s u re ,
we we n t o n t o o n e o r t wo o t h e r c o u n c i l
me e t i n g s .
In
Wa t f o rd,
we s e n s e d f o r
t h e f i rs t t i me t h a t wi t h i n t h e
bo dy
o f
E n g l i s h
l i f e i t s e l f t h e re i s a n a mbi va l e n t
s t ru g g l e
be t we e n f o rm a n d c o n t e n t .
T h e de ba t e t h e re wa s o ve r
e me rg e n c y
h o u s i n g .
T h e c o u n c i l h a d a n
o p p o rt u -
n i t y
o f
a c qu i ri n g
a h u n dre d
f u n c t i o n a l ,
c o n c re t e h o u s e s . T h e re wa s n o
a rg u -
me n t o ve r t h e
de s p e ra t e
n e e d f o r
t h e s e
h o u s e s ;
bu t t h e re wa s vi o l e n t
o p -
p o s i t i o n
t o t h e i r
de s i g n .
A c o u n t e r-
re s o l u t i o n wa s
p ro p o s e d
t o
p re ve n t
t h e
e re c t i o n o f
a n yt h i n g
bu t h o u s e s o f t ra -
di t i o n a l
de s i g n
i n t h e a re a . T h a t wa s
de f e a t e d,
bu t
n a rro wl y.
We
g a t h e re d
t h a t wo rk wo u l d
p ro ba bl y
s t a rt o n t h e
h o u s e s i n a f e w mo n t h s .
Wi t h t h e c o u n c i l s c e n e s
re wri t t e n ,
we
s u bmi t t e d t h e
s c ri p t
t o s e ve ra l
p e o p l e
f o r f u rt h e r c ri t i c i s m. T h e i r
re a c t i o n s ,
o n t h e
wh o l e ,
we re
u n e xp e c t e d.
N o t
o n e o f t h e m vo l u n t e e re d c ri t i c i s m o f
t h e
t h e me ,
o u r
g e n e ra l a p p ro a c h
t o t h e
s t o ry,
o r t h e
ma jo r
c h a ra c t e r
de ve l o p -
me n t s -n o n e o f t h e
t h i n g s
o u r f ri e n ds
a t h o me h a d di s c u s s e d.
Pe rh a p s
t h i s wa s
re t i c e n c e ;
we h a d n o
wa y
o f
kn o wi n g .
Bu t a t
a n y
ra t e ,
mo s t o f t h e m we re c o n -
c e rn e d wi t h -a n d s o me t i me s
ve ry
mu c h
di s t u rbe d
by-t h i n g s
wh i c h we c o n s i d-
e re d i n c i de n t a l . T h e
g re a t e s t
n u mbe r
o f
c ri t i c i s ms ,
by
f a r,
h a d t o do wi t h t e a .
It i s
i n e vi t a bl e ,
o f
c o u rs e ,
i n
a n y E n g -
l i s h
n o ve l ,
t h a t a
g re a t
de a l o f t e a be
s e rve d. Hi l t o n 's wa s n o
e xc e p t i o n .
Fro m t h e
be g i n n i n g ,
o n e
p a rt i c u l a r
s c e n e h a d bo t h e re d o u r
g i rl
Re n e e . It
wa s a s c e n e i n wh i c h o u r h e ro i n e i s be -
h a vi n g
i n a
s t ra n g e , i n e xp l i c a bl e
f a s h -
i o n . Sh e f e e l s
s u dde n l y
f a i n t . Sh e i s
o f f e re d a
c u p
o f t e a . Sh e
a s ks ,
u n e xp e c t -
e dl y,
i f s h e
ma y
h a ve a
c u p
o f mi l k i n -
s t e a d. Re n e e f e l t t h a t t h e
g i rl
wo u l d
n o t a s k f o r
mi l k,
be c a u s e n o o n e o ve r
t h e
a g e
o f t e n i n
E n g l a n d
dri n ks mi l k.
It wa s a s f l a t a s t h a t . We
a rg u e d
o u r
i n t e n t i o n ,
wh i c h wa s t o c h a ra c t e ri ze
t h i s
g i rl
a s
s p e c i a l -wi l l f u l , u n e xp e c t e d,
s p o i l e d;
t h a t s h e wa s a de vi a t i o n f ro m
t h e u s u a l . Re n e e wa s
i n du l g e n t
bu t
37
HOLLYWOOD
QUART E RLY
f i rm. Sh e
s u g g e s t e d
c o c o a . We
re je c t e d
t h a t ;
i t di dn 't h a ve t h e
ri g h t
s o u n d,
a n d
t h e re t h e ma t t e r s t o o d wh e n we a rri ve d
i n
E n g l a n d.
T h e s c e n e wa s
i mme di a t e l y p o u n c e d
o n
by
a t l e a s t f o u r o f o u r c o n s c i e n t i o u s
a dvi s e rs . T h e i r mi n i mu m de ma n d wa s
f o r h o t mi l k. We a c c e de d t o t h a t .
T h e y
s t i l l f e l t we wo u l d be h o o t e d o f f t h e
E n g l i s h
s c re e n ;
f i n a l l y, we a ri l y,
we
f o u n d i t
n e c e s s a ry
t o a dd a f u l l
p a g e
t o
t h e s c e n e -a l i t t l e i n t e rs c e n e wh i c h i n i t -
s e l f a mo u n t e d t o a
c o me dy
o f ma n n e rs .
It we n t l i ke t h i s :
Ha vi n g
t a ke n s e ve ra l
s t e p s
t o wa rd
t h e do o r wi t h t h e
do g
i n h e r
a rms ,
s h e
s u dde n l y
f a l t e rs ,
a s i f
f e e l i n g
a l i t t l e
f a i n t .
Ge o rg e qu i c kl y bri n g s
a c h a i r
i n t o
p o s i t i o n
f o r
h e r,
o bs e rve s h e r wi t h
c o n c e rn .
GE ORGE : Is t h e re
a n yt h i n g ...
?
(Sh e
s h a ke s h e r
h e a d.)
OLIVIA: If I c a n re s t a mi n u t e . I mu s t
h a ve t a ke n a l l t h i s t o o
s e ri o u s l y...
GE ORGE :
(c a l l i n g
i n t o ba c k
o f
o f f i c e ):
An n i e I An n i e !
OLIVIA
(p ro t e s t i n g ):
N o ,
p l e a s e ...
(An n i e
c o me s
bu s t l i n g
i n wi t h a
t ra y f o r
Ge o rg e ,
s t o p s , s u rp ri s e d.
He t u rn s t o
h e r a s s h e t a ke s i n t h e
s c e n e .)
GE ORGE :
An n i e ,
wo u l d
yo u
f e t c h a n -
o t h e r
c u p , p l e a s e ...
OLIVIA
(p ro t e s t i n g a g a i n ):
I'm
qu i t e
a l l
ri g h t ...
GE ORGE
(f i rml y):
An o t h e r
c u p
o f
t e a ,
An n i e . Mi s s
C h a n n i n g
f e e l s a bi t f a i n t .
(An n i e p a u s e s
o n t h e n a me
C h a n n i n g ,
g l a n c e s
a t
Ge o rg e .)
GE ORGE :
Qu i c kl y,
An n i e !!
(Sh e
t u rn s ,
du bi o u s l y,
s t a rt s o u t . Ol i vi a
ra i s e s h e r
h e a d.)
OLIVIA
(s i mp l y):
C o u l d I h a ve s o me h o t
mi l k i n s t e a d?
(Ge o rg e
re a c t s
u n c e rt a i n l y,
t u rn s t o
An n i e .)
GE ORGE : A
c u p
o f h o t
mi l k, t h e n ,
An -
n i e .
AN N IE
(i n c re du l o u s l y):
Ju s t
h o t mi l k?
GE ORGE :
Aye .
AN N IE :
N o bo dy
wa n t s
ju s t
h o t mi l k.
GE ORGE
(f i rml y;
l o rd a n d
ma s t e r): Ap -
p a re n t l y
Mi s s
C h a n n i n g
do e s .
(An n i e
s h ru g s ,
t u rn s
a wa y.)
AN N IE
(a s
s h e
g o e s ):
I'l l
p u t
a l i t t l e t e a
i n i t .
E ve n t h i s
s c e n e ,
a s
f i n a l l y
s h o t ,
wa s
c ri t i c i ze d.
Ge o rg e
s h o u l d h a ve o f f e re d
Ol i vi a h i s
c u p
o f t e a
i mme di a t e l y,
ra t h e r t h a n a s k An n i e t o f e t c h a s e c o n d
c u p
f o r h e r.
La t e r,
o n t h e
s e t ,
a l i n e
t h a t
re a d,
"C a n I
g e t yo u
s o me t e a ?"
h a d t o be
c h a n g e d
t o "I c a n
g e t yo u
s o me t e a i f
yo u
l i ke ." A
g u e s t
n e ve r
g e t s
t e a
h i ms e l f ; t h e re f o re ,
i n i t s
o ri g i n a l
f o rm,
t h e l i n e wa s
i mp o s s i bl e .
We h a d
a l re a dy
de c i de d t h a t t h e re
wa s a ki n d o f
p a t t e rn
i n t h i s
ri g i di t y
wh e n ,
o n e
s o g g y Su n da y mo rn i n g ,
we
c a me a c ro s s a
ma g a zi n e
a rt i c l e
by J.
B.
Pri e s t l e y,
i n wh i c h h e c o n t e n de d t h a t
Bri t i s h c h a ra c t e r i s mo re o r l e s s
a n t i t h e t i c a l t o dra ma . He c i t e d Se a n
O'C a s e y's s t a y
i n
E n g l a n d
a n d t h e
p l a ys
t h a t re s u l t e d
(Re d
Ro s e s
f o r Me ,
a n d
t h e
o t h e rs ).
In
e f f e c t ,
h e s a i d t h a t
O'C a s e y
h a d bro ke n h i s dra ma t i c ba c k
o n t h e
h a rd,
u n yi e l di n g
ro c k o f Bri t -
i s h
re p re s s i o n ;
t h a t t o wri t e a Bri t i s h
dra ma i s t h e mo s t
e xa s p e ra t i n g
t a s k a
ma n c a n s e t
h i ms e l f ,
be c a u s e Bri t i s h
e mo t i o n i s u n de r l o c k a n d
ke y.
It
g a ve
u s a wa rm
f e e l i n g
o f
be i n g
n o t
qu i t e
s o
a l o n e i n s o me o f o u r c o n c l u s i o n s . An d
a l mo s t -bu t n o t
qu i t e -i rre l e va n t l y,
we
t h o u g h t
o f t h e s e ve ra l
E n g l i s h me n
wi t h
wh o m we h a d
p l a ye d
t e n n i s ;
h o w
t h e y
mu mbl e d
"So rry"
wh e n e ve r
t h e y
mi s s e d a di f f i c u l t s h o t we h a d n e ve r i n -
t e n de d t h e m t o re a c h i n t h e f i rs t
p l a c e ;
h o w e ve n t h e
t e mp o ra ry f ri e n dl y
c o n -
38
C OFFE E IN A T E AC UP
f l i c t o f t e n n i s h a d
a l wa ys
be e n c u s h -
i o n e d wi t h
g o o d
ma n n e rs .
T h i s wh o l e
di ve rg e n c y
o f
a p p ro a c h
u n do u bt e dl y
h a s a
g re a t
de a l t o do wi t h
t h e o f f i c i a l
re c e p t i o n
o f Ame ri c a n
p i c -
t u re s i n Lo n do n . In
a n y
e ve n t ,
t h e a t t i -
t u de o f t h e Bri t i s h
p re s s
t o wa rd o u r
f i l ms
(wh i c h
i s a n i n t e l l e c t u a l a t t i t u de
a n d n o t
a l wa ys
t h e s a me
t h i n g
a s t h e
p o p u l a r a t t i t u de )
i s a l mo s t
u n i f o rml y
n e g a t i ve . T h e y
h a ve a
t e n de n c y
t o re -
vi e w
Ho l l ywo o d
i t s e l f ra t h e r t h a n t h e
p i c t u re s
i n
qu e s t i o n ;
a n d
t h e y
c o n -
s t a n t l y
c o n de mn
Ho l l ywo o d's
f ri vo l o u s
u n re a l i t y. T h e y
a re
ri g h t
i n
t h i s ,
o f
c o u rs e .
Ve ry
f e w o f u s f e e l t h a t a l l
o u r
p i c t u re s
h a ve be e n
o ve rwh e l mi n g l y
h o n e s t . Bu t t h e
p o i n t
i s
t h a t ,
i n di s -
c u s s i n g
wh a t i s re a l a n d wh a t i s
n o t ,
we
a re
ve ry
o f t e n
t a l ki n g
a bo u t di f f e re n t
t h i n g s .
So me t i me s a Bri t i s h c ri t i c
s a ys
a
p i c t u re
i s f o o l i s h a n d u n re a l wh e n
a c t u a l l y
h e me a n s t h a t i t i s f o o l i s h a n d
i n ba d t a s t e . So me t i me s h e t a ke s a
p i c -
t u re
s e ri o u s l y
t h a t wa s n e ve r me a n t t o
be t a ke n
s e ri o u s l y. (On e
o f o u r o wn
p i c -
t u re s , Mu rde r,
My
Swe e t ,
wh i c h we re -
g a rde d
a s
s h e e r,
e n t e rt a i n i n g f a n t a s y,
wa s t a ke n mu c h mo re
s e ri o u s l y
i n Lo n -
do n t h a n we t o o k i t
o u rs e l ve s .)
It i s
qu i t e p ro ba bl e
t h a t i f we
ma n a g e d
s o me t i me t o
p u t
o n t h e s c re e n t h e
wh o l e o f Ame ri c a n l i f e a t
o n c e ,
t h e
E n g l i s h
c ri t i c wo u l d n o t be a bl e t o be -
l i e ve
i t ;
h e wo u l d n o t be a bl e t o be l i e ve
t h e
g re a t va ri e t y
o f
a t t i t u de s ,
t h e
g re a t ,
u n o rg a n i ze d,
c h a o t i c f o rc e s t h a t ma ke
o u r l i f e wh a t i t i s .
T h e mi s t a ke we a re i n
da n g e r
o f
ma ki n g
i s s o me t i me s o f
a s s u mi n g
t h a t
t h e s e c ri t i c s a re
a n y
mo re
re p re s e n t a -
t i ve o f t h e i r a u di e n c e s t h a n
a n y
o t h e r
c ri t i c s . We
g o t
t h e
f e e l i n g
t h a t o n t h e
wh o l e t h e i r a u di e n c e s l i ke d Ame ri c a n
p i c t u re s ,
f o r a l l t h e i r
i mp l a u s i bi l i t y
a n d a l l t h e i r
f o o l i s h n e s s ; t h a t
t h e y
l i ke d
t h e m,
o c c a s i o n a l l y,
be c a u s e o f t h e s e
qu a l i t i e s ;
t h a t
t h e y
l i ke d t h e m
de s p i t e
t h e f a c t t h a t t h e re mu s t be e ve n l e s s
re a l i t y
f o r t h e m i n t h e s t o ri e s t h a n
t h e re i s f o r o u r Ame ri c a n a u di e n c e s .
T h e y
a re
re a l i s t i c ,
t h e s e
p e o p l e
i n t h e
Bri t i s h a u di e n c e .
T h e y e xp e c t
t o c o n -
t i n u e t h e i r
s e p a ra t e
l i ve s
a c c o rdi n g
t o
ru l e a n d c u s t o m.
T h e y
a re re l a t e d i n
s p i ri t
t o t h e
p e o p l e
o f
Bri e f
E n c o u n t e r.
T h e y
a re re l a t e d i n n o
wa y
wh a t e ve r
t o t h e
p e o p l e
i n ,
s a y,
Le a ve He r t o
He a ve n . An d
ye t t h e y a p p e a re d
t o e n -
jo y
t h a t
p a rt i c u l a r
f i l m. It wa s a
g re a t
s u c c e s s i n
E n g l a n d.
T h e i n f e re n c e
i mp l i c i t
i n Bri t i s h
c ri t i c i s m,
o f
c o u rs e ,
i s t h a t Bri t i s h
p i c -
t u re s do mu c h be t t e r t h a n we h a ve
do n e i n t h e ma t t e r o f n a t i ve
re a l i t y.
T h i s i s di f f i c u l t t o
p ro ve .
T h e re i s
Bri e f
E n c o u n t e r,
o f
c o u rs e ,
a n d Lo ve o n t h e
Do l e ,
a n d T h i s
Ha p p y
Bre e d,
a n d T h e
Wa y
Ah e a d.
(T h e Wa y
Ah e a d,
i n c i -
de n t a l l y,
i s a
ma g n i f i c e n t e xa mp l e
o f
dra ma t i c
a c c o mp l i s h me n t
wi t h i n t h e
c o n f i n e s o f Bri t i s h be h a vi o r-t h e
p o r-
t ra i t o f a
g ro u p
o f me n wi t h di ve rs i f i e d
ba c kg ro u n ds
a n d a t t i t u de s
s e rvi n g
i n
t h e s a me u n i t
du ri n g
t h e
wa r.)
Bu t
qu i t e
o f t e n ,
a s i n T h e Ma do n n a
o f
t h e
Se ve n Mo o n s a n d T h e
Adve n t u re s s ,
t h e
Bri t i s h
g o
a bro a d f o r t h e i r c o l o rf u l
ma t e ri a l ,
a s we
do ,
a n d
p o s s i bl y
f o r t h e
s a me t ra di t i o n a l re a s o n s .
Bu t c a n i t a l s o be
p o s s i bl e
t h a t e ve n
Mr.
Pri e s t l e y
i s n o t
e n t i re l y ri g h t ,
a n d
t h a t t h e re a re mo re dra ma t i c
p o s s i bi l -
i t i e s i n mo de rn
E n g l a n d
t h a n me e t t h e
e ye ?
Is i t
p o s s i bl e
t h a t wh i l e we a re e n -
t a n g l e d
h e re i n o n e ki n d o f
c l i c h e ,
E n g l i s h
f i l m
p e o p l e
a re
e n t a n g l e d
i n
a n o t h e r? T h a t i t i s a s di f f i c u l t i n o n e
p l a c e
a s i n t h e o t h e r t o
g e t
a t t h e f u n da -
me n t a l re a l i t i e s ?
39
HOLLYWOOD
QUART E RLY
Ou r o wn
p i c t u re , i n c i de n t a l l y,
h a s
be e n re l e a s e d i n
E n g l a n d.
On t h e
wh o l e ,
t h e
p re s s
h a s l i ke d i t . On e c ri t i c
di d a c c u s e u s o f
f a s h i o n i n g
t h e
g o o d
p a rt s
o f t h e
p i c t u re
"f o r
E n g l i s h
c o n -
s u mp t i o n ,"
t h e ba d
p a rt s
"f o r Ame ri -
c a n
c o n s u mp t i o n ."
An d a n o t h e r f e l t
t h a t we h a d l i be l e d
E n g l i s h
we a t h e r.
Bu t o n t h e
wh o l e ,
t h e
t h i n g s t h e y
l i ke d
a bo u t t h e
p i c t u re
we l i ke d
o u rs e l ve s ,
a n d t h e
t h i n g s t h e y
di dn 't
l i ke ,
we o b-
je c t e d
t o ,
t o o .
T h e
s h a p e
a n d s u bs t a n c e o f
E n g l a n d
i s s t i l l wi t h
u s ,
t h e
p l e a s a n t
me mo ri e s .
...
Li s t e n i n g
t o Pro ko f i e f f o n Gl o u c e s -
t e r
T e rra c e ,
wh e re we
g o t
a
g l i mp s e
o f
t h e
wa rmt h ,
t h e
s i mp l i c i t y,
t h e c o u r-
a g e ,
a n d t h e e n t h u s i a s m f o r
l i vi n g
t h a t
l i e be n e a t h t h e s u rf a c e o f
E n g l i s h
l i f e ;
de e p e r
be n e a t h t h e
s u rf a c e ,
p e rh a p s ,
t h a n i n T h i s
Ha p p y
Bre e d.... T h e
ra re ,
s p l e n di d
mo me n t s o f a bs o l u t e i s o -
l a t i o n ,
a l o n e a n d u n re a c h a bl e i n a c o m-
p a rt me n t
o n t h e l a s t
n i g h t
t ra i n ba c k
f ro m Lo n do n ....
Si t t i n g
i n C o ve n t
Ga rde n a t c u rt a i n
t i me ,
wh i c h i s s o me -
t h i n g
l i ke
s i t t i n g
o n t h e i n s i de o f a ro s e .
T h e Ame ri c a n ba l l e t
c o mp a n y
t h e re ,
do i n g
Le s
Syl p h i de s
a n d
s p l i t t i n g
t h e
c ri t i c s wi de
a p a rt (T h e
T i me s
t h o u g h t
t h e
c o mp a n y c l u ms y
a n d i n s e n s i t i ve t o
t h e de l i c a t e
t ra di t i o n ;
Pu n c h
t h o u g h t
t ra di t i o n h a d n e ve r be e n i n be t t e r
h a n ds ).... Le i g h , La n c a s h i re -Ja me s
Hi l t o n 's
bo yh o o d
h o me -t h e
mi l d,
s a d
de c o ru m o f t h e me n
t h e re , s i t t i n g
i n
t h e
p u bs ,
t h e i r vo i c e s
l o w,
vi rt u a l l y
re a di n g
e a c h o t h e r's
l i p s ,
t h e
re s u l t ,
s o me o n e
s a i d,
o f
ye a rs
i n t h e
n o i s y
t e x-
t i l e mi l l s .... T h e wo n de rf u l
l o n g
t wi -
l i g h t
o f
Ju n e
a n d
Ju l y,
wh i c h t h e
E n g l i s h
n o ve l i s t s h a ve s o me h o w
n e g -
l e c t e d....
E n g l i s h
a n d Fre n c h
s e a me n ,
f o rg e t t i n g
t h e i r
ma n n e rs ,
h u rl i n g
i n -
s u l t s a n d
ro p e s
a t e a c h o t h e r a t mi d-
n i g h t
i n t h e mi ddl e o f
So u t h a mp t o n
Ro a ds ,
e ve n t u a l l y ma n a g i n g
t o l a s h
o u r t e n de r t o t h e h u l k o f t h e Il e de
Fra n c e ....
T h e we a t h e r t h e l a s t we e k be f o re t h e
bo a t s a i l e d-i t wa s t h e e n d o f Oc t o be r-
wa s t h e s o rt o f
t h i n g e ve ry
C a l i f o rn i a n
h a s bu ri e d i n
h i s
p l e a s a n t
me mo ri e s o f
l i f e s o me wh e re e l s e . It wa s
c ri s p , p a l e
bl u e ,
s u n n y,
a n d
e xc i t i n g .
Su n da ys ,
"T h e Fa l c o n " i n De n h a m
Vi l l a g e o p e n e d
a t
12: 30. Up s t a i rs
i n t h e
l o u n g e
ba r t h e re wa s a c o a l f i re i n t h e
g ra t e
a n d a
l a zy
da rt
g a me .
Wi t h a de x-
t ro u s c o mbi n a t i o n o f
l i g h t
a n d
bi t t e r,
yo u
c o u l d a c h i e ve a f i n e s e n s e o f
g o o d-
n e s s a n d
p e a c e .
T h e l e a ve s h a d n o t t u rn e d a s vi o -
l e n t l y
a s u s u a l -be c a u s e o f t h e we t s u m-
me r,
t h e y
s a i d,-bu t
t h e
c o u n t rys i de
wa s n e ve rt h e l e s s
l o ve l y.
Lo n do n i t s e l f
t o o k o n a
ri g h t n e s s
i t h a d n o t h a d f o r u s
i n t h e s u mme r. T h e
g i rl
i n a
Lyo n s
C o rn e r Ho u s e -i t wa s a bri s k mi d-
mo rn i n g -s a i d,
"I'm
s o rry,
s i r,
n o c o f -
f e e ."
"N o c o f f e e ?"
"We h a ve n 't t h e
c u p s ri g h t
n o w,
s i r."
Ou r
e ye s
we n t t o t h e
c u p s
o n t h e s h e l f
be h i n d
h e r,
p u zzl e d, de s p e ra t e l y
n e e d-
i n g
t h e c o f f e e f o r t h e c h i l l i n o u r
t ro p i c
bl o o d.
"Oh , n o , s i r,"
s h e
s a i d,
f i rml y,
"I
c a n 't do t h a t . It 's n o t a l l o we d. T h o s e
a re
t e a c u p s ,
t h o s e ."
Sh e di dn 't i n vi t e u s t o wa i t f o r t h e
a rri va l o f t h e
p ro p e r c u p s
f ro m t h e s c u l -
l e ry,
a n d we di dn 't .
40
E n g l i s h
In fl uen ces o n t h e W o r k o f
E d w i n S . P o r t er
GE ORGE S S ADOUL
TRANS LATE D BY YVONNE TE MP LIN
GE ORGE S S ADOUL i s o n e o f t h e l ead i n g Fr en ch
cr i t i cs o f t h e ci n ema.
Dur i n g
t h e
w ar ,
h e w as act i ve
i n t h e r es i s t an ce mo vemen t . At
pr es en t ,
h e h as
ch ar g e
o f t h e mo t i o n
pi ct ur e pag es
o f Les Let t r es Fr an cai s
an d Ce S o i r . Hi s
ar t i cl e, "E ar l y
Fi l m P r o d uct i o n i n
E n g l an d ," appear ed
i n t h e
Apr i l , 1946,
i s s ue o f t h e
Ho l l yw o o d Quar t er l y.
YVONNE TE MP LIN t each es Fr en ch i n t h e Un i -
ver s i t y
o f
Cal i fo r n i a,
Lo s
An g el es .
S h e t r an s l at ed
M. S ad o ul 's ear l i er ar t i cl e.
THE GODS cr eat ed man
by mo ul d i n g
a
l ump
o f
cl ay.
In t h e mo t i o n
pi ct ur e,
as
el s ew h er e,
s o met h i n g
can n o t be bo r n
o f
n o t h i n g . J.
K. Laur i e Di ck s o n w as
i n s pi r ed by
t h e s l i d es o f t h e
zeo t r o pe
w h en h e cr eat ed h i s E d i s o n Ki n et o -
s co pe.
Lo ui s Lumi er e ai med h i s l en s at
t h e favo r i t e
s ubject s
o f t h e Ko d ak ama-
t eur s .
Geo r g es
Mel i es
d evel o ped
h i s
s et s
by t ak i n g
o ver t h e r es o ur ces o f t h e
t h eat er -s et s , act o r s ,
s cr i pt s ,
mech a-
n i s m, et c. ,-an d
cr eat ed mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
t ech n i que
w i t h t r i ck s bo r r o w ed fr o m
ph o t o g r aph y.
S i mi l ar l y,
t h e
E n g l i s h men ,
W i l l i am-
s o n an d G. A.
S mi t h ,
t h e cr eat o r s o f
"ed i t i n g ," pat t er n ed
t h ei r w o r k o n t h e
fo r t ui t o us an d un co n s ci o us d i s co ver i es
o f n ew s r eel
ph o t o g r aph er s ,
t h ems el ves
t h e i mi t at o r s o r
d i s ci pl es
o f Lo ui s Lu-
mi er e.
Fi n al l y,
i n
1901,
Fer d i n an d
Zecca
beg an
i n t h e P at h e s t ud i o s a r i ch
an d
vi g o r o us
car eer
d ur i n g
w h i ch h e
i mi t at ed
ver y cl o s el y
Mel i es ,
W i l l i am-
s o n ,
G. A.
S mi t h ,
an d W i l l i am P aul .
Nei t h er d i d E d w i n S .
P o r t er ,
t h e
fat h er o f t h e Amer i can mo t i o n
pi ct ur e,
es cape
t h e l aw t h at mak es ex n i h i l o cr e-
at i o n an
i mpo s s i bi l i t y.
Th e h i s t o r i an s
o f t h e Amer i can mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
h ave
n o t d o ubt ed t h at h e h ad
pr ed eces s o r s .
Acco r d i n g
t o Lew i s
Jaco bs ,
fo r i n -
s t an ce,
i n h i s r emar k abl e
w o r k ,
Th e
Ri s e
o f
t h e Amer i can
Fi l m,
P o r -
t er 's
o n l y o ut s t an d i n g pr ed eces s o r
w as
Geo r g es
Mel i es ,
w h o s e aes t h et i cs an d
ach i evemen t s h e
s ur pas s ed :
"If
Geo r g es
Mel i es w as t h e fi r s t t o
'pus h
t h e ci n ema t o w ar d t h e t h eat r i cal
w ay,'
as h e
cl ai med ,
t h en E d w i n S . P o r -
t er w as t h e fi r s t t o
pus h
t h e ci n ema
t o w ar d t h e ci n emat i c
w ay. . . .
"It w as P o r t er w h o d i s co ver ed t h at
t h e ar t o f mo t i o n
pi ct ur es d epen d s
o n
t h e
co n t i n ui t y
o f
s h o t s ,
n o t o n t h e
s h o t s al o n e. No t co n t en t w i t h Mel i es '
ar t i fi ci al l y ar r an g ed
s cen es , P o r t er d i s -
t i n g ui s h ed
t h e mo vi es fr o m o t h er t h e-
at r i cal fo r ms an d
g ave
t h em t h e
i n ven t i o n o f
ed i t i n g .
Al mo s t al l mo t i o n
pi ct ur e d evel o pmen t s
s i n ce P o r t er 's d i s -
co ver y s pr i n g
fr o m t h e
pr i n ci pl e
o f ed i t -
i n g ,
w h i ch i s t h e bas i s o f mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
ar t i s t r y. "
Th i s t h es i s w o ul d be i r r efut abl e
i f,
pr i o r
t o t h e fi r s t fi l m i n w h i ch P o r t er
us ed
"ed i t i n g ,"
Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i -
can
Fi r eman , t h e Amer i can mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
h ad h ad fo r i t s s o l e r i val t h e
Fr en ch mo t i o n
pi ct ur e.
But n ei t h er
Mel i es ,
w h o
al w ays t h o ug h t
o f t h e
s cr een i n t er ms o f a
s t ag e,
n o r
Zecca,
No n g uet ,
n o r Lo r an t Hei l br o n n w h o
w o r k ed at
P at h e's ,
n o r Al i ce
Guy
w h o
mad e t h e fi l ms o f
Gaumo n t , h ad ,
i n
1902,
t ak en t h e mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
o ut o f
[41]
HOLLYW OOD
QUARTE RLY
t h e t r ad i t i o n al
pat h -o r
r ut -o f t h e t h e-
at er . W h en t h ei r fi l ms i n cl ud e s h o t s
t ak en fr o m d i ffer en t
an g l es ,
t h e "bi t s "
ar e t abl eaux an d t h e
po i n t
o f vi ew i s
s t i l l t h at o f t h e
s pect at o r
s eat ed i n t h e
mi d d l e o f t h e t h eat er .
Th ey
s ee t h e
w o r l d w i t h t h e
eyes
o f t h e
"g en t l eman
o f t h e o r ch es t r a. "
Acco r d i n g
t o Lew i s
Jaco bs ,
i t w as
n ever t h el es s w h i l e
s t ud yi n g
t h e fi l ms o f
Mel i es t h at P o r t er co n cei ved t h e i d ea
o f
mak i n g
a fi l m t h at t o l d a
s t o r y.
Fo r ,
acco r d i n g
t o t h i s
t h es i s ,
i n t h e
pr eced -
i n g
s i x
year s
o f h i s car eer P o r t er h ad
n o t
g o n e beyo n d
t h e
s t ag e
o f n ew s
ph o -
t o g r aph y:
"It w as h i s co n t act w i t h Mel i es '
fai r y-t al e
fi l ms t h at s t r uck t h e
s par k
i n
P o r t er . He w o ul d
pr o babl y
h ave co n -
t i n ued h i s
pr o s ai c,
un en t h us i as t i c ca-
r eer h ad h e n o t been s t ar t l ed
by
t h e
Fr en ch man 's un us ual
pi ct ur es .
In t h e
l abo r at o r y
P o r t er h ad t h e
o ppo r t un i t y
t o h an d l e an d exami n e t h e
'mag i cal
fi l ms ' o f t h i s Fr en ch d i r ect o r at fi r s t
h an d . 1
Impr es s ed by
t h ei r
l en g t h
an d
ar r an g emen t ,
h e s cr ut i n i zed t h em
cl o s el y, n o t i n g
t h at
t h ey
co n t ai n ed
mo r e t h an o n e s cen e o r camer a s h o t an d
t h at t h e s cen es w er e
s t r un g t o g et h er
pr o g r es s i vel y
t o i l l us t r at e a
s t o r y.
P o r t er h i t
upo n
t h e i d ea t h at h e al s o
mi g h t
mak e s t o r i es
by cut t i n g
an d
jo i n -
i n g ,
i n a cer t ai n
o r d er ,
s cen es t h at h e
h ad
al r ead y
s h o t . "
An d
t h us ,
acco r d i n g
t o Lew i s
Jaco bs ,
P o r t er co n cei ved t h e i d ea o f
co mpo s -
i n g , by
mean s o f n ew s r eel s t ak en fr o m
t h e E d i s o n
ar ch i ves ,
h i s fi r s t "cut "
fi l m,
a fi l m w h i ch w as al s o "ed i t ed "-Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i can Fi r eman .
Th e fi l m h as
l o n g
been l o s t . But at
l eas t w e h ave n o t
o n l y
t h e
s cr i pt
an d
t h e
ed i t i n g , publ i s h ed
i n t h e E d i s o n
Cat al o g ue,
but al s o a s er i es o f t w el ve
ph o t o g r aph s d epi ct i n g
o n e o r t w o i n ci -
d en t s .
Her e i s P o r t er 's
s cr i pt :2
S cen e i : Th e Fi r eman 's Vi s i o n o f an Im-
per i l ed
W o man an d Ch i l d . Th e fi r e ch i ef
i s s eat ed at h i s o ffi ce d es k . He h as
jus t
fi n -
i s h ed
r ead i n g
h i s
even i n g paper
an d h as
fal l en
as l eep.
Th e
r ays
o f an i n can d es cen t
l i g h t
r es t
upo n
h i s feat ur es w i t h a s ubd ued
l i g h t , yet l eavi n g
h i s
fi g ur e s t r o n g l y
s i l h o u-
et t ed
ag ai n s t
t h e w al l s o f h i s o ffi ce. Th e fi r e
ch i ef i s
d r eami n g ,
an d t h e vi s i o n o f h i s
d r eam
appear s
i n a ci r cul ar
po r t r ai t
o n t h e
w al l . It i s a mo t h er
put t i n g
h er
baby
t o
bed ,
an d t h e
i mpr es s i o n
i s t h at h e d r eams o f
h i s o w n w i fe an d ch i l d . He
s ud d en l y
aw ak -
en s an d
paces
t h e fl o o r i n a n er vo us s t at e o f
mi n d ,
d o ubt l es s
t h i n k i n g
o f t h e var i o us
peo pl e
w h o
may
be i n
d an g er
fr o m fi r e at
t h e mo men t .
Her e w e d i s s o l ve t h e
pi ct ur e
t o t h e s ec-
o n d s cen e.
S cen e 2: Cl o s e Vi ew o f a New Yo r k Fi r e-
al ar m Bo x. S h o w s
l et t er i n g
an d
ever y
d et ai l
i n t h e d o o r an d
appar at us
fo r
t ur n i n g
i n
an al ar m. A
fi g ur e
t h en
s t eps
i n fr o n t o f t h e
bo x,
h as t i l y o pen s
t h e d o o r an d
pul l s
t h e
h o o k ,
t h us
s en d i n g
t h e el ect r i c cur r en t
w h i ch al ar ms h un d r ed s o f fi r emen an d
br i n g s
t o t h e s cen e o f t h e fi r e t h e w o n d er ful
appar at us
o f a
g r eat ci t y's
Fi r e
Depar t men t .
Ag ai n d i s s o l vi n g
t h e
pi ct ur e,
w e s h o w t h e
t h i r d s cen e.
S cen e
3: S l eepi n g
Quar t er s .
A r o w o f
bed s ,
each
co n t ai n i n g
a fi r eman
peaceful l y
s l eepi n g ,
i s s h o w n .
In s t an t l y upo n
t h e
r i n g -
i n g
o f t h e al ar m t h e fi r emen
l eap
fr o m t h ei r
bed s
an d ,
put t i n g
o n t h ei r cl o t h es i n t h e
r eco r d t i me o f fi ve
s eco n d s ,
a
g r an d
r us h i s
mad e fo r a
l ar g e
ci r cul ar
o pen i n g
i n t h e
fl o o r
t h r o ug h
t h e cen t er o f w h i ch r un s a
br as s
po l e.
Th e fi r s t fi r eman t o r each t h e
po l e
s ei zes i t
an d ,
l i k e a
fl as h ,
d i s appear s
t h r o ug h
t h e
o pen i n g .
He i s
i n s t an t l y
fo l -
1
P o r t er w as
d i r ect i n g
t h e
pr o d uct i o n s
o f t h e
E d i s o n
Co mpan y,
w h i ch
r eg ul ar l y "d uped "
t h e
fi l ms o f M61i es an d
s o l d ,
t o i t s
pr o fi t ,
h un d r ed s
o f
co pi es .
2 Th i s
co mpl et e s cr i pt
w i l l be fo un d i n Th e
Ri s e
o f
t h e Amer i can Fi l m. S ad o ul
quo t es o n l y
po r t i o n s
o f P o r t er 's
s cen ar i o ,
w h i ch w e h er e
r epr o d uce
i n ful l as o n e o f t h e fi r s t
exampl es
o f t h e s cr een w r i t er 's ar t . -THE E DITORS .
42
E DW IN S . P ORTE R
l o w ed
by
t h e r emai n d er o f t h e fo r ce. Th i s
i n i t s el f mak es a mo s t
s t i r r i n g
s cen e.
W e
ag ai n
d i s s o l ve t h e s cen e t o t h e i n t e-
r i o r
o f
t h e
appar at us
h o us e.
S cen e
4:
In t er i o r o f
E n g i n e
Ho us e. S h o w s
h o r s es
d as h i n g
fr o m t h ei r s t al l s an d
bei n g
h i t ch ed t o t h e
appar at us .
Th i s i s
per h aps
t h e mo s t
t h r i l l i n g
an d i n al l t h e mo s t w o n -
d er ful o f t h e s even s cen es o f t h e
s er i es ,
i t
bei n g abs o l ut el y
t h e fi r s t
mo vi n g pi ct ur es
ever mad e o f a
g en ui n e
i n t er i o r h i t ch . As
t h e men co me d o w n t h e
po l e
an d l an d
upo n
t h e fl o o r i n
l i g h t n i n g -l i k e r api d i t y,
s i x d o o r s i n t h e r ear o f t h e
en g i n e
h o us e,
each
h ead i n g
a
h o r s e-s t al l ,
bur s t
o pen
s i mul -
t an eo us l y
an d a
h ug e
fi r e
h o r s e,
w i t h h ead
er ect an d
eag er
fo r t h e d as h t o t h e s cen e
o f t h e
co n fl ag r at i o n ,
r us h es fr o m each
o pen -
i n g . Go i n g i mmed i at el y
t o t h ei r
r es pect i ve
h ar n es s ,
t h ey
ar e h i t ch ed i n t h e al mo s t un -
bel i evabl e t i me o f fi ve s eco n d s an d ar e
r ead y
fo r t h ei r d as h t o t h e fi r e. Th e men
h as t i l y s camper upo n
t h e t r uck s an d h o s e
car t s an d o n e
by
o n e t h e fi r e mach i n es l eave
t h e
h o us e,
d r aw n
by eag er , pr an ci n g
h o r s es .
Her e w e
ag ai n
d i s s o l ve t o t h e
fi ft h
s cen e.
S cen e
5:
Appar at us Leavi n g E n g i n e
Ho us e. W e s h o w a fi n e ext er i o r vi ew o f t h e
en g i n e
h o us e,
t h e
g r eat
d o o r
s w i n g i n g o pen
an d t h e
appar at us co mi n g
o ut . Th i s i s t h e
mo s t
i mpo s i n g
s cen e. Th e
g r eat
h o r s es
l eap
t o t h ei r
w o r k ,
t h e men
ad jus t
t h ei r fi r e h at s
an d
co at s ,
an d s mo k e
beg i n s po ur i n g
fr o m
t h e
en g i n es
as
t h ey pas s
o ur camer a.
Her e w e d i s s o l ve an d s h o w t h e s i xt h
s cen e.
S cen e 6: Off t o t h e Fi r e. In t h i s s cen e w e
pr es en t
t h e bes t fi r e r un ever s h o w n . Al mo s t
t h e en t i r e fi r e
d epar t men t
o f t h e
l ar g e ci t y
o f
New ar k ,
New
Jer s ey,
w as
pl aced
at o ur
d i s po s al ,
an d w e s h o w co un t l es s
pi eces
o f
appar at us , en g i n es ,
h o o k -an d -l ad d er s ,
h o s e
t o w er s , h o s e
car r i ag es ,
et c. ,
r us h i n g
d o w n a
br o ad s t r eet at
t o p s peed ,
t h e h o r s es s t r ai n -
i n g ever y
n er ve an d
evi d en t l y eag er
t o
mak e a r eco r d r un . Gr eat cl o ud s o f s mo k e
po ur
fr o m t h e s t ack s o f t h e
en g i n es ,
t h us
g i vi n g
an
i mpr es s i o n
o f
g en ui n en es s
t o t h e
en t i r e s er i es .
Di s s o l vi n g ag ai n
w e s h o w t h e s even t h
s cen e.
S cen e
7:
Ar r i val at t h e Fi r e. In t h i s w o n -
d er ful s cen e w e s h o w t h e en t i r e fi r e
d epar t -
men as d es cr i bed
abo ve,
ar r i vi n g
at t h e
s cen e o f act i o n . An act ual
bur n i n g
bui l d -
i n g
i s i n t h e cen t er
fo r eg r o un d .
On t h e
r i g h t back g r o un d
t h e fi r e
d epar t men t
i s
s een
co mi n g
at
g r eat s peed . Upo n
t h e ar -
r i val o f t h e d i ffer en t
appar at us ,
t h e
en g i n es
ar e o r d er ed t o t h ei r
pl aces ,
h o s e i s
qui ck l y
r un o ut fr o m t h e
car r i ag es ,
l ad d er s ar e ad -
jus t ed
t o t h e
w i n d o w s ,
an d s t r eams o f w at er
ar e
po ur ed
i n t o t h e
bur n i n g
s t r uct ur e. At
t h i s cr uci al mo men t co mes t h e
g r eat
cl i max
o f t h e s er i es . W e d i s s o l ve t o t h e i n t er i o r o f
t h e
bui l d i n g
an d s h o w a bed ch amber w i t h
a w o man an d ch i l d
en vel o ped
i n fl ame an d
s uffo cat i n g
s mo k e. Th e w o man r us h es back
an d fo r t h i n t h e r o o m
en d eavo r i n g
t o es -
cape,
an d i n h er
d es per at i o n
t h r o w s
o pen
t h e w i n d o w an d
appeal s
t o t h e cr o w d be-
l o w . S h e i s
fi n al l y
o ver co me
by
t h e s mo k e
an d fal l s
upo n
t h e bed . At t h i s mo men t
t h e d o o r i s s mas h ed i n
by
an ax i n t h e
h an d s o f a
po w er ful
fi r e h er o .
Rus h i n g
i n t o
t h e
r o o m,
h e t ear s t h e
bur n i n g d r aper i es
fr o m t h e w i n d o w an d s mas h es o ut t h e en -
t i r e w i n d o w
fr ame,
o r d er i n g
h i s co mr ad es
t o r un
up
a l ad d er .
Immed i at el y
t h e l ad d er
appear s ,
h e s ei zes t h e
pr o s t r at e
fo r m o f t h e
w o man an d t h r o w s i t o ver h i s s h o ul d er s as
i f i t w er e an i n fan t an d
qui ck l y
d es cen d s t o
t h e
g r o un d .
W e n o w d i s s o l ve t o t h e ext e-
r i o r o f t h e
bur n i n g bui l d i n g .
Th e fr an t i c
mo t h er
h avi n g
r et ur n ed t o
co n s ci o us n es s ,
an d cl ad
o n l y
i n h er
n i g h t
cl o t h es ,
i s k n eel -
i n g
o n t h e
g r o un d i mpl o r i n g
t h e fi r eman t o
r et ur n fo r h er ch i l d . Vo l un t eer s ar e cal l ed
fo r an d t h e s ame fi r eman w h o r es cued t h e
mo t h er
qui ck l y s t eps
o ut an d o ffer s t o r e-
t ur n fo r t h e babe. He i s
g i ven per mi s s i o n
t o o n ce mo r e en t er t h e d o o med
bui l d i n g
an d w i t h o ut h es i t at i o n r us h es
up
t h e l ad -
d er ,
en t er s t h e w i n d o w an d aft er a br eat h -
l es s
w ai t ,
i n w h i ch i t
appear s
h e mus t h ave
been o ver co me w i t h
s mo k e,
h e
appear s
w i t h
t h e ch i l d i n h i s ar ms an d r et ur n s
s afel y
t o
t h e
g r o un d .
Th e
ch i l d ,
bei n g
r el eas ed an d
upo n s eei n g
i t s
mo t h er ,
r us h es t o h er an d
i s
cl as ped
i n h er
ar ms ,
t h us
mak i n g
a mo s t
r eal i s t i c an d
t o uch i n g en d i n g
o f t h e s er i es .
Th e
ed i t i n g
o f Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer -
i can Fi r eman h as n o co n n ect i o n w h at -
ever w i t h t h e
ed i t i n g
o f o n e o f Mel i es '
fi l ms . In t h e s t ud i o at Mo n t r eui l w h er e
Mel i es w as
d i r ect o r ,
a
cl o s e-up
w as
43
HOLLYW OOD
QUARTE RLY
n ever i n s er t ed i n t h e mi d d l e o f a fi l m
co mpo s ed
o f s ever al s cen es
(as
P o r t er
d o es i n t h e
s eco n d ),
an d n ever d i d t h e
camer a fo l l o w a h er o o ut s i d e a h o us e
an d t h en i n s i d e
(as
i n t h e l as t s cen e o f
P o r t er 's
fi l m,
i n w h i ch t h e fi r e ch i ef
pas s es
fi ve t i mes fr o m t h e i n t er i o r t o t h e
ext er i o r ,
o r vi ce
ver s a);
fo r t h i s i s a
t ech n i que abs o l ut el y co n t r ar y
t o t h e
aes t h et i cs o f t h e t h eat er .
Th e
ed i t i n g
o f Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer -
i can Fi r eman d o es n o t r es embl e t h e s e-
r i es o f t abl eaux execut ed
by
Mel i es ,
but r at h er t h e s er i es o f
empi r i cal
s h o t s
i n t h e n ew s r eel s t h at P o r t er h ad been
t ak i n g
fo r s i x
year s .
Mo r eo ver ,
t h e s et s
o f Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i can Fi r eman
ar e n o t
pr i mar i l y
l i k e t h o s e co n cei ved
i n Mo n t r eui l . Fi r s t o f
al l ,
t h e fi l m i s a
"fak ed "
n ew s r eel ,
t h e r eco n s t r uct i o n o f
a n ew s i t em t h at r el at es t h e h er o i c be-
h avi o r o f a fi r eman . Fo r Mel i es t h er e
w er e n o s et s o ut s i d e o f h i s s t ud i o at
Mo n t r eui l ,
w h er e h e ut i l i zed a
s t ag e
w i t h i n t r i cat e
mach i n er y.
In Th e
Li fe
o f
an Amer i can
Fi r eman ,
w i t h t h e ex-
cept i o n
o f S cen e 1
an d
par t
o f S cen e
7,
t h e en t i r e fi l m i s t ak en
o ut d o o r s ;
t h us
w e ar e back t o t h e
t ech n i que
o f t h e
S cen es
o f
t h e
An g l o -Bo er
W ar ,
t ak en
by
t h e E d i s o n
Co mpan y
camer amen i n
g o o
an d s h o t i n t h e w i l d er n es s o f New
Jer s ey,
a few mi l es fr o m
Br o ad w ay.
W h en t h e camer aman d eal t w i t h a
t r ue n ew s r eel an d n o t w i t h a fak ed o n e
an d w h en t h e even t w as
l o n g
an d i m-
po r t an t en o ug h ,
h e
br o ug h t
back s ev-
er al s h o t s w h i ch w er e
s ubs equen t l y
cut
o r s h o w n en d t o en d . Th i s
ed i t i n g
w as
g o ver n ed by
ch an ce an d
by
t h e un fo l d -
i n g
o f t h e
even t ;
un l i k e t h e
ed i t i n g
o f
Mel i es ,
i t w as n o t co n cer n ed w i t h t h e
t r ad i t i o n al l aw s o f
s t ag e per s pect i ve.
Her e,
fo r
exampl e,
i s t h e
ed i t i n g
o f
o n e o f t h e fi r s t s er i es o f
n ew s r eel s ,
Th e
Tzar 's Vi s i t t o P ar i s
(Oct o ber , 1896,
Lumi er e
Cat al o g ue):
i . Di s embar k at i o n o f t h e Rus s i an s o v-
er ei g n s
at
Ch er bo ur g .
2. E n t r an ce o f t h e
s o ver ei g n s
an d o f t h e
P r es i d en t i n t o t h e Hal l o f
Ch er bo ur g .
3.
Th e
s o ver ei g n s
an d t h e P r es i d en t i n
t h e
Ch amps -E l ys ees .
4.
Li g h t caval r y
an d
S pah i s
o f t h e es co r t .
5.
Dr ag o o n s
o f t h e es co r t .
6. Gen er al S aus s i er an d h i s s t aff.
7.
Th e cr o w d s at t h e P l ace d e
l 'Op6r a.
Th e
n ar r at i o n ,
s t i l l s o mew h at aw k -
w ar d ,
i s l i k e t h at fo r n ew s
ph o t o g r aph s 3
(jus t beg i n n i n g
t o
appear
at t h i s
t i me)
mad e fo r
s t er eo s co pi c
l en s o r fo r l an -
t er n
s l i d es ,
l i k e t h e
d r aw i n g s d epi ct i n g
even t s i n
pr es en t -d ay n ew s paper s
o r i n
co mi c
s t r i ps .
An d
n o t h i n g
w o ul d h ave
pr even t ed
t h e t h i r d
s cen e,
fo r
exampl e,
fr o m
bei n g
a
cl o s e-up
o f t h e Ts ar an d
o f P r es i d en t Fel i x Faur e i f t h es e
i mpo r -
t an t
per s o n s
h ad been as
eas y
t o
ph o t o -
g r aph
as a fi r e-al ar m
s i g n al .
It w as t h e
t ech n i que
o f t h e n ew s r eel
t h at E d w i n S . P o r t er al s o fo l l o w ed i n
an o t h er
pr o d uct i o n
o f w h i ch w e h ave
t h e t i t l e: Th e Ro ad
o f An t h r aci t e,
an
ad ver t i s i n g
fi l m d es cr i bed
by Ter r y
Rams aye,
w h i ch w as
pr o d uced
aft er
Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i can Fi r eman an d
befo r e Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y.
Th i s
fi l m w as i n t en d ed t o
pr o ve
t h at t h e
t r avel er s o n t h e
Del aw ar e,
Lack a-
w an n a,
an d W es t er n Rai l r o ad n eed
h ave n o fear o f
ci n d er s ;
i t fo l l o w ed t h e
act i vi t i es o f P h o ebe
S n o w ,
a w o man
d r es s ed
en t i r el y
i n w h i t e. Th e fi l m i n -
cl ud ed at l eas t t h r ee s h o t s :
i . P h o ebe S n o w en t er s a r ai l r o ad co ach .
2. P h o ebe S n o w
(cl o s e-up)
i n t h e co ach .
3.
P h o ebe S n o w l eaves t h e
t r ai n ,
h er at -
t i r e s t i l l
i mpeccabl y
w h i t e.
3
Th i s
r el at i o n s h i p
i s s o evi d en t t h at
t o d ay,
fo r
exampl e,
a s er i es o f
ph o t o g r aph s
o f a r ace
i s cal l ed i n o ur i l l us t r at ed
n ew s paper s
"t h e
fi l m o f a r ace. "
44
E DW IN S . P ORTE R
Th e h er o i n e en t er ed an d l eft t h e
t r ai n ,
w en t fr o m t h e ext er i o r t o t h e i n -
t er i o r o f t h e
t r ai n ,
jus t
l i k e t h e fi r eman
i n t h e l as t s h o t o f Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer -
i can Fi r eman .
Th e evo l ut i o n fr o m t h e n ew s r eel s t o
t h e
s t ag ecr aft
o f t h e mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
can
r ead i l y be un d er s t o o d w h en o n e s t ud i es
t h e
cat al o g ue
o f t h e
E n g l i s h man , James
W i l l i ams o n ,
fo r mer l y
a
po r t r ai t ph o -
t o g r aph er
i n
Br i g h t o n .
In
1899
h e
br o ug h t
back fr o m Hen -
l ey
a s er i es o f
pi ct ur es
o f
r eg at t as .
Th e
s i x s h o t s fo r m a co h er en t
s t o r y,
fr o m
t h e
d epar t ur e
o f t h e r ace t o t h e ar r i val
o f t h e
w i n n er ,
w i t h i n s er t ed s h o t s o f t h e
cr o w d s t ak en fr o m a bo at .
In
19o 0,
W i l l i ams o n ad van ced fr o m
n ew s r eel s t ak en o f act ual even t s t o
"fak ed " n ew s r eel s . He w en t even be-
yo n d
t h i s
s t ag e.
Hi s At t ack o n a Ch i n a
Mi s s i o n w as
i n s pi r ed by
t h e Bo xer Re-
bel l i o n an d t h e al l i ed i n t er ven t i o n i n
Ch i n a;
but t h e fi l m i s
al r ead y
a d r ama
w i t h a
pl o t , i n fi n i t el y
mo r e
co mpl ex
t h an Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i can Fi r e-
man , t h r ee-fo ur t h s o f
w h i ch ,
i f t h e
h y-
po t h es i s
o f Lew i s
Jaco bs
i s
co r r ect ,
i s
mad e
up
o f t r ue n ew s r eel s t ak en fr o m
t h e E d i s o n ar ch i ves . In W i l l i ams o n 's
fi l m,
o n t h e
co n t r ar y,
al l t h e s cen es ar e
act ed
o ut ,
as w er e t o be t h o s e o f Th e
Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y
t h r ee
year s
l at er .
Her e i s t h e
ed i t i n g
o f At t ack o n a
Ch i n a
Mi s s i o n ,
a fi l m o f
230
feet ,
w h i ch
l as t ed abo ut t h r ee an d a h al f mi n ut es :
1. Th e Bo xer s br eak
t h r o ug h
t h e
g at es
o f
t h e Mi s s i o n
g ar d en s .
2. Th e
g ar d en s
o f t h e Mi s s i o n . Th e mi s -
s i o n ar y
an d h i s
fami l y
s eek
r efug e
i n s i d e
t h e h o us e w h i l e t h e Bo xer s i n vad e t h e
g ar -
d en . Th e
mi s s i o n ar y
i s k i l l ed .
Th r o ug h
a
w i n d o w ,
h i s w i fe mak es
s i g n al s
o f d i s t r es s .
3.
Th e ext er i o r o f t h e Mi s s i o n .
E n g l i s h
s ai l o r s h ave s een t h e
s i g n al s . Th ey
r us h t o
t h e r es cue o f t h e Mi s s i o n .
4.
Th e s avi o r s ar r i ve i n t h e
g ar d en
o f t h e
Mi s s i o n . An o ffi cer o n h o r s eback r es cues a
yo un g g i r l , g al l o ps aw ay,
an d d as h es t o w ar d
t h e
s pect at o r s .
Th e Bo xer s ar e
van qui s h ed .
Her e t h e
s t o r y pr o ceed s
w i t h a t ech -
n i que
t h at
bel o n g s
t o t h e mo t i o n
pi c-
t ur e. No t
o n l y
d o es t h e camer a fo l l o w
t h e ch ar act er s fr o m o n e s cen e t o t h e
n ext ,
but a
w avi n g
h an d k er ch i ef i s
en o ug h
t o t ak e us fr o m t h e h er o i n e
i n d i s t r es s t o h er
r es cuer s ,
w h o s e vi c-
t o r i o us at t ack w e w i t n es s . Her e ar e
s k et ch ed fo r us act i o n s t h at un fo l d s i -
mul t an eo us l y
i n t w o
pl aces ;
i n o t h er
w o r d s ,
w e h ave t h e "s w i t ch back s us -
pen s e"
an d t h e "l as t -mi n ut e r es cue"
t h at D. W . Gr i ffi t h w as l at er t o us e s o
l avi s h l y.
In t h e
year 1901,
W i l l i ams o n
pr o -
d uced a d r ama cal l ed Fi r e. Th e
s cr i pt ,
s t i l l
un publ i s h ed ,
fo l l o w s :4
Fi r s t s cen e: P o l i ceman o n h i s beat i n t h e
ear l y mo r n i n g
fi n d s an
un o ccupi ed po r t i o n
o f a
bui l d i n g
w el l
al i g h t
w i t h w i n d o w bur n t
o ut ,
w h i l e t h e i n mat es o f t h e
ad jo i n i n g par t
ar e
appar en t l y as l eep
an d un co n s ci o us o f
t h ei r
d an g er .
He en d eavo ur s t o ar o us e
t h em,
an d t r i es t o
o pen
d o o r ,
bl o w s h i s
w h i s t l e t o cal l
as s i s t an ce,
an d r us h es o ff t o
cal l t h e fi r e
en g i n e
an d
h o o k -an d -l ad d er .
S eco n d s cen e: Out s i d e t h e fi r e
s t at i o n ;
po l i ceman
r us h es
i n ,
s h ak es t h e d o o r an d
r i n g s
t h e
bel l ;
fi r eman
o pen s
d o o r ,
po l i ce-
man
exci t ed l y g i ves par t i cul ar s
o f
fi r e,
o t h er
fi r eman
h ur r y
fo r w ar d ,
d r es s i n g
as
t h ey g o ,
an d
qui ck l y
r us h o ff w i t h s mal l fi r e
en g i n e.
In an
i n cr ed i bl y
s h o r t t i me a h o r s e i s
4 I t h an k Mi s s Rach ael Lo w an d
Ro g er
Man -
vel l o f t h e Br i t i s h Fi l m Mus eum fo r
mak i n g
t h i s
s cr i pt
avai l abl e. W i l l i ams o n
h ad ,
ver y
l i k el y,
o n e
pr ecur s o r
i n t h e
s t ag i n g
o f a r es cue:
W . P aul . But t h e w o r k o f W .
P aul , P l uck ed
fr o m
t h e
Bur n i n g ,
i n cl ud ed
o n l y
o n e s cen e
(ext er i o r
o f a
h o us e).
Th e d at e o f Fi r e can be
as cr i bed w i t h
cer t ai n t y.
Fr o m No . 6o
o n ,
t h e
W i l l i ams o n
Cat al o g ue
i s i n
ch r o n o l o g i cal
o r d er .
Fi r e i s n umber ed
158.
Th e Fun er al
o f Queen
Vi ct o r i a
(Jan uar y
21,
1901)
i s n umber ed
124.
Th e Co r o n at i o n
(Jun e 25, 1902)
i s n umber ed
176.
45
HOLLYW OOD
QUARTE RLY
h i t ch ed t o a h o o k -an d -l ad d er , an d t w o
h o r s es t o a man ual
en g i n e,
an d al l t h e
ap-
par at us d epar t s .
Th i r d s cen e: S h o w s h o r s e-d r aw n h o o k -
an d -l ad d er an d fi r e
en g i n e co mi n g pas t
camer a at a ful l
g al l o p.
Fo ur t h s cen e: In t er i o r o f bed r o o m ful l o f
s mo k e;
man i n bed
jus t w ak i n g up;
d i s -
co ver i n g
r o o m ful l o f s mo k e, h e
jumps
o ut
o f bed an d t h r o w s co n t en t s o f w at er
jug
o ver t h e
fi r e,
t h en r us h es t o t h e d o o r an d
o pen s
i t ,
but fi n d s h i s
pas s ag e
bl o ck ed
by
fl ame an d
s mo k e;
h e t h en
g o es
t o w ar d s t h e
w i n d o w ,
but
jus t
at t h at mo men t t h e cur -
t ai n s
g o up
i n fl ames , an d o ver co me
by
s mo k e an d h eat , h e bur i es h i s h ead i n t h e
bed cl o t h es . Th e w i n d o w cur t ai n s an d
bl i n d ,
n o w bur n t
aw ay,
d i s cl o s e a fi r eman
o ut s i d e w i t h h at ch et ,
br eak i n g
i n t h e w i n -
d o w ;
h e co mes i n w i t h h i s h o s e an d
qui ck l y
ext i n g ui s h es
t h e fi r e; h e t h en
g o es
t o t h e
r el i ef o f t h e man n o w
h el pl es s
o n t h e bed ,
an d
put s
h i m acr o s s h i s s h o ul d er , an d car -
r i es h i m t o t h e w i n d o w .
Fi ft h
s cen e: S h o w s t h e o ut s i d e o f t h e
w i n d o w ;
fi r eman w i t h r es cued man acr o s s
h i s s h o ul d er s co mes d o w n
l ad d er ; an o t h er
fi r eman r un s
up
an d fet ch es d o w n t h e h o s e,
t h r o w i n g
o ut s o me bed cl o t h es t o
put
ar o un d t h e r es cued
man ; t h e
l at t er , r e-
co ver i n g
h i s
s en s es ,
r eco l l ect s t h at t h er e ar e
o t h er s i n t h e
bur n i n g bui l d i n g .
On e fi r e-
man ,
pl aci n g
a w et cl o t h o ver h i s
mo ut h ,
br eak s
t h r o ug h
a Fr en ch
w i n d o w , w h i l e
o t h er s
h ur r y aw ay
w i t h t h e l ad d er t o an -
o t h er
par t
o f t h e
bui l d i n g .
Fi r eman r e-
appear s t h r o ug h
t h e
s mo k e,
w i t h a ch i l d i n
h i s
ar ms ;
t h e
pr evi o us l y
r es cued man s ei zes
t h e ch i l d an d h ur r i es
aw ay
w i t h
h er ,
o ver -
jo yed
at h er r es cue. Mean w h i l e t h e
capt ai n
h as d i r ect ed an o t h er
par t y
o f fi r emen t o
r es cue an o t h er
i n mat e,
w h o
appear s
at t h e
w i n d o w i n an exh aus t ed
co n d i t i o n ;
t h e
l ad d er
bei n g empl o yed
el s ew h er e,
t h e n et
i s
put
t o us e an d t h e man
jumps
i n t o i t
an d i s car r i ed
aw ay by
t h e fi r emen .
(Cat . S ept ember 1902)
(280
ft . )
Th er e can be n o d o ubt t h at E d w i n S .
P o r t er w as
d i r ect l y i n s pi r ed by
t h i s
fi l m o f W i l l i ams o n 's . 6 Of co ur s e h e
mo d i fi ed t h e
s cr i pt
s o mew h at . At t h e
beg i n n i n g
o f t h e
fi l m,
i n s t ead o f t h e
w i t n es s ,
h e
pl aces
a
d r eamer ; t h en ,
fo r t h e r es cued
man ,
h e s ubs t i t ut es t h e
w i fe o f t h e r es cuer .
Fi n al l y,
h i s
s t yl e
i s
mo r e
fr ee,
h e var i es t h e s h o t s o f t h e
s ame
s cen e,
an d o n ce h e us es a
cl o s e-up.
Al l t h i s d i d n o t
pr even t
P o r t er fr o m
s ucces s ful l y
r evi vi n g
E n g l i s h
fi l ms w i t h
t h e s ame
fi d el i t y
as h i s
co n t empo r ar y,
Fer d i n an d Zecca.
Th e us e o f t h e
cl o s e-up
i n Th e
Li fe
o f
an Amer i can Fi r eman i s
quas i -acci -
d en t al . P o r t er d o es
n o t ,
i n
fact ,
t r eat
h i s s eco n d s cen e i n t h i s
s t yl e:
1.
Lo n g
s h o t : Ar r i val o f t h e fi r eman .
2. Cl o s e s h o t : Fi r eman s t ar t s fi r e-al ar m
s i g n al .
3. Lo n g
s h o t : Fi r eman r un s t o
jo i n
h i s
co mpan i o n s .
Th i s
s t yl e, h o w ever ,
h ad been us ed
co n s ci o us l y,
t w o
year s
ear l i er ,
by
G. A.
S mi t h o f
Br i g h t o n
i n Th e Mo us e i n t h e
Ar t
S ch o o l ,
o r i n
Mar y
Jan e's
Mi s h ap.
On t h e o t h er h an d , P o r t er
per fect ed
t h i s mo t i o n
pi ct ur e s t yl e by fo l l o w i n g
h i s ch ar act er s mo r e
cl o s el y
as
t h ey
mo ve
abo ut ,
s o met h i n g
t h at W i l l i am-
s o n h ad
al r ead y
d o n e i n a man n er t h at
bel o n g s
much mo r e t o t h e mo t i o n
pi c-
t ur e t h an t o t h e t h eat er .
Let us
t ak e,
fo r
exampl e,
t h es e s e-
quen ces :
In At t ack o n a Ch i n a
Mi s s i o n :
1. Th e w i fe o f t h e
mi s s i o n ar y
at h er w i n -
d o w w aves h er
h an d k er ch i ef.
2. Th e mar i n es s ee t h e
s i g n al .
3.
Th e mar i n es co me t o t h e r es cue.
In Fi r e:
i . In t er i o r : Th e fi r eman
pi ck s up
t h e
un co n s ci o us man an d w al k s t o w ar d t h e
w i n d o w .
6 It
i s ,
o f
co ur s e,
po s s i bl e
t h at t h e W i l l i am-
s o n fi l m w as
i n s pi r ed -as
w as t h at o f
P o r t er ,
l at er -by
a mo d el w h i ch i s un k n o w n t o us .
Ho w ever , t h e r es ear ch es o f Mi s s Rach ael Lo w
an d o f
Ro g er
Man vel l h ave l eft
un d i s cl o s ed
o n l y
a few
pr i mi t i ve
fi l ms . W e ar e s ur e t h at i n
Fr an ce n o s uch fi l m w as r eal i zed befo r e
1902.
46
E DW IN S .
2. E xt er i o r : Th e fi r eman
car r yi n g
t h e
man
g o es
d o w n a l ad d er .
Th i s l as t
s equen ce
o f W i l l i ams o n 's
w as
d evel o ped by
P o r t er ,
i n Th e
Li fe
o f
an Amer i can
Fi r eman ,
as fo l l o w s :
1. In t er i o r : Th e fi r emen at t h e s i t e o f t h e
fi r e.
2. In t er i o r : Th e fi r eman en t er s i n t o t h e
bur n i n g
r o o m an d s aves t h e mo t h er .
3.
E xt er i o r : Th e fi r eman an d t h e mo t h er
o n t h e l ad d er .
4.
In t er i o r : Th e fi r eman s aves t h e ch i l d .
5.
E xt er i o r : Th e fi r eman
g i ves
t h e ch i l d
t o t h e mo t h er .
In
1902,
Mel i es
i g n o r ed -an d
h e co n -
t i n ued t o
i g n o r e
i t
s ys t emat i cal l y
d ur -
i n g
h i s en t i r e car eer -t h e
s t yl e
us ed i n
t h e
s equen ces
ci t ed fr o m Ch i n a Mi s s i o n
an d t h e Amer i can Fi r eman . Mel i es
s h o w ed h i s act o r s i n var i o us
pl aces ,
but
n ever as
t h ey
mo ved abo ut fr o m
pl ace
t o
pl ace.
At
t i mes , h o w ever ,
t h e
r api d i t y
o f t h e act i o n mad e h i m us e a
s t yl e
w h i ch i s cl o s e t o t h e mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
s t yl e.
Fo r
exampl e,
w e h ave t h e s e-
quen ce
o f Th e
Impo s s i bl e Vo yag e
(1904)
w h i ch us ed t o bet t er
ad van t ag e
t h e mo s t famo us
s equen ce
o f
Tr i p
t o
t h e Mo o n
(1902).
1. Th e t r ai n o f t h e In s t i t ut e o f In co -
h er en t
Geo g r aph y, t ak i n g
t h e
Ri g h i
as a
jumpi n g
o ff
pl ace,
l eaves t h e ear t h .
'2. Th e t r ai n cr o s s es t h e
s k y,
i n w h i ch
pl an et s
ar e
g r avi t at i n g .
3.
Th e s un
appear s
i n t h e mi d s t o f t h e
cl o ud s . It
appr o ach es
t h e
s pect at o r s (t r avel -
i n g s h o t ).
4.
Th e s un s w al l o w s t h e t r ai n
(bi g s h o t ).
5.
Th e In s t i t ut e o f In co h er en t
Geo g r a-
ph y
w ak es
up
o n t h e
s un ,
s ur r o un d ed
by
t h e w r eck ed t r ai n
(l o n g s h o t ).
Th i s
amazi n g s equen ce
i n t h e w o r k
o f Mel i es
i s ,
as a
w h o l e,
h an d l ed l i k e a
mo d er n
s equen ce. 6
But w e
fi n d ,
i n Th e
Impo s s i bl e Vo yag e, s equen ces s h o w i n g
a
ver y
d i ffer en t
s t yl e-an d co n t i n ui t y:
P ORTE R
47
i . Th e
s peci al
t r ai n ,
s h o w n i n
s ect i o n ,
w i t h t h e t r avel er s . Th e t r ai n
s t o ps
at t h e
Ri g h i
s t at i o n . Th e en t i r e In s t i t ut e o f In -
co h er en t
Geo g r aph y
l eaves t h e
car r i ag es .
2. Th e s t at i o n o f t h e
Ri g h i .
Th e i n h abi -
t an t s aw ai t t h e ar r i val o f t h e In s t i t ut e o f
In co h er en t
Geo g r aph y.
Th e t r ai n en t er s
t h e s t at i o n . Th e member s o f t h e In s t i t ut e
l eave t h e s t at i o n .
Or
ag ai n :
1. Th e ext er i o r o f t h e i n n o f t h e
Ri g h i .
Th e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e"
pl o w s
i n t o t h e
w al l an d
d i s appear s
i n s i d e.
2. Th e i n t er i o r o f t h e i n n . Th e
g ues t s
ar e
eat i n g qui et l y.
Th e w al l t umbl es d o w n .
Th e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e" cr as h es i n t o t h e
d i n i n g -r o o m
t abl e.
W e s ee i n t h es e t w o
s equen ces
a
s t yl e
t h at
bel o n g s
t o t h e
t h eat er ,
g o ver n ed
as i t i s
by
t h e t i me
n eces s ar y
t o
ch an g e
t h e
s cen er y.
At t h e
ver y peak
o f t h e ac-
t i o n ,
t h e d i r ect o r i s fo r ced t o r ever s e
t h e act i o n . He s h o w s us t h e
beg i n n i n g
o f an even t o f w h i ch w e h ave
al r ead y
s een t h e en d i n t h e
pr eced i n g
t abl eaux,
Th e d eman d s o f t h e t h eat er w er e
s t i l l
co n t i n ui n g
t o
i mpo s e
t h ei r r es t r i c-
t i o n s o n t h e
pr o d uct i o n s
o f t h e S t ar
Fi l m. Mel i es co ul d at l eas t h ave s h o w n
us h i s l as t
s equen ce
i n t h e man n er o f
W i l l i ams o n :
1. E xt er i o r : Th e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e" h i t s
t h e w al l o f t h e i n n .
2. In t er i o r : Th e w al l cr umbl es o n t h e
d i n i n g
t abl e. Th e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e"
en t er s .
Ho w ever ,
ed i t i n g
i n t h e man n er o f
P o r t er
o r ,
mo r e
s peci fi cal l y,
h i s s uc-
ces s o r s ,
w as n ever co n cei ved at Mo n t -
r eui l .
i . E xt er i o r : Th e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e"
ap-
pr o ach es
t h e w al l .
2. In t er i o r : Th e
peaceful g ues t s
at t h e
d i n i n g
t abl e.
3.
E xt er i o r : Th e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e"
br eak s d o w n t h e w al l .
6
Mo r eo ver ,
al l h i s s ucces s i ve t abl eaux co ul d
h ave been execut ed o n t h e
s t ag e
o f a
fai r y pl ay.
HOLL. YW OOD QUARTE RLY
4.
In t er i o r : Th e w al l cr umbl es i n t o t h e
d i n i n g
r o o m;
t h e
"cr azy
aut o mo bi l e"
en t er s .
S uch
cut t i n g
w o ul d h ave
pr es en t ed
n o
d i ffi cul t y
o r t ech n i cal
i mpo s s i bi l i t y
an d w o ul d n o t even h ave mad e n eces -
s ar y
an al t er at i o n i n t h e s et s at Mo n t -
r eui l . Al l t h at w as
r equi r ed
w as k n o w l -
ed g e
o f h o w t o us e t h e s ci s s o r s .
If Mel i es h ad been P o r t er 's
i n s pi r a-
t i o n fo r t h e Amer i can
Fi r eman , t h e
l at t er w o ul d h ave s w i t ch ed o ff o n a
pat h ver y
d i ffer en t fr o m t h e o n e h e fo l -
l o w ed ,
w h i ch co n s i s t ed i n
t ak i n g
h i s
l es s o n s fr o m t h e
E n g l i s h
s ch o o l an d
par t i cul ar l y
fr o m W i l l i ams o n .
It i s
t r ue, h o w ever ,
t h at i n o t h er
fi l ms P o r t er w as
d i r ect l y i n s pi r ed by
Mel i es ,
as Lew i s
Jaco bs po i n t s
o ut :
"Un cl e To m's Cabi n t ur n ed o ut t o
be t h e
l ar g es t
an d mo s t
expen s i ve pi c-
t ur e
yet
mad e i n
Amer i ca,
r un n i n g
t h e
ext r ao r d i n ar y l en g t h
o f
l ,i o o
feet
an d
i n cl ud i n g
fo ur t een s cen es an d a
pr o l o g ue.
Hi s h ear t
bei n g
s et o n Th e
Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y,
h o w ever , P o r t er
d i d Un cl e To m's Cabi n
per fun ct o r i l y,
w i t h o ut
an y
o f t h e
o r i g i n al i t y
d i s -
pl ayed
i n Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i can
Fi r eman .
"Un cl e To m's Cabi n fo l l o w ed t h e
Mel i es
pat t er n ,
w i t h s cen es
ar r an g ed
i n
l o g i cal
o r d er an d
ph o t o g r aph ed
o n e
aft er t h e o t h er
jus t
as
t h ey
ar e
pl ayed
o n a
s t ag e.
Th e ad ver t i s emen t mad e a
vi r t ue o f t h e met h o d : 'Th e
s t o r y
h as
been
car eful l y
s t ud i ed an d
ever y
s cen e
po s ed
i n acco r d an ce w i t h t h e
famo us
aut h o r 's ver s i o n . ' W h at t h e ad ver t i s e-
men t w en t o n t o cal l 'a
d epar t ur e fr o m
t h e met h o d s
o f
d i s s o l vi n g
o n e s cen e i n t o
an o t h er
by i n s er t i n g
an n o un cemen t s
w i t h
br i ef
d es cr i pt i o n s '
w as i n
r eal i t y
a
r et ur n t o t h e l ect ur e-s l i d e met h o d . "'
Th i s
pr o d uct i o n
o f Un cl e To m's
Cabi n w as a
g r eat
s ucces s ,
per h aps
fo r
t h e
ver y
r eas o n t h at i t i mi t at ed
Mel i es ,
w h o w as
ext r emel y po pul ar
at t h at
t i me i n t h e Un i t ed S t at es . It w as t h an k s
t o t h e mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
t h at t h e famo us
s t o r y
o f Mr s . S t o w e's w as s h o w n fo r t h e
fi r s t t i me i n t h e s o ut h er n
s t at es ,
w h er e
t h e r o ad s h o w s h ad n ever d ar ed t o d i s -
pl ay
i t . In
1912
t h e fi r s t
t r avel i n g
ex-
h i bi t o r w h o h ad d ar ed t o s h o w P o r t er 's
fi l m i n New Or l ean s w as s t i l l
s po k en
o f
w i t h aw e. Di r e i n ci d en t s h ad been ex-
pect ed
an d t h e fi l m w as s ch ed ul ed t o
s h o w fo r
o n l y fo r t y-ei g h t
h o ur s . But
t h e s ucces s w as s uch t h at t h e fi l m w as
exh i bi t ed t o
pack ed
aud i en ces fo r t h r ee
w eek s . 8
Th e
fo l l o w i n g year ,
i n t h e aut umn
o f
1903,
P o r t er
pr o d uced
h i s mas t er -
pi ece, fo r t un at el y pr es er ved by
t h e
Fi l m
Li br ar y
o f t h e Mus eum o f
Mo d er n
Ar t ,
Th e Gr eat Tr ai n Ro b-
ber y.
Her e,
i n a co n d en s ed ver s i o n o f t h e
s cr i pt
as i t
appear ed
i n t h e E d i s o n
Cat al o g ue
o f
1904
an d w as l at er r e-
pr i n t ed
i n Lew i s
Jaco bs '
bo o k ,
w e s ee
t h e
pat t er n
o f P o r t er 's
ed i t i n g :9
1. In t er i o r
o f
r ai l r o ad
t el eg r aph o ffi ce.
Tw o mas k ed r o bber s en t er an d
co mpel
t h e
o per at o r
t o
s i g n al
t h e
appr o ach i n g
t r ai n t o
s t o p. Th r o ug h
t h e w i n d o w t h e t r ai n can
be s een
co mi n g
t o a s t an d s t i l l .
[Th i s
s h o t
ach i eves an effect n o t un l i k e t h at o f o ur
pr es en t -d ay "pr o ces s
s h o t . "
0]
Aft er bi n d -
i n g
an d
g ag g i n g
t h e
o per at o r ,
t h e ban d i t s
d epar t .
2. Rai l r o ad w at er t o w er . Th e ban d i t s
s t eal t h i l y
bo ar d t h e t r ai n as i t
pul l s
o ut
ag ai n
aft er
t ak i n g
o n w at er .
7It w as al s o t h e fi r s t
i n t r o d uct i o n ,
i n t h e
Un i t ed
S t at es ,
o f s ubt i t l es .
8
Acco r d i n g
t o
Li vi n g P i ct ur es ,
by
Fo x Tal bo t
(Lo n d o n , 1912).
9
E xcept
fo r t h e l as t
o n e,
al l s cen es ar e ful l
s h o t s .
10 Th i s
t ech n i que
h ad been us ed
by
Zecca i n
1901, pr o babl y
i mi t at i n g an
E n g l i s h mo d el .
48
E DW IN S .
3.
In t er i o r
o f expr es s
car . Ban d i t s br eak
i n .
Ki l l i n g
t h e
mes s en g er
i n a
pi s t o l
d uel ,
t h e r o bber s s t eal t h e
expr es s -car s t r o n g bo x
an d
mai l bag s .
4.
Th e t en d er an d t h e i n t er i o r
o f
t h e
l o co mo t i ve cab.
S t r ug g l e
bet w een a s eco n d
pai r
o f ban d i t s an d t h e
en g i n eer
an d fi r e-
man as t h e t r ai n
s peed s al o n g .
Th e r o bber s
co mpel
t h e
en g i n eer
t o
s t o p
t h e t r ai n .
5.
Th e t r ai n co mes t o a
s t o p.
Th e
en g i -
n eer l eaves t h e t r ai n as t h e r o bber s h o l d
t h ei r
pi s t o l s
t o h i s face.
6. E xt er i o r s cen e
s h o w i n g
t h e t r ai n . Th e
fo ur
d es per ad o es
fo r ce t h e
pas s en g er s
t o
l eave t h e co ach es an d t h en r el i eve t h em o f
t h ei r val uabl es .
7.
Th e ban d i t s bo ar d t h e l o co mo t i ve
w i t h t h ei r
bo o t y
an d
co mpel
t h e
en g i n eer
t o s t ar t o ut
ag ai n .
8.
Fo r ci n g
t h e
en g i n eer
t o
s t o p
t h e l o co -
mo t i ve aft er s ever al
mi l es ,
t h e r o bber s t ak e
t o t h e mo un t ai n s .
9.
A s cen e i n a
val l ey.
Th e ban d i t s co me
d o w n t h e s i d e o f a h i l l an d cr o s s a n ar r o w
s t r eam. Th er e i s a
pan o r ami c
vi ew
s h o w i n g
t h e h o r s es
w ai t i n g
t h er e fo r
t h em. l
Mo un t -
i n g
t h e
h o r s es ,
t h e ban d i t s mak e fo r t h e
w i l d er n es s .
i o . In t er i o r
o f t el eg r aph
o ffi ce.
Th e
o per at o r 's
l i t t l e
d aug h t er
fi n d s h er fat h er
bo un d an d
g ag g ed ,
cut s t h e
r o pes
an d
fr ees h i m. He r us h es o ut t o
g i ve
t h e al ar m.
11.
In t er i o r
o f
a
t ypi cal
W es t er n d an ce
h al l . Th e
t el eg r aph o per at o r s t ag g er s
i n
an d t el l s t h e cr o w d o f d an cer s w h at h as
h appen ed .
Th e d an ce br eak s
up
as t h e
men s ei ze t h ei r r i fl es an d
h as t i l y d epar t .
12. A
r ug g ed
h i l l . Th e
po s s e
i s
pur s ui n g
t h e ban d i t s at br eak n eck
s peed
as
g un s
bl aze.
13. Th i n k i n g t h ey
h ave el ud ed t h ei r
pur -
s uer s ,
t h e ban d i t s
paus e
t o exami n e t h ei r
l o o t ,
o n l y
t o be s ur r o un d ed
by
t h e
po s s e
an d ,
aft er a fi er ce
bat t l e,
capt ur ed .
14.
A
l i fe-s i ze
cl o s e-up o f Bar n es ,
l ead er
o f t h e
ban d i t s ,
fi r i n g po i n t -bl an k
at t h e
aud i en ce.
["Th i s s cen e,"
s ays
t h e
cat al o g ue,
"can be us ed t o
beg i n
o r en d t h e
pi ct ur e. "]
To d ay,
Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y
s t i l l
pr o d uces
a
g r eat i mpr es s i o n
o n t h e
publ i c.
It i s
t r emen d o us l y s i g n i fi can t
becaus e i t i s o n e o f t h e fi r s t fi l ms t o us e
P ORTE R
49
t h e
at mo s ph er e
o f t h e Far W es t
(t ypi cal
W es t er n ,
t h e
cat al o g ue
cal l s
i t ).
An d
w i t h o ut a
d o ubt , Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y
i s ,
ar t i s t i cal l y s peak i n g ,
s u-
per i o r
t o t h e n ai ve
Li fe o f
Ch ar l es
P eace,
co pi ed
fr o m t h e
pr o d uct i o n
w h i ch h ad been mad e s o me mo n t h s be-
fo r e,
at
S h effi el d ,
by
t h e
E n g l i s h man
Mo t t er s h aw ,"
an d w h i ch cl ai med t o
be,
l i k e Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y,
t h e
d r amat i zat i o n o f an aut h en t i c even t . "
Th e
cut t i n g
o f Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y
i s
r el at i vel y s i mpl er
t h an t h at
o f Th e
Li fe o f
an Amer i can Fi r eman .
E ach s cen e i s o n t h e s ame fo cal
pl an e,
as i n t h e fi l ms o f Mel i es . If t h i s mo t i o n
pi ct ur e appear s
t o us mo r e ad van ced
t h an t h e fi l ms mad e at
Mo n t r eui l ,
i t i s
becaus e,
w i t h t h e
except i o n
o f t h r ee
s et s ,
i t i s s h o t
en t i r el y
o ut d o o r s . Out -
d o o r s ,
t h e act o r s ar e n o t fo r ced t o mo ve
i n a r es t r i ct ed
s pace
w i t h
ver y
few
en t r an ces ,
as o n t h e
s t ag e.
An d P o r t er
ach i eves a
g r eat
t ech n i cal
pr o g r es s by
ut i l i zi n g
t r i ck s h o t s
(cach es ,
pan o -
r ami ques , et c. )
as med i a o f
expr es s i o n
an d n o
l o n g er
as
mag i cal
fo r mul as . He
w as n o t t h e i n ven t o r o f t h es e
t r i ck s ,
1
Th i s
t ech n i que
h ad been us ed
by
Zecca o r
No n g uet
at P at h 6 i n o n e o f t h e s cen es o f Th e
P as s i o n : Th e
Mys t er i o us
S t ar .
(Th e pan o r ama
d i s cl o s es Th r ee W i s e
Men . )
2 Th e
Li fe o f
Ch ar l es
P eace,
pr es er ved by
t h e
Br i t i s h Fi l m
Li br ar y
an d bel i eved t o be t h e
w o r k o f Fr an k
Mo t t er s h aw ,
i s
act ual l y-ac-
co r d i n g
t o a l at e
d i s co ver y
o f Mi s s Lo w an d o f
Mr .
Li n d g r een -an
i mi t at i o n o f t h i s fi l m
by
an
un k n o w n aut h o r .
13 "Th i s s en s at i o n al an d
h i g h l y t r ag i c
s ub-
ject
w i l l
cer t ai n l y
mak e a d eci d ed 'h i t ' w h er -
ever s h o w n . In
ever y r es pect
w e co n s i d er i t
abs o l ut el y
t h e
s uper i o r
o f
an y
mo t i o n
pi ct ur e
fi l m ever mad e. It h as been
po s ed
an d act ed i n
fai t h ful
d upl i cat i o n
o f
g en ui n e 'h o l d -ups '
mad e famo us
by
var i o us o ut l aw ban d s i n t h e
Far
W es t ,
w h i l e t h e E as t h as been
r ecen t l y
s h o ck ed
by s ever al cr i mes o f t h e fr o n t i er
o r d er ,
w h i ch w i l l i n cr eas e t h e
po pul ar
i n t er es t i n
t h i s
g r eat
h ead l i n e at t r act i o n . " E d i s o n Cat a-
l o g ue, 1904.
HOLLYW OOD
QUARTE RLY
w h i ch w er e
al r ead y
i n us e at t h e P at h e
s t ud i o i n
1901-1902,
but h e us ed t h i s
t ech n i que
w i t h un d en i abl e
ar t i s t r y.
Fr an k
Mo t t er s h aw ,
t h e aut h o r o f t h e
Li fe o f
Ch ar l es
P eace,
h ad
pr o d uced
i n
May
o r
Jun e, 1903,14
an d t h er efo r e
s o me mo n t h s befo r e Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y,
a fi l m w i t h a t i t l e
cl o s el y
s i mi l ar t o t h at o f P o r t er 's . Th i s
fi l m,
Ro bber y o f
a Mai l
Co ach ,
car r i ed t h e
s ubt i t l e:
E xci t i n g
In ci d en t s
o f
a Io o
Year s
Ag o .
Th e fi l m w as s h o w n i n
Fr an ce,
t h en i mi t at ed un d er t h e t i t l e:
At t ack o n a
Tr avel l i n g
Co ach a Cen -
t ur y Ag o .
Her e i s t h e r 6s ume o f t h e
ed i t i n g
o f
Ro bber y o f
a Mai l
Co ach ,
ac-
co r d i n g
t o t h e
s cr i pt :
1.
E xt er i o r
o f an i n n
al o n g
a
co un t r y
r o ad . Th e t r avel l er s bo ar d t h e co ach .
2. Ro ad
cr o s s i n g .
Th e co ach
appr o ach es .
At t ach o n t h e co ach . Th e d r i ver
s t o ps
h i s
h o r s es . Th e t r avel l er s
g et
o ut an d ar e
r o bbed . Th e ban d i t s mo un t t h ei r h o r s es .
Th ey
fl ee. Th e
po l i ce,
al er t ed ,
beg i n
t h ei r
pur s ui t .
3.
E xt er i o r o f t h e i n n . Th e ban d i t s en t er
t h e
bui l d i n g ,
fo l l o w ed
by
t h e
po l i ce.
4.
Beh i n d t h e i n n . Th e ban d i t s
es cape
by
mean s o f a
r o pe
at t ach ed t o a w i n d o w .
Th e
po l i ce pur s ue
t h em.
5.
A l i t t l e s t r eam.
S h o o t i n g
at t h ei r
pur -
s uer s ,
t h e ban d i t s cr o s s t h e s t r eam.
6. &
7.
E xt er i o r . Th e
pur s ui t
co n t i n ues .
E xch an g e
o f s h o t s .
8.
E d g e
o f a s mal l
g r o ve. S t r ug g l e
w i t h
t h e ban d i t s w h o l eave t h e
g r o ve.
Th e
po l i ce
ar e
w i n n i n g .
9.
A
l ar g e
t r ee. Th e ban d i t s h ave t ak en
co ver i n t h e br an ch es o f t h e t r ee. On e i s
k i l l ed . Th e o t h er
g i ves up.
On e can n o t
h el p bei n g
s t r uck
by
t h e
r es embl an ce bet w een Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y
an d
Ro bber y o f
t h e Mai l
Co ach . Th e fi l ms d i ffer i n t h e
ed i t i n g
r at h er t h an i n t h e
pl o t .
P o r t er
d evel o ps
i n fo ur s cen es
(4, 5,
6,
an d
9)
t h e even t s
t h at Mo t t er s h aw t r eat s i n t h e o n e s h o t
o f t h e at t ack o n t h e co ach .
On t h e o t h er
h an d ,
t h e
pur s ui t ,
t r eat ed i n t h r ee s cen es i n t h e Amer i can
fi l m,
i s
d evel o ped
i n s i x
s h o t s ,
an d
much mo r e
d r amat i cal l y,
i n i t s
E n g l i s h
mo d el . Th e
ed i t i n g
o f
Ro bber y
o f
a
Mai l Co ach i s al s o much mo r e
r api d ;
i t i n cl ud es n i n e s cen es i n a t o t al
l en g t h
o f
375
feet as
ag ai n s t
fo ur t een s cen es
i n 8o o
feet ,15
an d
i s ,
o n t h e
w h o l e,
l es s
ar ch ai c t h an t h at o f Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y.
P o r t er t o o k h i s
s ubject
fr o m a n ew s
i t em an d fo un d i n Mo t t er s h aw t h e
man n er o f t r eat men t . But h er e i t i s
per mi s s i bl e
t o
s peak
o f an
i n s pi r at i o n ,
w h er eas i n t h e Amer i can Fi r eman w e
h ad an al mo s t l i t er al
co py.
As w e k n o w , Th e Gr eat Tr ai n Ro b-
ber y
h ad an i mmen s e s ucces s i n t h e
Un i t ed S t at es an d w as al s o
expo r t ed .
It
w as s t i l l
bei n g
s h o w n i n Fr an ce ar o un d
1908
by
t h e exh i bi t o r
Ko bel k o f,
t h e
mo n s t r o us
d w ar f,
w h o
beg an
h i s car eer
by
exh i bi t i n g
. h i ms el f. Th e i n t er n a-
t i o n al car eer o f Th e Gr eat Tr ai n Ro b-
ber y
w as al l t h e mo r e s ucces s ful i n t h at
i t w as
t ypi cal l y
n at i o n al .
An d t h e s ame can be s ai d fo r al l t h e
w o r k o f Mel i es .
14
Ro bber y o f
a Mai l Co ach i s l i s t ed i n t h e
ch r o n o l o g i cal cat al o g ue
o f Ch ar l es Ur ban
un d er t h e n umber i
l o , aft er t h e s h o t s o f t h e
Ki n g
o f
E n g l an d
i n P ar i s
(May
1,
1903,
No .
l o o o )
an d befo r e t h e s h o t s o f P r es i d en t Lo ubet
at t h e
par ad e
o f t h e Fo ur t een t h o f
Jul y, 1903
(No s . 1131 ff. ).
Th e fi l m
mus t , t h er efo r e,
h ave
been
pr o d uced
befo r e
Jun e, 1903.
On t h e o t h er
h an d ,
Th e Gr eat Tr ai n
Ro bber y
i s l i s t ed i n t h e
E d i s o n
Cat al o g ue
fo r
1904.
Th e en t i r e fi l m o f
Fr an k Mo t t er s h aw i s t r eat ed i n
cl o s e-ups
an d
i s t ak en o ut d o o r s .
15
Mean
l en g t h
o f
s h o t s ,
57
feet ,
as
ag ai n s t 42.
50
A r e a s o f S i l e n c e
IRVING PICHEL
IRVING PICHEL ha s a c te d o n the
l e gi ti ma te s ta ge
a n d i n mo ti o n
pi c tur e s ;
he ha s wr i tte n
e xte n s i ve l y
a bo ut the s e two
f o r ms ;
a n d he ha s di r e c te d o n
Br o a dwa y,
i n the
the a te r ,
a n d i n
Ho l l ywo o d.
Hi s
l a te s t
pi c tur e s
a r e
The y
Wo n 't Be l i e ve Me a n d
S o me thi n g
i n the Wi n d.
IF WE c o n s i de r the s c r e e n i n A me r i c a
a s a ve hi c l e f o r the e vo c a ti o n a n d tr a n s -
mi s s i o n o f
tho ught,
i t l a bo r s un de r two
di s a dva n ta ge s .
On e i s the
s i mpl e
hi s -
to r i c a l f a c t tha t i t i s the a te r . The o the r
i s a
c o mpl e x
o f f a c to r s
s te mmi n g
f r o m
i ts
o r ga n i za ti o n
a s a n
i n dus tr y.
To de a l wi th the s e c o n s i de r a ti o n s i n
o r de r : It i s
my
be l i e f tha t the
the a te r ,
f r o m i ts
ve r y be gi n n i n gs , r a r e l y s ha pe s
the
thi n ki n g
o f i ts
a udi e n c e ,
r a r e l y
c ha n ge s
a n a udi e n c e 's mi n d o r f e e l -
i n gs
a bo ut
a n ythi n g,
a n d
r a r e l y
ve n -
tur e s
be yo n d
a r e f l e c ti o n o f
wi de l y
he l d
vi e ws a n d
a c c e pte d
te n e ts o f s o c i a l be -
ha vi o r . Its
s ubje c t
ma tte r ha s
a l wa ys
be e n the f a te o f the ma n who
de vi a te s ,
the n o n c o n f o r mi s t to c o de s o f
c o n duc t,
o f
be l i e f ,
o f l a w. Whe n i t c a l l s i n to
que s ti o n
the c o de s
the ms e l ve s ,
i f i t i s
i n
a n y
s e n s e a
po pul a r
the a te r ,
i t i s s hut
do wn . The Gr e e ks e xi l e d
pl a ywr i ghts
a n d the Pur i ta n s
s uppr e s s e d
the the a te r
e n ti r e l y.
The the a te r f un c ti o n s s uc -
c e s s f ul l y
whe n i t
a ppe a l s
to
pr i n c i pl e s
c o n c e r n i n g
whi c h the r e i s
un i ty.
It
c o un ts o n
s pe c ta to r s ' l a ughi n g
a bo ut
the s a me
thi n gs , de pl o r i n g
the s a me a c -
ti o n s ,
ho l di n g
the s a me
c o n c e pts
o f
go o d
a n d e vi l . It r e c e i ve s i ts s a n c ti o n
f r o m the
a ppr o ve d
mo r e s a n d va l ue s o f
the
s o c i e ty
i n whi c h i t r i s e s . Fr e e do m
o f
e xpr e s s i o n
ha s e xi s te d i n the the a te r
f r o m the e a r l i e s t ti me s -i n a
ve r y
l i m-
i te d s e n s e o f the wo r d.
Whe n the wa r
c a me ,
A me r i c a n o t
o n l y
n e e de d but
e xpe r i e n c e d
a
gr e a te r
un i ty
tha n i t ha d e ve r kn o wn be f o r e .
We di s c o ve r e d the
a da pta bi l i ty
o f the
mo ti o n
pi c tur e
to us e s to whi c h i t ha d
n e ve r be f o r e be e n s o
c o n s c i o us l y
a n d
wi th s uc h c o n c e n tr a ti o n
a ppl i e d.
It wa s
us e d to
c o n ve y publ i c
i n f o r ma ti o n ,
to
a c c e l e r a te the
a c qui s i ti o n
o f n e w a n d
ur ge n tl y
n e e de d
s ki l l s ,
to f o s te r a n d
do c ume n t
vi e wpo i n ts ,
a n d to a c ti va te
the
r e s po n s e s n e c e s s a r y
i n the
pr o s e c u-
ti o n o f the wa r . The mo ti o n
pi c tur e
s e r ve d the s e e n ds a n d di d i t
s upe r bl y.
A
c o n s i de r a bl e n umbe r o f the wo r ke r s i n
Ho l l ywo o d-wr i te r s ,
di r e c to r s , a c to r s ,
c a me r a me n , c utte r s ,
a n d te c hn i c i a n s -
e xpe r i e n c e d
a n e w e xhi l a r a ti o n .
The y
ma de a c o n tr i buti o n to the n a ti o n a l
pur po s e
i n te r ms o f the i r
pr a c ti c e d
s ki l l s , a n d,
mo r e tha n
tha t,
the y
we r e
a bl e to
put
the me di um i n whi c h
the y
wo r ke d to the mo s t e f f e c ti ve us e i t ha d
e ve r ,
i n the i r
e xpe r i e n c e ,
s e r ve d.
To da y
the s e s a me wo r ke r s c a n n o t
he l p
but f e e l
tha t
the y
a n d the me di um ha ve be e n
c a po n i ze d. Ce r ta i n l y
we do n o t c o m-
pl a i n
be c a us e the r e i s n o mo r e
gr a n d-
s c a l e wa r . No o n e l a me n ts tha t the r e
a r e n o mo r e buzz bo mbs a n d V-2's a n d
bur n i n g
c i ti e s a n d
ga s
c ha mbe r s f o r
us to
dr a ma ti ze ;
but we mus t
gr a n t
tha t
the un i ve r s a l
tr a ge dy,
f r o m Wa r s a w to
Na ga s a ki ,
whi l e i t wa s
be i n g
e n a c te d,
ga ve
A me r i c a a un i f i e d
mo r a l i ty
whi c h
i n tur n
ga ve
f i l ms a ma n da te f o r
r e a l i ty
a n d
pur po s e .
Thi s
wa r ,
l e t us
r e me mbe r ,
wa s a
dr a ma ti za ti o n o f a c o n f l i c t be twe e n
gr o ups
o f n a ti o n s di vi de d
by e xpl o -
E51I
HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
s i ve l y
a n ti the ti c a l mo r a l i ti e s . The i s -
s ue s we r e n o t s ma l l o n e s .
The y
ha d
l i ttl e to do wi th the un s a ti s f i e d r o ma n -
ti c
l o n gi n gs
o f
yo un g
me n a n d
yo un g
wo me n o r wi th
c o mpe ti ti ve s tr uggl e s
f o r i n di vi dua l s e xua l o r
pr o pe r ty
a d-
va n ta ge . To da y
we f i n d o ur s e l ve s f un c -
ti o n i n g
a s
tho ugh
the c ur ta i n ha d
f a l l e n o n the
tr a ge dy,
a s
tho ugh
mi l l i o n s o f
de a d, ma i me d,
a n d ho me -
l e s s ha d r e s o l ve d the i s s ue s f o r whi c h
the wa r wa s
f o ught.
In
r e a l i ty,
the s e
gr e a t
i s s ue s we r e l e f t un r e s o l ve d a n d
the i r r e s i due c o n s ti tute s the mo s t de vi -
s i ve f a c to r i n o ur
s o c i a l , e c o n o mi c ,
a n d
po l i ti c a l
l i f e
to da y.
Thi s i s a n e l a bo r -
a te
wa y
o f
s a yi n g
tha t the o r i e s o f r a c i a l
s upe r i o r i ty,
o r
di s gui s e d
o r o ve r t f a s -
c i s m,
o f a n ti de mo c r a ti c
pr i n c i pl e s
i n
o ur
po l i ti c a l e xpr e s s i o n ,
a r e
a c ti ve ,
po s s i bl y
do mi n a n t,
s o ur c e s o f c o n f l i c t
i n o ur l i ve s a s i n di vi dua l c i ti ze n s . We
ha ve the
Co l umbi a n s ,
In c o r po r a te d;
the Ku Kl ux
Kl a n ;
l yn c hi n g;
r a c i a l
a n d
r e l i gi o us
di s c r i mi n a ti o n i n
e mpl o y-
me n t;
r e s tr i c ti ve r e s i de n ti a l
c o ve n a n ts ;
a s uc c e s s f ul a n d a l l but
n o n pa r ti s a n
a t-
ta c k o n
l a bo r ,
a n d a ho s t o f o the r s o c i a l
s tr a i n s whi c h a r e n o t the a f te r ma th o f
wa r but a r e i de n ti c a l wi th the a n te -
c e de n ts o f wa r .
Le t me
a ppe a r
to
di gr e s s
f o r a mo -
me n t. I wa n t to ma ke a
ge n e r a l i za ti o n
a bo ut the f un c ti o n o f dr a ma ti c f i c ti o n .
Dr a ma de a l s wi th the s tr a i n s to whi c h
huma n
r e a l ti o n s hi ps
a r e
s ubje c t
a n d
the c o n f l i c ts tha t r e s ul t f r o m the m.
The s e s tr a i n s a n d c o n f l i c ts
s pr i n g
f r o m
ma n y
f o r ms o f
a n ta go n i s m
a n d
a ggr e s -
s i o n . Fo r the c o n tr o l o f the s e
a n ta go -
n i s ms a n d
a ggr e s s i o n s s o c i e ty
ha s
pr o -
duc e d
r e l i gi o n s , phi l o s o phi e s , s ys te ms
o f
e thi c s ,
o f
go ve r n me n t,
o f
l a w,
o f
po l i ti c a l
a n d e c o n o mi c c o n tr o l . No n e
o f the m s o f a r ha s wo r ke d
pe r f e c tl y,
o r
e ve n we l l .
Re l i gi o n s
a n d the i r e thi c a l
c o de s ha ve n o t a bo l i s he d s i n .
Le ga l
c o de s a n d the i r e n f o r c e me n t ha ve n o t
do n e
a wa y
wi th di s o r de r . A n d the e c o -
n o mi c
s ys te ms
i n a l l the i r
va r i e ty
ha ve
n o t
pr o duc e d
un i ve r s a l
s e c ur i ty
a n d
jus ti c e .
The f a c t i s tha t the
a ggr e s s i o n s
a n d
s tr a i n s c o n ti n ue a n d a r e e xa c e r ba te d
by
the
r e l i gi o n s ,
the
l a ws ,
the
phi l o s o -
phi e s ,
the
s ys te ms ,
n o t
o n l y
be c a us e
the s e a r e a t va r i a n c e
a mo n g
the ms e l ve s ,
but be c a us e
the y
o f te n
o ppo s e
the
de e pe s t
i n s ti n c tua l n e e ds o f huma n be -
i n gs ,
e ve n a s
the y
s e e k to
gui de
the m to
f ul f i l l me n t. A n d
un ha ppi l y, the y
ha ve
a
f a c ul ty
o f
ge n e r a ti n g gr e a t
a n d be l -
l i ge r e n t l o ya l ti e s -the
ki n d tha t ma ke s
bi go ts
o f the
r e l i gi o us ,
n a ti o n a l i s ts o f
the
pa tr i o ti c ,
a n d
l yn c he r s
o f the r a c i s ts .
A n
e xa mi n a ti o n , a n a l ys i s ,
a n d c r i ti -
c i s m o f the
s ys te ms
i s a
pr o pe r
f un c ti o n
o f
po l i ti c a l thi n ki n g
a n d
a c ti vi ty.
A n e xa mi n a ti o n a n d
de pi c ti o n
o f
the
a n ta go n i s ms ,
the
a ggr e s s i o n s ,
the
s tr a i n s ,
a n d the c o n f l i c ts tha t s ur vi ve
un de r the
s ys te ms
i s the
pr o pe r
f un c -
ti o n o f the a r t o f
f i c ti o n ,
whe the r i n the
f o r m o f the
e pi c
n a r r a ti ve ,
the n o ve l ,
the
dr a ma ,
o r the dr a ma ti c f i l m.
To da y,
ho we ve r ,
we f i n d o ur s e l ve s
l i mi te d i n the us e o f o ur
gr e a t
me di um
f o r the
de pi c ti o n ,
e ve n i n the mo s t o b-
je c ti ve te r ms ,
o f tho s e s o ur c e s o f s tr a i n
a n d c o n f l i c t whi c h ha ve the
gr e a te s t
c o n te mpo r a r y
i n te r e s t f o r us . The
s c r e e n r e ma i n s a me di um but i s n o t a
vo i c e . It do e s n o t
s pe a k
f o r
i ts e l f ,
but
a s
tho ugh
i t we r e
me r e l y
a n a c c o m-
pl i s he d
a c to r
me mo r i zi n g
a n d
r e pe a t-
i n g
wo r ds tha t ha ve be e n
a ppl a ude d
i n
o the r me di a a n d ha ve be e n
pr e c e n -
s o r e d, s i f te d,
f i l te r e d
a ga i n s t
de vi a ti o n
f r o m the mo s t
c o mmo n l y a c c e pte d
a n d
wi de l y
he l d s o c i a l
ge n e r a l i za ti o n s .
The
52
A REA S OF S ILENCE
s c r e e n i s a s ke d to
i gn o r e
the
a n ta go n -
i s ms mo s t c ur r e n t
a mo n g
us ,
mo s t
pr o -
duc ti ve o f
di s r upti o n
i n the c o n te m-
po r a r y
s c e n e ,
mo s t dr a ma ti c i n the i r
thr e a t to o ur s o c i a l a n d
po l i ti c a l pr e s -
e n t a n d
f utur e ,
e ve n
tho ugh
the
s to r y
r e s o l uti o n s o f s uc h c o n f l i c ts
mi ght
be
i n te r ms n o t o f
a n y pa r ti s a n pr o gr a m
o r
s ys te ma ti c
the s i s but i n s uc h te r ms
a s the
pe r s o n a ge s
o f o ur
s to r y mi ght
f i n d f o r the ms e l ve s .
The
un i ty
o f the wa r
ye a r s
ha s va n -
i s he d. The a bs tr a c t
pr i n c i pl e s
o f
r i ght
a n d
wr o n g,
o f
jus ti c e ,
o f huma n i ta r i a n
f e e l i n g
to whi c h we s ubs c r i be d
dur i n g
the
wa r ,
un de r whi c h we c o n de mn e d
the
pr a c ti c e s
o f a hi de o us
e n e my,
ha ve
be c o me bl ur r e d a n d
i n a ppl i c a bl e
to
do me s ti c s i tua ti o n s a n d s tr a i n s c o n -
c e r n i n g
whi c h n o t s o
l o n g a go
we we r e
pe r f e c tl y
c l e a r . A di f f e r e n c e o f
o pi n i o n
c o n c e r n i n g
the
i n te r pr e ta ti o n
o f e ve n ts
i s i n he r e n t i n a de mo c r a ti c s o c i e ty; we
ma y
de ba te a bo ut the
a ppl i c a ti o n
o f
pr i n c i pl e s ;
but the
pr i n c i pl e s
the m-
s e l ve s ,
the ba s i c c o n s i de r a ti o n s
upo n
whi c h A me r i c a wa s f o un de d-the s e we
ha ve
tho ught be yo n d
de ba te .
We ha ve be e n he a r te n e d
by
the
a p-
pe a r a n c e
o f
pi c tur e s
l i ke The Be s t
Ye a r s
o f
Our
Li ve s ,
whi c h
s ti pul a te s
a n
o bl i ga ti o n
to r e tur n e d ve te r a n s o f the
wa r ,
o r The Fa r me r 's
Da ughte r ,
i n
whi c h
s i mpl e ho n e s ty
a n d c o mmo n
s e n s e de f e a t a f a s c i s ti c
po l i ti c a l
c a n di -
da te ,
a n d we a wa i t
Cr o s s f i r e ,
i n whi c h
a n ti -S e mi ti s m i s ma de the mo ti va ti o n
f o r a mur de r . No t o n e o f the s e
pi c tur e s
s e e ms to a s s ume to o muc h. No t
l o n g
a go ,
i t wo ul d ha ve be e n a l l but tr e a s o n -
a bl e to
de n y
the
r i ghts
o f c i ti ze n s o l -
di e r s to
e ve r ythi n g
a
wa y
o f l i f e
the y
ha d
f o ught
to
pr e s e r ve mi ght gi ve
the m.
No t
l o n g
a go ,
f a s c i s m a br o a d wa s te a c h-
i n g
us to
r e c o gn i ze
a n d a bho r e vi de n c e s
o f the s a me
po i s o n
a t ho me . It wa s o ur
gr e a te s t da n ge r .
A n d,
n o t
l o n g a go ,
a n ti -S e mi ti s m wa s the mo ti va ti o n f o r
s i x mi l l i o n
mur de r s ,
whi c h s ho c ke d
a n d ho r r i f i e d us .
It i s
pi c tur e s
l i ke the s e whi c h a r e
un de r a tta c k
to da y, jus t
a s s o me o f the
pi c tur e s
o f the wa r
pe r i o d, a ppl a ude d
i n the i r
ti me ,
a r e a l s o
be i n g
a tta c ke d-
f i l ms l i ke
Wi l s o n ,
The Ox-Bo w In c i -
de n t,
Te n de r
Co mr a de ,
A Me da l
f o r
Be n n y,
o r The Pr i de
o f
the Ma r i n e s . It
i s be s i de the
po i n t
tha t the a tta c ks a r e
s tupi d
a n d
s i l l y.
It i s e ve n be s i de the
po i n t
tha t The Be s t Ye a r s
o f
Our Li ve s
a n d The Fa r me r 's
Da ughte r
a r e e n o r -
mo us l y
s uc c e s s f ul a t the bo x o f f i c e a n d
ma ke
ve r y go o d
s e n s e to the
publ i c
whi c h
thr o n gs
to s e e the m. The r e a l
po i n t
i s tha t the
publ i c
i s
be i n g
to l d,
i n
e f f e c t,
tha t i t i s
be i n g po i s o n e d
a n d
s ubve r te d
by
the s e ta l e s
c o n c e r n i n g
whi c h i t do e s r e a c t wi th
un a n i mi ty,
a n d
whi c h do s ubs c r i be to the mo s t
ge n e r -
a l l y a c c e pte d
a n d
a ppr o ve d
te n e ts o f
A me r i c a n
de mo c r a c y.
The Tho ma s -
Te n n e y-M.PA .
a xi s
s a ys
to the A me r i -
c a n
pe o pl e
tha t i ts mo r a l s a r e
mi s ta ke n ,
tha t i ts
pr i n c i pl e s
a r e
be i n g mi s a ppl i e d,
tha t i ts s e n s e o f de mo c r a ti c
de c e n c y,
i ts
ve r y
tr a di ti o n s o f
e qua l i ty
a n d to l e r -
a n c e ,
a r e
me r e l y be i n g a ppe a l e d
to i n
o r de r to
de s tr o y
i ts
wa y
o f l i f e . The
a tta c k i s
o n l y i n c i de n ta l l y a ga i n s t
the
l i mi te d f r e e do m o f the
s c r e e n ;
i t i s
ba s i c a l l y
di r e c te d
a ga i n s t
the f un da -
me n ta l f r e e do m o f the Un i te d S ta te s .
I
s po ke
o f a s e c o n d s e t o f f a c to r s tha t
l i mi t the s c r e e n a s a me di um f o r a f f e c t-
i n g
the
thi n ki n g
o f i ts a udi e n c e s -a s e t
o f f a c to r s
a r i s i n g
f r o m i ts i n dus tr i a l
o r ga n i za ti o n .
Mo ti o n
pi c tur e s
a r e a
bi g
bus i n e s s .
Huge
s ums a r e i n ve s te d i n s tudi o s a n d
the a te r s ,
i n
s to r y pr o pe r ti e s
a n d i n ta l -
53
HOLLYWOOD
QUA RTERLY
e n t c o n tr a c ts . The s c r e e n ma ke s
mo n e y
s o
l o n g
a s i t
pl e a s e s
the
publ i c ;
i t l o s e s
mo n e y
whe n i t f a i l s to
pl e a s e
o r whe n
i t
a c ti ve l y di s pl e a s e s
the
publ i c .
Its
o wn e r s a n d
ma n a ge r s ,
l i ke tho s e o f
o the r
bus i n e s s e s ,
s tr i ve to
o pe r a te
i t
pr o f i ta bl y.
Thi s
the y
do
by s e tti n g
o ut
e n te r ta i n me n t whi c h the
publ i c
wi l l
pur c ha s e
i n
qua n ti ty. The y
s e e k c o n -
s c i e n ti o us l y
to
s a f e gua r d
the
pr o duc t
f r o m
a n ythi n g
whi c h
mi ght
a f f e c t i ts
a c c e pta n c e by
the wi de s t
po s s i bl e
a udi -
e n c e .
The y c o mpute
the s e n s i ti vi ti e s o f
a n y gr o ups
whi c h
mi ght
ta ke o f f e n s e
a t
a n ythi n g
i n
a n y s to r y. The y
de f e r to
the
c e n s o r s hi ps
o f s ta te s a n d c i ti e s a n d
c l ubs a n d c hur c he s . It i s the i r
pr o pe r
bus i n e s s to
ke e p
f r o m the s c r e e n
a n y-
thi n g
whi c h i s
di vi s i ve ,
whi c h
mi ght
s ha tte r the
un i ty
o f
r e s po n s e
o f a n a udi -
e n c e ,
whi c h
mi ght r e pe l a n y
c o n s i de r -
a bl e n umbe r o f
the a te r go e r s ,
o r ,
a t
wo r s t,
c r e a te a c ti ve
o ppo s i ti o n
to i ts
pr o duc t.
Thi s s i tua ti o n ha s i ts
di f f i c ul ti e s ,
o f
c o ur s e . En te r ta i n me n t de a l s wi th i n -
ta n gi bl e s ,
a n d i t i s n o t
a l wa ys po s s i bl e
to kn o w i n a dva n c e wha t wi l l
de l i ght
a n d wha t
ma y
o f f e n d. Mi s ta ke s a r e
ma de ,
o c c a s i o n a l l y.
But,
a l l o wi n g
f o r
the
s ubtl e
a n d o f te n i n c a l c ul a bl e va l ue s
i n vo l ve d i n
e n te r ta i n me n t,
I kn o w o f
n o
i n dus tr y
whi c h
e xpe n ds gr e a te r
e f -
f o r ts to s e t
up
the s ta n da r ds a n d
gua ge s
by
whi c h i ts
pr o duc t
c a n be me a s ur e d.
A s te e l
pl a n t
ha s a
te s ti n g l a bo r a to r y;
the mo ti o n
pi c tur e i n dus tr y
ha s the
Br e e n
o f f i c e ,
the
A .R.I.,
e xpe r t
"s ho w-
me n "
e xe c uti ve s ,
a n d ba n ks .
Eve r ythi n g
i n te n de d f o r the s c r e e n
i s
s i f te d, te s te d,
a n d
c he c ke d,
n o t o n c e
but f r o m f i ve to a do ze n ti me s .
No thi n g
i s
pr o duc e d by
the s o l e de c i s i o n o f o n e
ma n . A n d
dur i n g
the e n ti r e
pr o c e s s
o f
pr o duc ti o n ,
s c o r e s o f
pe r s o n s
a r e i n -
vo l ve d who s e
pa r ti c i pa ti o n
i s n o t me -
c ha n i c a l ,
but
i n te l l e c tua l -pe r s o n s
wi th
mi n ds ,
f e e l i n gs , o pi n i o n s
whi c h mus t
ul ti ma te l y
c o me i n to
a gr e e me n t.
The
f a c t tha t the s c r e e n i s
the a te r ,
i f
yo u
a c c e pt my ge n e r a l i za ti o n ,
l i mi ts i ts
f r e e do m i n o n e s e n s e . The f a c t tha t i t
i s a
hi ghl y o r ga n i ze d
bus i n e s s l i mi ts
i t,
f r o m a n o the r
di r e c ti o n ,
to
r e ma i n i n g
s uc c e s s f ul the a te r .
If
the n ,
f r o m ti me to
ti me , a f i l m
de a l s wi th o n e o f the mo r e
ur ge n t pr o b-
l e ms o f
c o n te mpo r a r y
l i f e ,
i t c a n
o n l y
ha ve c o me i n to e xi s te n c e be c a us e the
vi gi l a n t
c e n s o r s a n d the c o n s c i e n ti o us
gua r di a n s
o f a n
i mpo r ta n t bi g
bus i n e s s
be l i e ve tha t the A me r i c a n
publ i c
ha s
r e a c he d
s o me thi n g
c l o s e to
un a n i mi ty
i n i ts
thi n ki n g
a n d
f e e l i n g
a bo ut the
pa r ti c ul a r pr o bl e m.
The mo s t s i n c e r e
a n d
a s pi r i n g pr o duc e r s ,
e xe c uti ve s ,
wr i te r s ,
a n d di r e c to r s a r e
qui te
a wa r e
tha t
a l tho ugh
a f i l m c a n e vo ke a n e mo -
ti o n a l
r e s po n s e
f r o m a n
a udi e n c e ,
i t
c a n n o t c r e a te the e mo ti o n i ts e l f .
The y
kn o w tha t a
s c r e e n pl a y
c a n c o n f i r m the
tho ughts
a n d s e n ti me n ts o f a n a udi -
e n c e but tha t i t c a n n o t
gi ve
the a udi -
e n c e
who l l y
n e w
vi e wpo i n ts .
The the a -
te r r e f l e c ts the s o c i a l
s c e n e ;
i t do e s n o t
c ha n ge
i t,
n o r i s i t the the a te r 's f un c -
ti o n to do s o .
Ce r ta i n l y,
e ve n the mo s t
c o ur a ge o us
a n d ve n tur e s o me o f f i l m
ma ke r s a r e the l a s t
pe r s o n s
i n the wo r l d
who wa n t to s e e a udi e n c e s a l i e n a te d
by c o n tr o ve r s y
o r
r e pe l l e d by
a n ti -
pa the ti c
di s to r ti o n s o f the A me r i c a n
s c e n e .
To s e t
up
r e s tr i c ti o n s
a ga i n s t
s c r e e n
c o n te n t
be yo n d
tho s e tha t
a l r e a dy
e xi s t
be c a us e o f the n a tur e o f the a r t i ts e l f
a n d i ts c o mme r c i a l
o r ga n i za ti o n
a n d
di s tr i buti o n i s to
s a y,
i n
e f f e c t,
tha t the
s c r e e n
ma y
l o o k a t Ze n da but n o t a t
Ze n i th;
tha t i t
ma y
te l l the e n dl e s s f a l s e -
54
A REA S OF S ILENCE
ho o ds o f
yo un g
l o ve
n o ur i s hi n g
i ts e l f
o n
a mbr o s i a ,
but
n o thi n g
o f the tr uth
o f l o ve
s tr uggl i n g
to e xi s t i n a s o c i a l -
po l i ti c a l
wo r l d i n whi c h the
pr i c e
o f
f o o d i s
go i n g up.
Dr e a ms a r e wo n de r -
f ul
thi n gs ,
a n d
huma n i ty
i s e n ti tl e d
to the m a n d to the i r
r e a l i za ti o n ;
but
huma n i ty
de s e r ve s be tte r o f i ts
pr e s s ,
i ts
r a di o ,
a n d i ts s c r e e n tha n to be to l d
tha t the dr e a ms a r e a l l i t
ma y
ha ve a n d
tha t i ts me di a o f i n f o r ma ti o n a n d o f
di ve r s i o n
ma y
n o t
gl a n c e
a t the
s tr uggl e ,
the ha r d
thi n ki n g,
a n d the
he r o i c tr a va i l
by
whi c h the dr e a ms o f
ha ppi n e s s
c a n be l i ve d i n a r a the r
de s pe r a te
wo r l d.
55
O n Children 's Cin em a : A m eric a
a n d B rit a in
SO NDRA GO RNEY
SO NDRA GO RNEY is a dra m a t ic c rit ic a n d a c on -
t ribut or t o va rious n a t ion a l
periodic a ls.
She ha s
writ t en a n d direc t ed for c hildren 's ra dio
progra m s
a n d c hildren 's t hea t er in
Chic a go.
Her a rt ic le "The
Puppet
a n d t he
Moppet " a ppea red
in t he
July, 1946,
issue of t he
Hollywood Qua rt erly.
MUCH ha s been
sa id, writ t en ,
a n d
dra m a t ized a bout t he n eed for c hil-
dren 's en t ert a in m en t film s. It is n o
lon ger
a deba t a ble
subjec t .
Fa c t s,
st a -
t ist ic s,
a n d t rea t ises ha ve disc losed how
m a n y
c hildren of wha t
a ge groups
a t -
t en d t he
m ovies,
how
oft en ,
wha t
t hey
see,
it s effec t s on
t hem ,
a n d it s
im por-
t a n c e in t heir c ult ura l
developm en t .
Educ a t ors,
pa ren t s,
a n d
psyc hologist s
ha ve from t im e t o t im e c on dem n ed t he
m odern film fa re t ha t is in disc rim i-
n a t ely
shown a t
n eighborhood
t hea t ers
for
youn g
a n d old a like.
A ppea l
a ft er
a ppea l
ha s been m a de for
spec ia l
m ot ion
pic t ures
for t he m illion c hil-
dren of t welve
yea rs
a n d less who a t t en d
m ovies in t his
c oun t ry
ea c h week.
The c rit ic s ha ve been
voc iferous;
n ow t he c en sors a re
begin n in g
t o a c t .
A n d wha t ha ve t he c rea t ors a n d
pro-
duc ers don e a bout it ? The fa c t is t ha t
a lt hough
we ha ve t he wea lt hiest m ovie
in dust ry
in t he
world,
in t he wea lt hiest
c oun t ry,
we do n ot ha ve a
sin gle
st udio
devot ed
exc lusively
t o t he
produc t ion
of film s for
juven ile
a udien c es. We do
n ot even ha ve a
depa rt m en t
for t his
t ype
of
produc t ion
wit hin
a n y
of t he
m a jor
st udios.
O t her c oun t ries a re
wa y
a hea d of
A m eric a in
pla n n in g
m ot ion
pic t ure
fa re for t he
youn g. En gla n d,
in
pa rt ic -
ula r,
ha s m a de t rem en dous st rides in
t he
right
direc t ion . It
m ight
be
helpful
t o review wha t she ha s
don e,
how she
does
it ,
a n d wha t she is
pla n n in g.
In
t his
wa y, perha ps,
we c a n a dd our voic e
t o t he
a ppea l,
a n d
poin t
out t o A m eri-
c a n
produc ers
how
short sight ed t hey
a re in
n eglec t in g
t he c ult ura l n eeds of
t he hum a n
bein gs
who
c om pose
our
n ext
gen era t ion .
First ,
observe t ha t A m eric a n
pro-
duc ers a re n ot
c om plet ely
in differen t
t o t he dem a n ds of t he
public . Rec en t ly,
t he seven m em ber
c om pa n ies
of t he
Mot ion Pic t ure Produc ers'
A ssoc ia t ion ,
t oget her
wit h Un it ed
A rt ist s,
Republic ,
a n d
Mon ogra m ,
set
up
a
projec t
kn own
a s t he Children 's Film
Libra ry.
This
c on sist s of
t wen t y-eight
fea t ure-film re-
issues t ha t a re sa id t o ha ve been fa vor-
it es of
juven ile
a udien c es in t he
pa st
a n d t ha t a re n ow a va ila ble t o ex-
hibit ors a ll over t he
c oun t ry
for Sa t ur-
da y-m orn in g
t hea t er
progra m s.
In
a n n oun c in g
t his
projec t ,
Eric
John st on ,
Presiden t of t he
M.P.P.A .,
sa id: "A whole
gen era t ion
of c hildren
ha s rea c hed sc hool
a ge
sin c e t hese
pic -
t ures were
produc ed.
In
un dert a kin g
t his
projec t ,
t he
in dust ry
is
proud
t o
ha ve a
pa rt
in
in t roduc in g
t o
youn ger
a udien c es som e of t he
phot opla ys
whic h ot her c hildren ha ve
en joyed
dur-
in g
t he
pa st
t wo dec a des."1
The
t wen t y-eight
fea t ures in c lude:
Colum bia 's B lon die
B rin gs Up B a by,
Five Lit t le
Peppers
a n d How
They
Hollywuood Report er.
E56 ]
O N CHILDREN'S CINEMA
Grew,
Five Lit t le
Peppers
in
Trouble;
MGM's
Youn g
Tom
Edison ,
The Hu-
m a n
Com edy,
A dven t ures
of
Huc kle-
berry
Fin n ;
Mon ogra m 's
The Hoosier
Sc hoolboy
a n d The
B a refoot
B oy;
Pa ra -
m oun t 's A lic e in
Won derla n d,
Lit t le
Miss
Ma rker,
Mrs.
Wiggs
of
t he Ca b-
ba ge
Pa t c h;
RKO 's Two
Thorough-
breds,
A n n e
of Win dy Popla rs,
A n n e
of
Green
Ga bles;
Republic 's
Sis
Hopkin s,
Youn g
B uffa lo B ill;
2ot h
Cen t ury-
Fox's
Ja n e
Eyre,
The Poor Lit t le Ric h
Girl,
Rebec c a
of Sun n ybrook
Fa rm ;
Un it ed A rt ist s' Three's a
Fa m ily,
Kn ic kerboc ker
Holida y, Son g of
t he
O pen
Roa d;
Un iversa l's The Un der-
pup, Sa n dy
Get s Her
Ma n ,
The
Might y
Treve;
Wa rn er's The Green
Pa st ures,
A Midsum m er
Night 's
Drea m ,
a n d The
Prin c e a n d t he
Pa uper.
Dist ribut ors of t he fea t ures rec eive
bet ween
$10
a n d
$35 per
show
per
fea t ure. A dm ission s run from io c en t s
t o
25
c en t s. Tra de
pa pers report
t ha t
t here is n o
profit
in t he dist ribut ion for
exhibit ors bec a use
t hey
a re
spen din g
a bout
$6,000
for ea c h t it le a n d
pla c in g
a t lea st on e
prin t
of ea c h t it le in ea c h
exc ha n ge.
Nevert heless,
bec a use of t he
popula rit y
of t he
shows,
t he M.P.P.A .
pla n s
t o ha ve
fift y-t wo
fea t ures in c ir-
c ula t ion
by
t he en d of t he
yea r.
Result s of t he c hildren 's
libra ry
a re
highly sa t isfa c t ory. B y A pril
of t his
yea r
t he film s ha d been used
by 1,047
t hea t ers in
6,ooo
spec ia l showin gs
a n d were en dorsed
by pa ren t -t ea c her
groups.
A lic e in Won derla n d a n d
Huc kleberry
Fin n were t he m ost
popu-
la r selec t ion s.
Most of t he
pic t ures
in t he
libra ry
a re sc reen
a da pt a t ion s
of books
lon g
popula r
wit h t he
juven ile rea din g pub-
lic ;
ot hers a re
biogra phic a l
film s;
st ill
ot hers a re
origin a l light
c om edies or
dra m a s. No on e kn ows
exa c t ly
who
m a de t he
selec t ion s,
or wha t
proof
exist s of t heir
pa st popula rit y
wit h
youn gst ers.
O n e
t hin g
is c ert a in :
t hey
were n ever
produc ed
wit h t he
youn g
a udien c e in m in d.
Perha ps
it is t rue t ha t t he exhibit ors
a re n ot
"m a kin g m on ey"
on t hese
Sa t urda y-m orn in g showin gs;
but
c ouldn 't
t hey
c ha lk
up
t he
slight
losses
of
t oda y
a s a n in vest m en t in t om orrow's
profit s?
The ha bit s a c hild
develops
in
his
yout h
will be t he ha bit s of his a dult
life-a n d
goin g
t o t he m ovies is a ha bit .
It ha s been
proved
a lso t ha t fea t ure
pic t ures
a lon e do n ot m a ke a
c om plet e
show for
youn gst ers.
A ddit ion a l en t er-
t a in m en t m ust be
provided by
c a rt oon s,
short s,
a n d som et im es a
st a ge
show.
In
Newa rk,
for
in st a n c e,
t wen t y-six
t hea t ers ha ve
Sa t urda y-m orn in g pro-
gra m s
for c hildren whic h in c lude c a r-
t oon s,
t ra velogues,
a n d educ a t ion a l
film s a s well a s t he fea t ure. There is
lit t le or n o
supervision
wit h
respec t
t o
qua lit y
or c on t en t of t he m a t eria l
presen t ed.
In a n a rt ic le en t it led "A dult s Not
A dm it t ed
...,
2 Noel Mea dow a n d
Ha rry
O ber t ell of a n
in t erest in g
ex-
perim en t
st a rt ed in New York
Cit y.
Two
m ot hers,
c on c ern ed a bout t he
horrific film fa re t heir c hildren t ook
in ,
dec ided t o sift t he over-a ll film
m a rket for
"a dequa t e" juven ile pro-
gra m s. They
c on sult ed wit h t he
Sc hools' Mot ion Pic t ure
A dvisory
Com -
m it t ee,
t he Child
St udy
A ssoc ia t ion ,
lea ders of
pa ren t -t ea c her groups,
sc hool
prin c ipa ls,
a n d offic ia ls of
religious
a gen c ies
in t erest ed in c hild welfa re.
Thus wa s c rea t ed a n
a dvisory
boa rd t o
preview
a n d
pa ss
on
every progra m
for
a Children 's
Sa t urda y
Morn in g
Club.
2
Sc reen writ er
Ma ga zin e,
Novem ber, 1946.
57
HO LLYWO O D
QUA RTERLY
The Club is housed in t he B ea c on
Thea t er on
B roa dwa y
a n d t hree
per-
form a n c es a re
given every Sa t urda y
a t
11: 15
A .M. a n d 1: oo a n d
3: 00
P.M. A s
t he c hildren en t er t he
t hea t er,
t hey
a re
m et
by Ha ppy,
a n
a c c ordion -pla yin g
c lown who welc om es a n d en t ert a in s
t hem . The
progra m
in c ludes a fea t ure
"design ed
t o m a ke t he c hildren a wa re
of t he world
t hey
live in a n d t heir re-
spon sibilit ies
in
it ,"
c a rt oon
c om ic s,
short
subjec t s dea lin g
wit h rea l c hil-
dren
(n ot profession a l a c t ors),
a n d a
st a ge
show on t he order of a full-sc a le
puppet
show,
ra dio
person a lit ies,
or a
sc a led-down c irc us.
Exhibit ors a ll over New York
Cit y
a re
begin n in g
t o im it a t e t he Children 's
Sa t urda y Morn in g
Club. B ut Mm es.
Gershweir a n d
Levin e,
t he
fa rsight ed
m ot hers who in it ia t ed t he
progra m s,
feel'
t hey
ha ve
a c c om plished
lit t le un -
less
t hey
"m a ke
Hollywood
a wa re t ha t
t here is a
n eed,
a s well a s a
good
c a sh
m a rket ,
for m ovies
design ed
for c hil-
dren 's
c on sum pt ion ."
Sim ila r c on c ern wa s voic ed on t he
West Coa st
by
Mrs. Rut h B .
Hedges,
st a t e m ot ion
pic t ure
c ha irm a n of t he
Ca liforn ia
Con gress
of Pa ren t s a n d
Tea c hers.
Spea kin g
a t a roun d t a ble
on "The In fluen c e of Ra dio a n d Mo-
t ion Pic t ures on Children 's
B eha vior,"3
she
poin t ed
out t ha t in on e
yea r on ly
fift y Hollywood
film s were ra t ed in t he
st a t e a n d n a t ion a l
pa ren t -t ea c her m a g-
a zin es a s suit a ble for c hildren of be-
t ween
eight
a n d t welve
yea rs.
A few
film s were c la ssified a s suit a ble for t he
fa m ily.
"Here is where t he
c om m un it y
m ust
t a ke over a
la rge
sha re of t he
respon si-
bilit y,"
she sa id. "There m ust be a lia i-
son c om m it t ee
fun c t ion in g
bet ween
t he t hea t er a n d t he
pa ren t s, educ a t in g
pa ren t s
a n d
public izin g
t he
spec ia l
progra m s....
We ha ve t oo
lon g n eg-
lec t ed t his
job
of ours of
providin g
c hildren wit h t heir
very
own m ot ion
pic t ure progra m s."
Mrs.
,Hedges
is
a bsolut ely right .
We
c a n n ot ba n c hildren from t he
presen t
m ot ion
pic t ures
wit hout
givin g
t hem
subst it ut es. Movies a re t oo m uc h a
pa rt
of our
presen t -da y
c ult ura l en viron -
m en t . The Mot ion Pic t ure Produc ers'
A ssoc ia t ion 's a c t ion in
set t in g up
t he
Children 's Film
Libra ry prec eded by
a
sm a ll
m a rgin
t he wa ve of
c en sorship
legisla t ion
n ow
bein g
direc t ed
a ga in st
c hildren 's a t t en da n c e a t m ot ion
pic -
t ures
prim a rily design ed
for a dult s.
In
Con n ec t ic ut ,
a bill wa s in t roduc ed
whic h would c rea t e a
spec ia l
boa rd of
c en sors t o
a pprove
m ot ion
pic t ures
for
c hildren un der fourt een
yea rs
of
a ge.
Ma ryla n d
in t roduc ed a bill whic h
would m a ke it un la wful t o exhibit on
Sa t urda y
a ft ern oon
a n y pic t ure
n ot
a p-
proved
for c hildren
by
t he
Ma ryla n d
boa rd of c en sors. A n d a
spec ia l
subc om -
m it t ee of five m em bers of t he House
Com m it t ee on t he Dist ric t of Colum bia
wa s n a m ed t his
pa st July
t o
st udy pos-
sible
legisla t ion
t o
em power Wa shin g-
t on exhibit ors t o ba n c hildren from
t heir t hea t ers.
If t his
t ype
of
c en sorship
bec om es
effec t ive,
t he m ot ion
pic t ure in dust ry
will lose
19
per
c en t of t he t ot a l t ic ket s
purc ha sed
a t t he box offic e ea c h week.
Tha t
19per
c en t is
obviously
t he 81
per
c en t of t om orrow's box offic e. How
m uc h wiser it would be-a n d howm uc h
bet t er busin ess-t o look for
wa ys
a n d
m ea n s of
in c rea sin g
t ha t
perc en t a ge
ra t her t ha n
losin g
it ,
of
developin g
a
3
A t t he A n n ua l Na t ion a l Proba t ion A ssoc ia -
t ion c on ven t ion in Sa n Fra n c isc o's Wa r Me-
m oria l
B uildin g. A pril 1947.
58
O N CHILDREN'S CINEMA
disc rim in a t in g
a udien c e for t he fu-
t ure-a n d
in c iden t a lly ga in in g
t he re-
spec t
of t he n a t ion .
A
report
on
a n y pha se
of
En glish pic -
t ure
produc t ion
is
n ec essa rily
c olored
by
t he
kn owledge
t ha t
riva lry
bet ween
A m eric a n a n d B rit ish m ot ion
pic t ure
in dust ries is a t fever
pit c h.
B rit a in is
c ert a in ly a t t em pt in g
t o build a n a udi-
en c e for her hom e
produc t ; perha ps
she
c a t ers t o t he
yout h
of her
c oun t ry
for
t ha t rea son .
Rega rdless
of t he
rea son ,
t he fa c t rem a in s t ha t she is in a dva n c e
of A m eric a in
pla n n in g, produc in g,
a n d
dist ribut in g
film s for t he
youn g.
A ll film s shown in B rit a in a re first
c la ssified
by
t he B rit ish Film In st it ut e
wit h
respec t
t o t heir
suit a bilit y
for
c hildren . This
guides
exhibit ors a n d
pa ren t s
in
direc t in g youn gst ers
t o t he
proper pic t ure
for t heir
a ge
level. The
sign post s
a re:
A ,
film s for a dult s
on ly;
B ,
film s for a dult s a n d
a dolesc en t s; C,
fa m ily
film s; D,
film s whic h c hildren
over seven
m a y
a t t en d;
a n d
U,
film s fit
for un iversa l exhibit .
A s for
"spec ia l showin gs"
for c hil-
dren ,
t here were
very
few c hildren 's
m a t in ees in Grea t B rit a in before
1931.
In
1937,
t he B rit ish Film In st it ut e c ol-
lec t ed det a iled in form a t ion
rela t in g
t o
260 c in em a s whic h
regula rly
ra n
spec ia l
c hildren 's
perform a n c es.
In
Sept em ber
of t ha t
yea r,
t he O deon Thea t ers or-
ga n ized
ioo
Mic key
Mouse Clubs wit h
a t ot a l of m ore t ha n
ioo,ooo m em bers.
In
1939,
Ric ha rd Ford
report ed
in his
book Children a n d t he Cin em a t ha t
a bout
700
t hea t ers were
holdin g regu-
la r m a t in ees for c hildren wit h
spec ia lly
c hosen film s. Sin c e
1943,
t he
growt h
of
c hildren 's c in em a c lubs ha s been
very
ra pid.
The t wo
la rgest
c om m erc ia l c on -
c ern s
showin g
en t ert a in m en t film s t o
c hildren a re t he Ga um on t -B rit ish
Jun -
ior Clubs a n d t he O deon Na t ion a l
Cin em a Clubs for
B oys
a n d Girls.
These t wo c lubs a re
orga n ized
in de-
pen den t ly, a lt hough
bot h ha ve Mr.
J.
A rt hur Ra n k a s
presiden t .
Ga um on t -
B rit ish ha ve 126
c lubs,
wit h a m em ber-
ship
of
2oo,ooo;
O deon ha ve
249
c lubs,
wit h a
m em bership
of
262,000.
B ot h
a dm it c hildren bet ween t he
a ges
of
seven a n d fourt een
yea rs,
a n d t he usua l
pric e
of a dm ission is
sixpen c e (a pproxi-
m a t ely
t en
c en t s)
or less in
poor
a rea s.
B ot h
open
t heir c lubs
every Sa t urda y
m orn in g
from
9: 30
o'c loc k un t il n oon .
In a let t er from
Lon don ,
Miss Ma de-
lin e
Mun ro,
Sen ior Lec t urer in
B iology
a n d Hea lt h Educ a t ion a t t he
Furze-
down
Tra in in g College
for
Tea c hers,
writ es of t he Cin em a Clubs:
"Very
few a dult s
ha ve,
a s
yet , a n y
experien c e
of t he c hildren 's rea c t ion s
t o wha t
t hey
see a n d hea r on
Sa t urda y
m orn in g. Durin g
t he t wo
hours,
t hey
first devot e a bout t en or fift een m in ut es
t o
c om m un it y sin gin g, spea k
t he Club
prom ise
in
un ison ,
a n d
sin g
t he Na -
t ion a l A n t hem . If t here a re oversea s
visit ors,
suc h a s
Norwegia n
or Dut c h
c hildren
rec upera t in g
in t his
c oun t ry
a ft er t heir
yea rs
of
ordea l,
t hey sin g
a
sec on d n a t ion a l a n t hem . Then fol-
lows a c olor
c a rt oon ,
a short educ a -
t ion a l or
doc um en t a ry
film ,
a n
episode
from a seria l
(whic h
run s for a bout
t en or t welve c on sec ut ive
weeks),
a n d
fin a lly
t he m a in fea t ure. There a re a lso
exc ellen t Club
m a ga zin e
n um bers wit h
va rious it em s.
Very
oft en ,
ea rly
in t he
progra m ,
a n
expert
a ddresses t he c hil-
dren from t he
pla t form .
This
m a y
be a
n urse,
a
c lergym a n ,
a n
explorer,
a sc i-
en t ist ,
t he Medic a l or Educ a t ion
offic er,
a
popula r sport s figure,
or a loc a l
fig-
ure who
en c oura ges
in t erest in c ivic
a ffa irs."
59
HO LLYWO O D
QUA RTERLY
Crit ic ism ha s been hurled a t Mr.
Ra n k for
m a kin g
a
la rge profit
out of
t he c hildren . This is
en t irely
erron eous,
sin c e t he Clubs a re
n on profit m a kin g.
A ft er a ll
expen ses
ha ve been
m et ,
a n y
surplus goes
in t o c lub a c t ivit ies suc h
a s
orc hest ra s,
sport s,
m odel
ya c ht s,
et c .,
a n d t owa rd
m a kin g
som e c on t ribut ion
t o t he c ost of
produc in g spec ia l
en t er-
t a in m en t film s for t he c hildren .
B ec a use t he n um ber of film s a va il-
a ble a n d suit a ble for
showin g
t o c hil-
dren wa s so
lim it ed,
Mr. Ra n k set
up
t he Children 's Film
Depa rt m en t
of
Ga um on t -B rit ish In st ruc t ion a l in
Ma y,
1944.
The a im of t his
depa rt m en t
is t o
provide good
form a t ive en t ert a in m en t
t ha t will
en c oura ge
t he
youn g
a udi-
en c e's soun d a n d
posit ive
a t t it ude
t owa rd
life,
develop good
t a st e,
good
st a n da rds of
beha vior,
wort hwhile hob-
bies,
c rit ic a l
fa c ult ies,
broa der a n d
deeper in t erest s-espec ia lly
a
gen uin e
in t erest in c hildren of ot her la n ds.
Miss
Ma ry
Field,
Direc t or of t he
Children 's Film
Projec t ,
a n d her Pro-
duc t ion Exec ut ive Com m it t ee
(E.
Mc -
Qua id
a n d Vic t or P.
Powell),
set
up
a
five-yea r pla n
for
produc in g fift y-t wo
t wo-hour
progra m s a n n ua lly,
a im ed es-
pec ia lly
a t t he seven - t o
t welve-yea rs a ge
groups.
No on e st udio m a kes t hese
pro-
duc t ion s
exc lusively,
but fourt een dif-
feren t
c om pa n ies
m a ke t hem a s
pa rt
of
t heir
out put . O n ly
t hree of t hese c om -
pa n ies
a re in t he Ra n k Produc t ion
Group.
A ll t he
film s, however,
a re su-
pervised
a n d
a pproved by
a n
A dvisory
Coun c il.
The
A dvisory
Coun c il is
c om posed
of
represen t a t ives
from t he
Min ist ry
of
Educ a t ion ,
t he Hom e
O ffic e,
t he Sc ot -
t ish
O ffic e,
t he A ssoc ia t ion of Educ a -
t ion
Com m it t ees,
t he Na t ion a l Un ion
of
Tea c hers,
t he B rit ish
B roa dc a st in g
Com pa n y,
t he Libra ries
A ssoc ia t ion ,
t he Christ ia n Cin em a
Coun c il,
t he Na -
t ion a l Provision a l Coun c il for Men t a l
Hea lt h,
a n d ot her
orga n iza t ion s
c on -
c ern ed wit h t he a c t ivit ies of c hildren .
The Children 's Film
Depa rt m en t
a n d it s
A dvisory
Coun c il a re n ot re-
spon sible
for
orga n izin g
or
a c t ua lly
run n in g
t he Cin em a
Clubs,
n or for t he
m a kin g
of educ a t ion a l film s for c la ss-
room
use,
but for t he
produc t ion
of
en t ert a in m en t film s a n d short s
on ly.
A s
of
July, 1946, t hey
ha d
a lrea dy
m a de
t hirt y-n in e
st ories a n d short s of differ-
en t
t ypes.
A s a
pion eer projec t ,
t he Children 's
Film s ha ve
in evit a bly
a t t ra c t ed c om -
m en t a n d c rit ic ism .
Everyon e
ha s his
own idea s of wha t
t ype
of film fa re is
best for
youn gst ers,
but t he work n ec es-
sa rily proc eeds by
t ria l a n d error.
Typi-
c a l of t he c rit ic s is Mic ha el Ga ret h
Llewellyn ,
a Direc t or of
Educ a t ion ,
who writ es: '
"I wa s
disa ppoin t ed
in t he film s so
obviously
a n d
c on sc ien t iously
m a de for
c hildren . Now I do n ot believe we
should
a pproa c h
film s for c hildren in
t his
c on desc en din g
m a n n er,
a n y
m ore
t ha n books for c hildren .... t o writ e
spec ia lly
for c hildren is on e of t he m ost
diffic ult t a sks if on e is t o a void c on de-
sc en sion ,
't a lkin g
down ' t o
'you
c hil-
dren ,'
a n d t ha t
in suffera ble,
pa t ron iz-
in g
t on e we som et im es hea r in Chil-
dren 's Hour....
"For en t ert a in m en t a n d
c ult ure,
t he
books best loved
by
c hildren c a n be
film ed. There is n o n eed t o writ e c om -
plet ely
n ew sc en a rios while we ha ve a
ric h lit era t ure a n d a
st irrin g hist ory
t o
dra w
upon ;
for t he film is
on ly
lit era -
t ure
n ewly wrought ....
4"The Kin d of Film for
Children ,"
Sight
a n d
Soun d, O c t ober,
1945.
60
O N CHILDREN'S CINEMA
"Furt herm ore,
t he use of rea l life a n d
good
lit era t ure a s t he ba sis of our film s
for c hildren
will,
I a m
sure,
help
t hem
t o a
deeper a pprec ia t ion
of
books,
a n d
in t he sa m e
wa y
t he best books writ t en
for c hildren ha ve
a lwa ys a ppea led
t o
a dult s,
so will t he best film s for c hil-
dren ha ve t his double
a ppea l. They
should be m a de wit h a t t en t ion foc used
upon
t he
subjec t
a n d n ot
upon
t he
pros-
pec t ive
a udien c e....
"There
m a y
be
pa rt s
of a t hem e
whic h will ha ve t o be om it t ed in t he
film for c hildren . To sa ve
expen se
a n d
t o
profit
from t he dem a n ds of t he a dult
m a rket ,
it
ought
t o be
possible
in film s
ba sed on lit era t ure a n d
hist ory
t o ha ve
a c hildren 's a n d a n a dult s' version
where c en sorous it em s a re c on c ern ed."
No on e c a n
disput e
Mr.
Llewellyn 's
poin t
a bout
a voidin g
c on desc en sion in
c hildren 's
film s,
but on e
m ight quest ion
t he
suggest ion
t ha t a ll c la ssic s a re suit -
a ble for
c hildren ,
or t ha t n ew sc en a rios
a re n ot
n ec essa ry. Well-m ea n in g
c rit ic s
like Mr.
Llewellyn
a re som et im es un -
a wa re of
produc t ion problem s
in film
m a kin g. Ma n y
c la ssic s a re un suit a ble
for
film in g
bec a use
t hey
a re writ t en for
rea din g
a n d do n ot
a da pt ea sily
t o m o-
t ion
pic t ure t ec hn ique.
O t hers
c a rry
t oo
hea vy
a
roya lt y,
a n d a Children 's
Film
Depa rt m en t ,
st ill in it s
experi-
m en t a l
da ys,
c a n n ot a fford t hem .
There a re ot her diffic ult ies. Most
c hildren 's c la ssic s ha ve c hildren a s t he
lea din g
c ha ra c t ers. The B rit ish Chil-
dren a n d
Youn g
Person s A c t of
1933
m a kes it
illega l
t o
em ploy
c hildren of
sc hool
a ge (less
t ha n fourt een
yea rs)
in
film
m a kin g exc ept durin g
rest ric t ed
hours.
Toda y,
un dersized
juven iles
sub-
st it ut e for c hild
a c t ors,
n ot
in frequen t ly
developin g
a dolesc en t c ha ra c t erist ic s
before a film is
c om plet ed.
A s for t he idea of a "c hildren 's" ver-
sion of a dult
film s,
t his dist ort ed c on -
c ept m erely
subst a n t ia t es t he
t heory
t ha t we m ust ha ve
sepa ra t e
film s for
juven iles. Ra rely
is t he a dult t hem e
in t erest in g
or
c om prehen sible
t o t he
youn g
m in d.
A s
previously
st a t ed,
fea t ures a lon e
a re n ot suffic ien t for a n en t ire c hil-
dren 's show. Short
subjec t s
a n d c a r-
t oon s a re n eeded t o roun d out t he
progra m . Perha ps
t he m ost
popula r
film s m a de
by
t he Children 's Film De-
pa rt m en t
a re t he
t opic a l
n ewsreels
kn own a s O ur
Ma ga zin e.
This in c ludes
it em s of
gen era l
in t erest t o c hildren a s
well a s in form a t ion a bout c hildren in
En gla n d
a n d ot her c oun t ries. A n ew
version is relea sed on c e a m on t h.
A n ot her series is c a lled t he
Ma gic
Globe: t ra vel
pic t ures revea lin g
t he
life of c hildren in
La pla n d,
Sweden ,
Czec hoslova kia ,Fra n c e,
Port uga l,
Sout h
A fric a ,
a n d ot her c oun t ries. A n d t he
best
exist in g n a t ura l-hist ory
film s a re
bein g
reedit ed wit h a
slight st ory
of t he
a dven t ures of t hree c hildren wit h a n a t -
ura list t o lin k t hem
t oget her.
Ma delin e
Mun ro,
who t ea c hes
biology
a n d is a c -
qua in t ed
wit h it s
t ea c hin g objec t ives,
sa ys
of t hese n a t ure film s:
"They
ex-
t en d
experien c e,
c orrec t
wron g
im -
pression s,
st im ula t e
c uriosit y,
a rouse
won der,
a n d
c ha llen ge in vest iga t ion ."
Rec en t ly,
t he Lon don
Da ily Express,
m ot iva t ed
by
t he c rit ic s of Ra n k a n d
his Children 's
Clubs,
ra n a
quiz
t o t est
t he
feelin g
of t he
public .
The
quest ion
wa s: "Do
you a pprove
or
disa pprove
of
c hildren 's
m a t in ees,
suc h a s
Sa t urda y
m orn in g
c lubs?" Result :
85 per
c en t
a pproved,
io
per
c en t
disa pproved, 5
per
c en t didn 't kn ow.
A ppa ren t ly
t he
grea t er port ion
of t he
En glish public
is educ a t ed t o t he desir-
61
HO LLYWO O D
QUA RTERLY
a bilit y
of c hildren 's film
progra m s.
A s
t im e
goes
on ,
t hey
will
even t ua lly
see
t he
lon g-ra n ge
va lue. It is
t rue,
of
c ourse,
t ha t
En gla n d
is st ill
experi-
m en t in g
wit h t he
progra m ,
but t ha t she
ha s t he
foresight
t o
spen d
t im e,
m on ey,
a n d c rea t ive
a bilit y
in t he welfa re of
her c hildren will
prove
n ot
on ly
a n in -
t ellec t ua l
ga in ,
but in sure fut ure divi-
den ds a t t he box offic e.
"The
grea t problem ," sa ys Ma ry
Field,
direc t or of t he
projec t ,
"is t o fin d
t he
right
kin d of en t ert a in m en t film s
for t hese c hild a udien c es.... Children
like a c t ion wit h a m in im um of dia -
logue. They
like t heir a n im a t ed c a r-
t oon s slow a n d
sim ple. They
like t heir
film s t o be m ora l a n d t he m ora l t o be
c lea r-c ut ,
bla c k t o be
bla c k,
a n d whit e
t o be
very
whit e. B ut n o on e
rea lly
kn ows
yet
wha t c hildren look for in
film s a n d wha t
t hey
will
a c c ept
wit h
plea sure.
The
produc t ion
of en t ert a in -
m en t film s for c hildren is
rea lly
a ven -
t ure in t o t he un kn own ."5
Yes,
m a kin g
en t ert a in m en t film s for
c hildren is a "ven t ure in t o t he un -
kn own ,"
but a n a dven t ure t ha t A m eri-
c a n
produc ers
m ust wa t c h wit h keen
in t erest . For while B rit ish
produc ers
a re
developin g
a
st yle
a n d m a n n er of
presen t a t ion
suit a ble for
juven ile
c on -
sum pt ion , t hereby developin g
a dis-
c rim in a t in g
a n d a lert a udien c e of
t om orrow,
A m eric a n
produc ers
a re dol-
in g
out old
produc t s
m a n ufa c t ured for
a dult s. It is
gen era lly a greed
t ha t a n
a udien c e of c hildren ha s lit t le in c om -
m on wit h a n a udien c e of a dult s.
A
gest ure in spired by gen uin e
vision
wa s m a de
by J.
A rt hur Ra n k in his offer
t o m a ke film s shown in t he O deon a n d
Ga um on t -B rit ish Clubs a va ila ble t o
a n yon e wishin g
t o show film s t o c hil-
dren ,
bot h on st a n da rd a n d on i6-m m .
st oc k. This in c ludes
foreign
dist ribu-
t ion ,
a n d
request s
ha ve been
c om in g
from
m a n y
c oun t ries.
Perha ps
t his is
on e
wa y
of
in surin g grea t er
m a rket s for
B rit ish
produc t s.
A m eric a n
produc ers
plea se
n ot e.
Hollywood
is boun d t o suc c um b t o
t he
pet it ion s
of
educ a t ors,
pa ren t s,
t ea c hers,
psyc hologist s,
a n d soc ia l work-
ers. If t he Mot ion Pic t ure Produc ers'
A ssoc ia t ion deem s it
im port a n t en ough
in t his
da y
of reissues t o selec t c ert a in
film s for c hild
a udien c es,
it c a n a lso be
m a de t o see t he va lue of
m a kin g
n ew
film s
exc lusively
for t hose
a udien c es,
film s whic h a re m a de un der t he direc -
t ion of
qua lified
educ a t ors a n d writ ers.
Sin c e t his
projec t
in volves t he
pres-
en t a n d fut ure m en t a l hea lt h of A m eri-
c a n
c hildren ,
it should bec om e t he
c on c ern of
c om m un it y
c en t ers,
reli-
gious orga n iza t ion s,
t ra de
un ion s,
a n d
c ult ura l
orga n iza t ion s.
They,
t oo,
m ust
in st it ut e form s of
a ppea l.
The m ot ion
pic t ure in dust ry
m ust
even t ua lly
rea l-
ize it s
respon sibilit ies.
A n In t ern a t ion a l Film
Lea gue
for
t he
produc t ion
a n d dist ribut ion of
film s t a ilored t o t he
juven ile
m in d
m ight
m a ke m ovies
t ruly
a n in st rum en t
for a bet t er a n d m ore
pea c eful
world.
NO TE: The a ut hor would like t o a c kn owl-
edge
wit h
gra t it ude
t he kin dn ess of Miss
Ma delin e Mun ro a n d
La dy
A llen of Hurt -
wood, Lon don ,
in
m a kin g
a va ila ble ex-
c ellen t m a t eria l on
En gla n d's
Children 's
Cin em a Clubs.
La dy
A llen 's
a rt ic le,
"Chil-
dren a n d t he
Cin em a ,"
a ppea red
in t he
Fort n ight ly
Review for
July, 1946.
5"Cin em a s for
c hildren ,"
Film
News,
O c -
t ober,
1945.
62
Violence,
1 9 4 7 : T h r ee
Specimens
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
JOHN HOUSEMAN,
co-founder with Or son Welles
of th e
Mer cur y T h eater ,
divides h is time between
pr oducing
motion
pictur es
in
Hollywood
and di-
r ecting plays
on
Br oadway.
Pr oducer of T h e Blue
Dalia,
h e
r ecently completed
Your Red
Wagon for
RKO,
and is now
pr oducing
Letter s Fr om an Un-
known Woman at Univer sal-Inter national. He is also
pr esident
of Pelican Pr oductions, and a
dir ector of th e Cor onet T h eater .
T HIS summer 's
leading gr osses h aving
been r un
up by
ch eer ful,
innocent
pic-
tur es about Santa
Claus,
th e loves of a
bobby
soxer ,
and th e old
days
in
Holly-
wood,
I r etur n with th e set deter mina-
tion of a man
r iding
h is
h obbyh or se
to
th e consider ation of th r ee films of vio-
lence. All th r ee concer n th emselves
with Amer ican men
facing
men's
pr ob-
lems in th e Amer ican wor ld of
today;
in all th r ee th e tender
passions play
only
a minor
r ole;
all th r ee ar e un-
mistakably Hollywood-made
and
r ep-
r esent,
I
th ink,
th r ee
fair ly significant
specimens
of cur r ent
Hollywood pr o-
duction.
Br ute For ce
is,
by
almost
any
stan-
dar d I
value,
a
deeply
immor al
pic-
tur e-immor al
ch iefly by
r eason of its
complete unr eality.
Based on th e well-
known
"Big
House"
for mula,
it lacks
even th ose for mula-r ealities
usually
found in th is
type
of
pr oduct.
Its
br utalities ar e
contr ived,
its sadism is
stor y-confer ence
stuff. It contains a
blow-tor ch
killing
and a tor tur e scene
complete
with r ubber h ose and r oman-
tic
ph onogr aph backgr ound
wh ich
seems
clipped str aigh t
out of some
mediocr e anti-Nazi war film.
I h ave no ar tistic
objection
to mak-
ing
h er oes of convicts and h eavies out
of th e minions of th e
law,
pr ovided
I
can detect some tr uth in th eir motiva-
tions and feel some
pity
for th eir mis-
adventur es. In Br ute For ce
captor s
and
captur ed
alike ar e
violently agitated
dummies
wander ing th r ough
a uni-
ver se of
painted
flats. In an
attempt
to
give
th em dimension
(or maybe
to
get
illustr ious ladies' names on th e mar -
quees
and into th e
ads),
each of th e
leading
convicts h as been endowed
with a
neatly packaged,
flash -back
vignette
of th e "woman outside" va-
r iety-th e tough lug
wh o must r aise
money
for th e
oper ation
of h is wh eel-
ch air dr eam
gir l;
th e confidence man
double-cr ossed
by
a
gold-digging
blonde;
th e G. I.
betr ayed by
th e black-
mar keteer ing
fath er of h is Italian
sweeth ear t. T h ese h ave little or noth -
ing
to do with th e men's
pr esent
dilemma,
nor do
th ey appr eciably
il-
luminate th eir ch ar acter s.
T h ey mer ely
succeed in
making
th eir
subsequent
ac-
tivities seem even mor e unbelievable
th an befor e.
I h ave tr ied h ar d to
analyze
th e un-
r elieved r evulsion with wh ich th is
pic-
tur e filled me.
Cer tainly
th e actor s ar e
not to blame. T h ese same men h ave
given many
sincer e
per for mances.
T h e
same tech nicians h ave tur ned out
pr od-
ucts of substantial
r eality. T h e
pr o-
ducer is famous for th e skill and th e
pr ofessional
h umanity
of h is
pr oduct.
In fair ness it must be said th at
lar ge
audiences th e
countr y
over h ave r e-
acted with ner vous th r ills to th e film's
moments of mech anical tension. But
for
my par t,
I found
myself mer ely
dis-
tr essed
by
th is
cynical attempt
to
C63
64
HOLLYWOOD
QUART ERLY
br eath e violent and br utal life into a wh ich it is
assigned.
T h e dir ection h as
mor ibund for mula.
vitality
and fr eedom. Lilli
Palmer ,
cast
Body
and Soul also follows a for - most
unconventionally
in th e conven-
mula. It is th e familiar
stor y
of a tional
par t
of th e
gir l, gives
as r esour ce-
figh ter 's
r ise and fall-"Golden
Boy"
ful a
per for mance
as I h ave seen in a
with out h is fiddle. In
plot
and ch ar -
long
time. With in its own limited
acter it confor ms almost
exactly
to th e
idiom,
Body
and Soul is
eminently
suc-
ster eotype
of
pr ize-figh t pictur es:
We cessful. Wh en it is
over ,
you
r etur n in-
meet a
neigh bor h ood
kid with a
buddy, evitably
to a consider ation of h ow stale
a
gir l,
and a
good pair
of fists.
T h ough
wer e th e
pictur e's ingr edients.
But
h is moth er
aspir es
to better
th ings
for wh ile
you
watch ,
its
cr aftsmansh ip
is
h im,
economic
necessity
dr ives h im to
sufficiently h igh
to convince and h old
sell h is muscles to a small-time
pr o-
you
almost
continuously.
moter . With h is fir st success h e wins th e
(If
I
may inject
a
per sonal
note-it is
gir l
and
suppor ts
h is moth er . Fur th er
gr eatly
to th e
pictur e's
cr edit
th at,
h av-
success follows and a
h igh -power ed ing accidently str ayed
into th e ob-
gangster manager
moves in. Still mor e scene h or r or of an Audience Resear ch
success-and a
long montage
of suc- Institute session and submitted to a
cesses.
Cor r uption
sets in. T h e kid be-
jocular
br iefing by
one of Dr .
Gallup's
comes inattentive to h is
moth er ,
in-
r epr esentatives,
I was still able to
enjoy
sensitive with h is
gir l,
h ar sh with h is
th e
subsequent pr ojection
as
keenly
as
associates. His
buddy, attempting
to I
did.)
h alt h is
disintegr ation,
is dealt with
by By
th e time th is ar ticle
appear s,
th e
th e
gangster manager
and
subsequently
sh ock
aspect
of
Cr ossfir e-th e
issue of
dies.
Finally,
even h is
gir l
can't take it
r ace h atr ed r aised and
openly
discussed
and
r egr etfully
leaves h im.
Now, alone, on th e nation's scr eens-will h ave been
h e faces h is final cr isis-th e
nigh t
of th e
exh austively
cover ed and
Hollywood's
big r igged figh t.
Somewh er e ar ound th e
belated
victor y
over th e
"censor sh ip
of
middle of th e four teenth r ound th e
fear " will h ave been celebr ated with
scales fall fr om h is
eyes. Rallying,
h e
appr opr iate
tr ibutes to th e initiative
wins;
h e defies th e
gangster ;
h e walks
of
auth or , dir ector ,
and
pr oducer .
T h e
into th e
nigh t
with h is
gir l, poor
but
main
point
of
discussion-wh eth er th e
pur ged.
pr oblem of r acial intoler ance is or -
I h ave
catalogued
th ese tir ed
ingr e-
ganic to th e
pictur e-will
h ave been
dients,
th e better to make th e
point
settled,
I
believe,
mainly
in th e
nega-
th at,
unlike Br ute For ce and
using
an
tive. As an element in th e business of
equally
familiar
subject, Body
and Soul
contempor ar y pictur e making,
h ow-
emer ges
as an
absor bing piece
of enter -
ever ,
it tur ns out to be a
th or ough ly
or -
tainment. T h is is attr ibutable in
par t
ganic and
h igh ly significant
event.
to its
h igh
tech nical
quality, par ticu-
Aesth etically,
th e
ener gy
and inten-
lar ly
th e cr eative
ph otogr aph y
of
James sity
of
feeling
wh ich
spar ked
th e cr ea-
Wong
Howe. T h e
figh t
is,
as far as I tor s of th e
pictur e
into
attacking
th e
know,
th e best ever filmed. T h e
wr iting
r acial issue h ave fir ed th e r est of th eir
h as
tempo
and some
sensitivity
and th e
wor k,
tr ansmuted it fr om an efficient
acting usually
tr anscends th e
types
to "wh odunit" into th e best Amer ican
pic-
VIOLENCE,
1 9 4 7
tur e I h ave seen th is
year .
It is fasci-
nating
to watch th e
pr ocess wh er eby
intensity
of
feeling
on one issue auto-
matically
color s and
spr eads
to ever y
ch ar acter and situation in th e entir e
wor k.
T ypical
of th is ar e th e scenes
with th e call
gir l
in th e
sh ady
bar .
Only
tangential
to th e main line of th e
stor y,
th ey
h ave tr uth and
poignance dir ectly
r elated to th e cr eator s'
intensity
and
h onesty
about th eir centr al th eme.
Even
tech nically,
th e
subject
matter
h as
dir ectly
affected th e wor k. It was
th e contr over sial and
"danger ous"
na-
tur e of th e
pictur e
wh ich deter mined
th e
pr oduction
conditions under wh ich
it was made-conditions wh ich ar e of
vital inter est to
anyone ser iously
con-
cer ned with th e futur e of
pictur e
mak-
ing
in
Hollywood. Cr ossfir e
was made
by
a
lar ge
studio in
twenty-th r ee days
for th e
pr ice
of an
aver age
"B." Undis-
putedly,
th is h aste and
economy
sh ow
in th e
pictur e-sh ow
to enor mous ad-
vantage.
T h er e is a
unity
to th e
pr oduc-
tion-limitation to a nar r ow wor ld of
dar kness and
policed
str eets,
of
closing
bar s and
lonely apar tments,-a
concen-
tr ation
upon
th e essential
r eality
of
ch ar acter and
conflict,
an over -all di-
r ectness and lack of contr ivance
ver y
r ar ely
found in
Hollywood pictur es.
(Boomer ang,
for all its
qualities,
bor e
th e unmistakable scar s of
big-studio
pr ocessing.)
I
h ope
it now becomes clear
wh y
th ese th r ee
pictur es
h ave been selected
for r eview at th is time. All th r ee h ave
spr ung
fr om th at common
gr ound
of
violence wh ich is still a ch ar acter istic
of our times and of our tastes in enter -
tainment. All th r ee wer e made in Hol-
lywood by competent pictur e
maker s.
T h ey var y
in
quality
in dir ect r atio to
th e
h onesty
and
intensity
wh ich ani-
mated th eir cr eation.
65
Audivisual M usic
RALPH K. POTTER
RALPH K. POTTER,
Direc tor of Transmission Re-
searc h in the Bell
Telephone Laboratories, is
per-
haps
best known for his assoc iation with the develop-
ment of
ways
to translate
speec h, music ,
and other
sounds into visible
patterns.
On the side, he has been
interested in efforts to
produc e
a music that
may be
seen as well as
heard,
and the
present
artic le dis-
c usses some
spec ulative thoughts
and ideas
that have
grown
from this interest.
WILL there ever be a
generally ac c epted
music that is both audible and visible?
The answer to this
question
should be
of c onsiderable interest to
produc ers
of
motion
pic tures
and to
anyone
c on-
c erned with the future of television. It
should also be of
great
interest to all
music ians and to c olor artists. If music
c an be thus modernized to meet the
needs of sc reen and sound entertain-
ment,
the effec ts
may
be
mildly
revolu-
tionary.
It c ould be said that we
already
have
music that is both visible and audible.
In
fac t,
the idea is more than two hun-
dred
years
old. Around
1720,
one Louis-
Bertrand
Castel,
a Frenc h mathemati-
c ian,
suggested
that visible music be
produc ed
by assoc iating
c olor
transpar-
enc ies with the
keys
of a
harpsic hord.
Sinc e
then,
many
others have
experi-
mented
with
and demonstrated "c olor
organs"
of various
sorts, among
the
most ac tive
being
the late A. W. Rim-
ington,
in
England,
and
M ary
Halloc k
Greenewalt and Thomas
Wilfred,
in
the United States.
With the
development
of sound-
movie
tec hniques,
muc h of the
experi-
mental effort toward a visible and au-
dible music shifted to this medium.
Here it has
ac quired
the name "audi-
visual
music ,"
a term
apparently ap-
plied
to
any
c ombination of abstrac t
and
moving
c olor forms
ac c ompanied
by
sound-trac k music .
M any experi-
mental audivisual music films are on
file in art museums.1 A few are in lim-
ited c ommerc ial
use,
and short
passages
of this "music " have
appeared
in sev-
eral
popular
animations,
inc luding
the
Disney
c lassic Fantasia
and,
more re-
c ently,
his M ake M ine M usic .
There have been numerous c on-
tributors in the field of
experimental
audivisual music .
Perhaps
the first to
c omplete
a film
sync hronized
with
sound music was a
Frenc hman,
M . De-
lac ommune,
in
1925,
the
produc tion
being
a
c omposition
based
upon
the
Valse
M ephistopheles
of Liszt.2
Among
those who have c ontributed substan-
tially
to the earlier
bac kground
of de-
velopment
are suc h artists as Hans
Ric hter,
Walter
Ruttman,
Fernand
Leger,
M an
Ray,
and Franc is Bru-
guiere.
M ore
rec ently
ac tive in the field
are Oskar
Fisc hinger,
Len
Lye,
Nor-
man
M c Laren,
M ary
Ellen
Bute,
James
and
John Whitney,
and
probably many
others whose individual c ontributions
are not identifiable bec ause
they
have
worked as members of
groups.
In
figure
2 are shown
sample
frames
from an
experimental
film
by
the Whit-
ney
brothers. Suc h motionless
pic tures
do not
provide
a
very satisfac tory
no-
1See The Film
Index,
Part i: The Film as
Art,
c ompiled by
the Workers of the Writers'
Program
of the Works
Progress
Administration
in the
City
of New
York,
and
published by
the
M useum of M odern Art Film
Library
and the
H. W. Wilson Co.
2
See the
prec eding
footnote.
[66
AUDIVISUAL M USIC
tion of the ac tion in these "visuals"-as
the abstrac t movies are c alled.
Perhaps
more
revealing
are the
following
ex-
c erpts
from notes made
by
the author
while
viewing
films
by
various
experi-
mentalists:
"Blac k
zigzag
and white ac c ents
against
a
patc h
of
red-Flashing spots
of
c olor-Spirals growing-Strips
and
rec tangles c hanging shape
at
rapid
rates-Ac c ents
arranged
on
diagonal
appearing
and
disappearing rapidly
to
tempo
of music ....
"Cylinders
in
groups, rising
and fall-
ing
to
music -Spheres advanc ing
and
withdrawing-Spots
of c olor in
c lusters,
blue,
orange,
red,
fade into distanc e-
Waves in rows
c utting
and intermin-
gling-Bars
and
expanding
c irc les in
blue
against
blac k."
Visuals in the film
c ompositions
so
far desc ribed are
produc ed by
the fa-
miliar animation methods. Another
version is derived
automatic ally
from
the
ac c ompanying
sound music .
Repre-
sentative of this "automatic "
type
are
the "Auroratone" films
developed by
Cec il Stokes. A
typic al
"Auroratone"
pattern
is shown without c olor in
figure
3.
These
displays
are
intric ately
beauti-
ful;
they
billow, fold,
and twist as new
designs slowly
follow the
progress
of
the sound music .
Audienc e reac tion.-An
average
au-
dienc e
witnessing past
and c urrent
attempts
toward what we have here de-
fined as audivisual music would doubt-
less
express
a wide
variety
of
opinions.
Some films would be
dec idedly
distaste-
ful to almost
everyone present,
the audi-
enc e
feeling
that no relation whatever
existed between visible
display
and ac -
c ompanying
sound. At the
opposite
extreme,
a few films would seem well
unified and
ac c eptable
in moderate
amounts,
although
not
many
in the
audienc e would c are to think of these
audivisual
c ompositions
as "music ."
They
would
prefer
rather to
regard
them
simply
as
interesting
c ombina-
tions of mobile abstrac tion and sound
music .
Why
is it that artist and audienc e
have not been able to rec onc ile their
interests in this field of visible and au-
dible music ? One
c ould,
of
c ourse,
ar-
gue
that
today's
art was
yesterday's
exasperation,
and that
ac c eptanc e
of
anything
new in art must
always
be
prec eded by
a
period
of educ ation. A. B.
Klein,
in his
c omprehensive
volume,
Color-M usic ,
the Art
of Light,'
c on-
c ludes that "if
any good
is to c ome of
c ombined works of sound and
light,
the
observer must never
question
the
logic
of the effec t." This
may
seem to shift a
great
deal of
responsibility
to the
audienc e,
but there are
strong argu-
ments to
justify
suc h an attitude on the
part
of artists. If
they
abandon their
self-imposed princ iples
in an effort to
please
the
public , they
bec ome follow-
ers rather than leaders.
But,
without
reflec ting
in
any way
upon
the beliefs or the
objec tives
of
past
and
present experimenters
in the
audivisual music
field,
is it not worth
while to c onsider whether
any
new
form of suc h music
might
be
ac c eptable
to an
average
motion
pic ture
or tele-
vision audienc e at
onc e,
without wait-
ing
for the
c ompletion
of an indefinite
and
perhaps
extensive
period
of educ a-
tion?
Any
one form of audivisual music
that c ould stir immediate and wide-
spread
interest should be benefic ial to
the field as a
whole,
for the
greatest
3
Published
by Crosby
Loc kwood and
Son,
Stationers' Hall
Court,
Ludgate
Hill, E.C.,
London, 1926.
67
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
handic ap imposed upon development
of this art at the
present
time is its sub-
stantial lac k of an audienc e. Therefore
in the
following
disc ussion it is
pro-
posed
that we
disregard
the interests of
the artist
initially
and c onsider
only
what kind of audivisual music is
likely
to obtain
relatively
immediate
ap-
proval
of motion
pic ture
and television
audienc es.
ac c ompanying
sound music ? Whatever
it
is,
it must
surely
be
something
in the
visible
performanc e
that
may
be
c losely
assoc iated with
something
in the au-
dible
performanc e.
There are not
many
possibilities,
and henc e an answer to
the
question
is rather
quic kly
indi-
c ated. Color has been
c ompared
to mu-
sic al
tone,
and both c olor and music
may exc ite
moods,
but these relation-
--
'
-
-1,,000
c
J
-
ooo f
4,000 d3
U-^ .
^' '4,000
Fig.
.
Trac ing
of s m of
oo
Fig. 1. Trac ing
of
spec trogram
of
moc kingbird's song, showving spac ing
of movie frame inervals.
Unity.-Why
are some audivisual
c ompositions ac c eptable
and others
not? The reasons
obviously
do not
depend entirely upon
the individual
quality
of the visible
display
and the
sound music . Even
though
the visible
and audible
parts
are
entertaining
separately,
the c ombination
may
be ex-
c eedingly unpleasant. Apparently
the
answer is that where two
performanc es
do not
c learly belong together,
their
simultaneous
presentation
is
annoying.
Whatever the
reason,
we demand
unity,
or suffic ient evidenc e of
relationship
between the
parts
of a
show,
or a
book,
or a
pic ture,
to feel assured that it is
one
show,
or one
book,
or one
pic ture.
And if a c ombination of abstrac t
pat-
terns and sound music is to be imine-
diately ac c eptable
to an
average
audi-
enc e, evidenc e of
relationship
will have
to be
very
definite indeed!
What c an
provide
suc h
c onvinc ing
evidenc e that
meaningless patterns
on
a motion
pic ture
sc reen
belong
with
ships
are
very
indefinite and
c ertainly
not
strong enough
to c onvinc e a
skep-
tic al audienc e. Form
might
be
vaguely
c onnec ted with music al
tone, as ro-
tundity
with low notes and thinness or
sharpness
with
high
notes, but
again
the c onnec tion is not suffic ient for
prac -
tic al use. A
remaining
fac tor is move-
ment, and here the situation is
entirely
different,
for
any
film animationist
knows that movement c an
perform
wonders in audivisual assoc iation. Ima-
gine
a
wavy
line
standing
motionless on
a sc reen while
ac c ompanied by
sound
music . As
long
as the line remains
stationary
it bears no relation to the
music .
Now,
think of it as a
wriggly
line,
set in motion
by
the anima-
tionist and
c utting c apers
to the au-
dible
rhythm. Immediately,
the line
attac hes itself to the
music ,
the visible
and audible movements
binding
the
two
together.
This audible-visible assoc iation some-
times bec omes
impressive.
For
example,
Fig.
2.
Samples
of
experimental
audivisual music film
by
James
and
John Whitney.
Fig. 3. Example
of
patterns
used in Auroratone
developed by
Cec il Stokes.
Fig. 4.
Samples
of
bird-song
motion
pic tures
used to demonstrate
audivisual unison.
Fig. 5.
Suc c essive two-dimensional
spec trograms
of a
c ymbal
c lash
taken at motion
pic ture
intervals.
Fig.
6. Two-dimensional
spec trograms
of
violin notes:
top, high-pitc hed;
bottom,
low-
pitc hed.
Fig. 7.
Line
graph showing
graduated
spac ing
of over-
tones when
plotted
on oc tave or
logarithmic frequenc y
sc ale.
AUDIVISUAL M USIC
Chuc k
Jones,
direc tor of c artoons at
the Warner Brothers
studio,
writing
about "M usic and the Animated Car-
toon,"
desc ribes a brief
passage
in Fan-
tasia as follows: "It
pic tured simply
a
ponderous,
roc klike,
c offinlike mass
that waddled into a
murky bac kground
ac c ompanied by
a series of
deep
bass
notes. I should not
say 'ac c ompanied,'
bec ause this
Thing
was the music : to
my
mind there was no
separation;
the
fusion of the
auditory
and the visual
was
perfec t."'
Although
sound music and visuals do
sometimes
merge
into one so that we
may
think of them as
indivisibly
"mu-
sic ,"
these oc c asions are
c omparatively
rare. And
yet
the fac t that suc h oc c a-
sions exist at all makes one wonder
whether audible-visible assoc iations as
now familiar to the
animationist,
and
as used in its
present
audivisual
music ,
c ould not be made the rule rather than
the
exc eption.
If movements on the
sc reen and those heard from an
adja-
c ent sound
system
c ould be made to
blend in
c omplete
unison,
so that the
display
is the
music ,
those movements
should also be
c apable
of
c arrying
the
c ontrasts and
interplay
essential in a
"music ." How c an suc h a
blending
be
ac c omplished?
What is
required
to
make an audienc e feel that the visible
movement on the sc reen
belongs
with
the
ac c ompanying
sound music ?
An
analysis
of movement as
per-
c eived
by
the ear will show that the
aurally signific ant
movements in music
must oc c ur in two
dimensions,
pitc h
and loudness. If a visible
display
is to
c orrelate
c losely
with these two dimen-
sions in sound
music ,
the
display
should
also c ontain two
separately distinguish-
able dimensions of
movement,
one that
c an be assoc iated with
pitc h
and the
other with loudness. For
example, pitc h
movements
might
be related to hori-
zontal motion on the sc reen and loud-
ness,
movements to motion toward and
away
from the observer.
A
spot
and a tone.-Reduc ed to its
simplest
form,
an abstrac t
display
on a
moving pic ture
sc reen bec omes a
single
spot
of
light. Similarly
reduc ed to its
simplest
form,
sound music bec omes a
single
tone. With these basic elements
of
display
and
music ,
the
spot
and the
tone,
an
interesting
and
revealing
audi-
visual demonstration is
possible.
Let us
attempt
to
imagine
suc h a demonstra-
tion.
Say
that we are seated in a dark-
ened
projec tion
room before a blank
sc reen. Then a
single spot
of
light ap-
pears.
It
dodges
about over the sc reen
in
every
direc tion,
now
slowly,
now
rapidly,
all the while
growing
large
and
small so that it
appears
to
jump
out
toward the audienc e and then to re-
c ede. There is no
pattern
to the move-
ments;
they
remind one a bit of the aim-
less exc ursions of a moth near a
light.
Now,
say
that a tone bec omes audible
from a
loud-speaker
behind the sc reen
and that this tone varies
erratic ally
in
pitc h
and
loudness,
and in a manner
that bears no relation to the movements
of the
spot
on the sc reen. One
might
imagine
that the result would be audi-
visual bedlam. It is.
Very
little of suc h
a
performanc e
is
enough
for
anyone,
even a
youngster.
Next,
bring
the
spot
and tone to
rest,
and
arrange
the demonstration
appa-
ratus so that whenever the loudness of
the tone is inc reased the
spot
will be-
c ome
larger
and
brighter,
and when-
ever the
pitc h
is altered the
spot
will
move
sidewise,
say
to the
right
with in-
4Hollywood Quarterly,
Vol.
I,
No.
4 (1946),
p. 365.
69
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
c reasing pitc h
and toward the left with
dec reasing.
This c an be
ac c omplished
by c ouplings
between the
spot projec -
tor and the tone sourc e. With suc h
interc onnec tion,
the relation between
visible and audible movement is no
longer
c haotic ;
it is at onc e
orderly,
and
spot
and tone
c learly belong together.
If
spot
and tone shift
anywhere
within
their two c orrelated
dimensions,
the
feeling
of
relationship persists.
Sinc e
the
spot may
move from side to side
and also toward and
away
from the
observer,
it seems to be
moving
about
upon
a horizontal
stage.
If the
manipu-
lator handles the c ontrols in a c ertain
way,
he c an make the
spot
seem to move
in a c irc le on this horizontal
stage
and
the observer has the
impression
that it
is
ac c ompanied by
the tone.
M ost
important
in c onnec tion with
the disc ussion that follows is the fac t
that
spot
and tone c ontinue to
belong
together
without unison so
long
as the
audible and visible movements are suf-
fic iently
related. That
is,
these move-
ments do not need to be
alike,
as in
unison,
in order to
satisfy
the observer
that
they
are
parts
of the same
perform-
anc e.
Rapid sequenc es
of two dots of
tone followed
by
one of the
spot
flash-
ing
on the sc reen c onstitute an inte-
grated
audivisual
pattern.
Or an
up-
and-down
sweep
of tone and
spot
in
unison followed
by
the same in
opposi-
tion,
and
repeated,
will
give
the same
feeling
of
unity.
The above-desc ribed
spot-and-tone
demonstration would not be
likely
to
impress
the
experienc ed
film anima-
tionist,
bec ause this is
essentially
old
stuff to him. He knows from
experienc e
that movement c an
provide
a
powerful
bond between visible and audible ef-
fec ts,
and he also knows that this bond
is
c learly
evident to the
average
motion
pic ture
audienc e. So there is no
spec u-
lation
involved; the effec t is well known
and
dependable.
The
only part
of this
demonstration that is not
likely
to be so
familiar to the film animationist is its
organization.
He uses both loudness
and
pitc h c hanges
in order to enhanc e
visible
movements, but in his c artoon
work it has not been
nec essary
to re-
duc e these to a
systematic
c orrelation
suc h as is desc ribed above. While for
most animation
purposes
suc h
organi-
zation would be
useless,
it
may
be
highly
useful in the
quic kly ac c eptable
audivisual music for whic h we are
searc hing,
and that this is so will be-
c ome more evident as the disc ussion
progresses.
Tone versus music .-As was indi-
c ated
earlier,
the
spot-and-tone
demon-
stration illustrates the most
elementary
audivisual music c ombination
possible.
But what of real music ? Does the
spot-
and-tone
relationship
lose its
meaning
here?
Ac tually,
a
single
music al note
c ontains between a few and
perhaps
fifty separate
tones,
and
parts
of a
sym-
phony may
c ontain thousands.
How,
then,
would it be
possible
to extend the
spot-and-tone
assoc iation to
many
tones
and
many spots,
as is
required
to
repre-
sent sound music ? New methods of
sound
portrayal
now make suc h an ex-
tension feasible.5 In
general,
two kinds
of
pic tures
of sound are
produc ed by
these
methods,
one a
stationary
or still
pic ture
and the other a motion
pic ture.
Figure
i shows a still
pic ture
of a moc k-
ingbird's song
rec orded
by
an instru-
ment c alled the sound
spec trograph.
This instrument sorts out the
c ompo-
nents of sound and
spreads
them ac ross
5
R. K.
Potter,
"Visible Patterns of
Sound,"
Sc ienc e,
November
9, 1945.
70
AUDIVISUAL M USIC
a
frequenc y
or
pitc h
sc ale so that the
patterns
of movement are made visible.
Audible
designs
bec ome visible de-
signs.
Dimensions of the sound
pic ture
in
figure
i are similar to those of the
ordinary
music al
sc ale,
pitc h extending
vertic ally
and time
running
from left
to
right,
but instead of the note
sym-
bols,
effec ts of the sounds themselves
are rec orded. Where the
rec ording
is
darkest the sounds are loudest. The ver-
tic al lines distributed
along
the time
dimension are one
twenty-fourth
of a
sec ond
apart
and therefore indic ate the
intervals at whic h suc c essive motion
pic ture
frames of these 'same sounds
might
be taken.
In
figure
6 are shown two motion
pic -
ture
type patterns
of violin
notes,
eac h
depic ting
the tone struc ture at c ertain
instants of time. The bottom
pattern
is of a
low-pitc hed
note and that at
the
top
is
high-pitc hed.
The
regularly
spac ed peaks
are overtones. Their hori-
zontal
position
shows their
frequenc y,
and
height
their
intensity.
Notic e that
the
peaks
are
spread
farther
apart
in
the
higher-pitc hed
note at the
top.
The
higher
the
pitc h,
the wider the
separa-
tion between overtone
peaks
in this
type
of
display.
Still
patterns
of this
kind,
shown earlier in
figure
i,
are ef-
fec tively pic tures
of solids-as if one
were
looking
down
upon
a model of
ridges
and
valleys.
The motion
pic ture
frames suc h as are illustrated
by figure
6 are c ross sec tions of the model as
though
it were slic ed at
intervals,
in the
way
one slic es a loaf of bread.
Demonstration
film.-During
a lec -
ture-demonstration before the Ac ousti-
c al
Soc iety
in New York
City,
M ay 1o,
1946,
the author illustrated audivisual
unison with sound
patterns
of a motion
pic ture type
in a brief c olored film. The
patterns
were of bird
songs
and were
ac c ompanied by
the
songs
themselves.
A sec tion of this demonstration film in
blac k
and white is shown in
figure 4.
In these
pic tures,
tone
frequenc y
in-
c reases toward the
right
and tone inten-
sity
is
represented by
the radial
length
and brillianc e of c olor beams.
During
a
part
of the c ardinal's
song
inc luded
in this
film,
the tones
repeatedly sweep
upward
in
pitc h
at a
very rapid
rate.
These
appeared
on the sc reen as beams
sweeping
ac ross toward the
right
side
of the
display,
and,
of
c ourse,
at an
equally rapid
rate.
The
relationship
between sc reen dis-
play
and
ac c ompanying
sound seemed
c ompletely
evident in this demonstra-
tion film. As
long
as
sync hronization
was
maintained,
pattern
and sound
were one. In other
words,
"the fusion of
the
auditory
and visual was
perfec t."
Thus
far,
only
short
sequenc es
have
been made of instrumental music in
the motion
pic ture type pattern,
but
there is
every
reason to believe that
audivisual unison would be
just
as ob-
vious in
longer sequenc es
of this kind
as it was in the
bird-song
film. To illus-
trate the
appearanc e
of suc h a motion
pic ture
sound
sequenc e,
there is shown
in
figure 5
a suc c ession of tone
patterns
of a different
kind,
representing
a
c ym-
bal c lash. The
sequenc e
starts in the
upper
left-hand c orner and c ontinues
down eac h c olumn. In these flamelike
patterns frequenc y
inc reases toward the
right
and
intensity
is shown
by
vertic al
height. During
the first two
frames,
only bac kground
orc hestral music is vis-
ible.The sudden c lash
appears
in frame
three and dies
away gradually
toward
the end of the third c olumn.
Possibilities.-Patterns of the kind
in whic h
spots
or lines or beams are
71
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
c losely
c orrelated with movements in
the sounds from whic h
they
are derived
provide
a new
and,
for our
purpose,
promising approac h
to the audivisual
music
problem.
But for suc h a
purpose
the interest is not c onfined to unison.
It inc ludes the whole
gamut
of
possi-
ble
relationships
between
display
and
sound,
extending
from
c omplete
assoc i-
ation of audible and visible movement
to a
c omplete
absenc e of assoc iation.
As in sound music
alone,
c omplete
unison between the
parts
would lac k
expression
and
c omplete
absenc e of
unison would result in loss of
unity.
Also as in sound
music ,
the
c omposer
of audivisual music would
shape
his
c ompositions
between these extremes.
While c orrelated audivisual music is
in the
introduc tory stages,
he would
lean toward the
c onservative,
stic king
to
fairly
obvious
relationships.
As the
audienc e bec omes better
ac quainted
with the
art,
he c ould venture
away
from
unison,
thus
extending
the
range
of music al
expression.
Not
only
does this c orrelated
type
of audivisual music offer
possibilities
of
prompt ac c eptanc e,
sinc e it c an
pro-
vide both
unity
and
expression;
it also
has the
following
features of interest
to the artist:
1)
It is an audivisual music that
may
be written in the
familiar
note-and-
staff symbols of
sound music .
2)
It offers the
possibilities
of utiliz-
ing existing
theories of
c ounterpoint
in
relation to audivisual
harmonies,
c on-
trasts,
and
interplay
of movement be-
tween the two media.
3)
It should seem muc h less
strange
to the
c omposer
of sound music than
present
audivisual
music ,
and more
truly
a "music ."
This
type
of audivisual music
might
be
put
into film form in two
ways,
one
requiring spec ial sound-to-sight
trans-
lation
equipment
and the other
c alling
for no more
equipment
than the anima-
tionist uses at
present. Compositions
would be written in two
sc ores,
one
the "sound" sc ore and the other the
"visual" sc ore. The former would be
played
and rec orded in the usual man-
ner to
provide
the sound trac k for the
film. With translation
equipment
avail-
able,
the latter would also be
played
and
rec orded,
the rec ord then
being
translated into visible
patterns
that
would be the basis of the
display
in the
film. Without
translators,
the anima-
tionist would work
direc tly
from the
visual
sc ore,
in effec t
performing
the
func tions of the translator himself.
M ore will be said of this later.
A
c onspic uous
c harac teristic of this
proposed type
of audivisual music
would be
system.
One
might reasonably
ask whether the
nec essarily systematic
arrangement
of
displays
would restric t
the artist. The best
present
answer to
this is
apparently
a referenc e to the ex-
perienc e
with sound music . Sound
music is built
upon system.
Without
c arefully organized
sc ales the results of
music al
c omposition
would be fearful
to
c ontemplate.
If the
display
in audi-
visual music is to be c orrelated with
ac c ompanying
sound
music ,
it too must
be
systematic .
Sc ale
requirements.-At
this
point
it
is desirable to
digress
from the main
argument
to mention an
important
de-
tail
c onc erning
sc ale dimensions of the
c orrelated
displays.
The
frequenc y
di-
mension in
figures
i,
4, 5,
and 6 is
linear. This means that a
frequenc y
spac ing
of ioo
c yc les
a sec ond is the
same in all
parts
of the
range.
Suc h a
sc ale seems unsuitable in a c orrelated
72
AUDIVISUAL M USIC
display
bec ause it does not
c orrespond
with
hearing.
For
example,
music al ac -
tion is
roughly equal
above and below
middle
C,
but on the linear sc ale a fre-
quenc y c orresponding
to this note
would be c lose to one
edge
of the
sc reen,
with the result that the ac tion
in one
part
of the
display
would be
severely
c rowded and that in the other
unduly expanded.
Also,
the overtones
of a note on the linear sc ale
spread
apart
as the
pitc h
inc reases,
as
may
be
seen
by
a
c omparison
of the
high-
and
low-pitc hed
violin notes in
figure
6,
while to the ear a
c hange
in
pitc h
sounds more as if the whole note
group
moves as a unit
up
and down the sc ale.
Use of a
logarithmic
or oc tave fre-
quenc y
sc ale laid out in music al inter-
vals like the
keys
on a
piano
is in muc h
better
agreement
with the aural
experi-
enc e. On suc h a
sc ale,
middle C oc -
c upies
a near-middle
position
on the
sc reen; also,
the overtones of a note
group
move
up
and down sc ale without
spreading apart.
However,
the c om-
ponents
in the note are not
spac ed
at
equal
intervals as in the linear sc ale.
Instead,
they
are c loser
together
toward
the
upper pitc h range, just
as the
loga-
rithmic ally spac ed graduations along
the slide rule used
by engineers
c ome
c loser
together
toward the
upper
end
of the sc ale. The distanc e from 1 to 2
along
suc h a sc ale is the same as that
from 2 to
4,
or from
any
number to its
double. Sinc e the fundamental fre-
quenc y
of a note doubles in one music al
oc tave,
this is
equivalent
to
saying
that
all oc taves are
equal
in
length along
the
logarithmic
sc ale.
In
figure 7,
the violin notes auto-
matic ally
rec orded on a linear
pitc h
sc ale in
figure
6 are redrawn
by
hand
to the
logarithmic
sc ale. Note that the
peaks
now c rowd
together
toward the
right
or
upper
end of the sc ale. Notic e
also that the
upper
note pattern,
repre-
senting
a
higher
pitc hed
note,
is moved
bodily
to the
right,
the overtone inter-
vals
remaining
as fixed as the
gradu-
ations on a slide rule.
Any
music al note
in whic h the overtones are harmonic -
ally
related will have the same distri-
bution of
peaks, although
the relative
height
of the
peaks
will
vary
with note
timbre.
The loudness or
intensity
dimension
of the c orrelated
patterns
should
also,
no
doubt,
be of the
logarithmic type,
to
agree
with
hearing.
On suc h a
sc ale,
c omponents
that are twic e as loud
would be
approximately
twic e as
large,
or
bright,
or both.
Appearanc e of displays.-Correlated
visuals c ould take a
variety
of forms
without
violating
the fundamental re-
quirements
that
equivalent
of
"pitc h"
and "loudness" movement be
c learly
shown
upon separate
dimensions of the
display,
and that these dimensions be
fixed. There are
many possible arrange-
ments of
spots
and lines
c apable
of
meeting
suc h
requirements;
but some
will
undoubtedly
be found
preferable
to others.
How would these c orrelated
patterns
look in motion on the sc reen? Some
notion of their
appearanc e may
be
gained by
a c onsideration of move-
ments that we c an visualize in sound
music . Note
patterns
of the kind de-
rived from sound music will
display
a
wide
range
of variation that c an
only
be
illustrated,
in small
part, by
still
pic tures.
In addition to differenc es in
overtone
c omposition
as illustrated
by
numerous
graphs,6
manner of
attac k,
8
E.g.,
see C. E.
Seashore,
Psyc hology of
M usic
(New
York, M c Graw-Hill,
1938),
pp.
182-224.
73
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
frequenc y
and
amplitude
variations,
and c harac teristic s of termination all
determine note
individuality.
In order to
pic ture
music al notes in
ac tion,
let us c onsider visuals with ac -
c ompanying
sound in unison. When no
sound is
heard,
nothing
would
appear
on the sc reen. Sounds that build
up
slowly
would build
up
at the same rate
before the
eye.
Sounds that build
up suddenly
would
appear suddenly.
Changes
in
c omposition
of a note
go
on even
during
its brief
life,
and the
visible
pattern
would reflec t these
c hanges.
Some
notes,
suc h as those of
the
piano,
would show an initial broad
flash that would
rapidly
settle into a
harmonic
pattern.
Others,
suc h as those
of bass or
trap
drums,
would
produc e
a broad initial flash that would die
away rapidly
as a
c omparatively
un-
organized pattern.
Visible vibrato would c onsist of a
tremulous,
sidewise movement of the
note
groups,
with
amplitude
varia-
tions c aused
by superposed
resonanc es.
Tremolo would show as a
rapid pulsa-
tion of
pattern intensity
or
brightness.
Harmonic
relationships produc ed by
note c ombinations would have visible
effec ts. Consonant note c ombinations
would
produc e orderly
c ombination
patterns,
and where overtones c oinc ide
they
would result in
amplitude
beats
and a
lively "sparkle"
in the
display.
Notes of
keyed
instruments,
suc h as
the
piano,
would marc h
up
and down
sc ale in
steps.
Those of
unkeyed
instru-
ments,
suc h as the
violin,
would
glide
smoothly
ac ross the sc reen.
Will the rates of movement in these
displays
be
greater
than the
eye
c an
apprec iate,
or even
painful
to watc h?
It is
frequently
stated that the ear c an
hear
c hanges
in tone at rates far
beyond
the
c apabilities
of the
eye.
Evidenc e
upon
whic h this c onc lusion is based
seems to
neglec t
the fac t that sudden
c hanges
in the
low-frequenc y
osc illa-
tions of sound
produc e
new
c ompo-
nents.
Detec ting
the differenc e between
very high
rates of
c hange
in tone is
analogous
to
detec ting
the differenc e
between
shapes
thrown on a sc reen for
extremely
short
intervals,
whic h is a
familiar test. There seems to be no
evidenc e that the aural nerve fibers are
c apable
of
c onveying
information c on-
c erning higher
rates of movement than
c an be handled
by
the nerves from the
eye.
In the
spot-and-tone
test disc ussed
earlier,
both
spot
and tone seem to be-
c ome blurred when the rates of move-
ment are
roughly
the same.
Assertions that
rapid
movement of
light
on a sc reen c auses headac he c an
be matc hed
by
similar assertions that
loud and disc ordant sounds
produc e
headac hes.
Although
we c an watc h
darting
flames or
streaking
and burst-
ing
fireworks
by
the hour without ill
effec ts,
a
single
flash bulb
going
off
near
by
c an be
extremely annoying.-
And so c an a loud
explosive
sound!
The animationist knows the kinds of
things
that
produc e unpleasant
effec ts
in visible movement on the sc reen and
it seems
unlikely
that c orrelated audi-
visual music would
present any prob-
lems new to him.
Color.-That there has
been,
thus
far,
very
little mention of c olor in c on-
nec tion with c orrelated audivisual
music does not mean that it is un-
important.
To the
c ontrary,
the
part
played by
c olor would be
fully
as
prominent
as it is in
any
other form of
audivisual music . Artistic treatment is
beyond
the
sc ope
of this
disc ussion;
nevertheless,
a few
generalities
c on-
74
AUDIVISUAL M USIC
c erning
c olor deserve mention. No
doubt,
an audivisual music
c omposi-
tion would have a c olor theme that is
as definite as the tonal theme of the
sound music
forming part
of the same
c omposition.
Certain c ombinations of
hue
might
be
repeated
in
variation,
threading through
the
c omplete
sc ore,
and
being
stressed or subdued in
ways
well known to the c olorist.
Perhaps
one of the most
interesting possibilities
would be
repetition
of c olor
sequenc es
forming
c olor
"melodies,"
these ac -
c ompanying
or
supplementing
the
melodies of visible movement.
In different
arrangements
of the
same audivisual
music ,
the visuals
might
differ in form and c olor in the
same
way
that different
arrangements
of sound music utilize modified move-
ments and tonal
quality.
Several ar-
tists
might produc e
as
many
individual
interpretations
of the same
c omposi-
tion. Sinc e c olor is a
sec ondary
fac tor
in
unifying
the audible and visible
parts
of c orrelated audivisual
music ,
a
great
deal of latitude in its use would
apparently
be
permissible.
No translation
equipment.-Although
elec tric al
sound-to-sight
translation de-
vic es c ould be
very helpful
in the
pro-
duc tion of c orrelated audivisual
music ,
if suc h devic es were
available,
it is be-
lieved that
they
would not be at all
essential to initial
development.
Cor-
relation in the dimensions of
pitc h
and
loudness suffic ient for
ac c eptable
c om-
position
c an
probably
be ac hieved
with what the film animationist has
available at the
present
time.
Let us c onsider what the
steps
might
be in
making
visuals under these c ir-
c umstanc es. The first
thing nec essary
is to c hoose the dimensional
arrange-
ment to be used. Assume that we desire
to assoc iate
pitc h
with horizontal
posi-
tion,
and loudness with vertic al
length
of line. The horizontal sc ale would
then be
arranged
in music al
intervals,
eac h note of the
familiar,
equally
tem-
pered
sc ale
being assigned
a
position
ac ross the frame as illustrated in
figure
8. For the time
being,
the loudness
sc ale c ould be
very approximate,
with
fortissimo
equivalent
to almost the full
vertic al
height
of the frame and
pianis-
simo a
relatively
small vertic al
height
above the lower
edge
of the frame. In
other
words,
pianissimo
would
appear
to be distant and fortissimo c lose.
Next, there is a
question
of how to
represent
a note
group. Why
not use
rec tangles,
or
c irc les,
or
triangles,
or
odd
shapes
of
any
kind? But if we take
this
liberty,
the essential dimensions of
movement will
c ertainly
be
badly
c on-
fused,
and both
unity
and
range
of ex-
pression
are
likely
to suffer
severely.
After
going
over the
many possible
ways
of
pic turing
individual
notes,
one
is
apt
to c ome to a c onc lusion that the
best
patterns
to use would be some-
what similar to those that
may
be trans-
lated from music al
sounds,
suc h as the
patterns
of
figures 4, 5,
or 6. To the de-
gree
that these
c losely
c orrelated musi-
c al note forms
may
be
approximated,
the artist will be able to
approac h
unison when he so desires. At the
op-
posite
extreme,
he
may,
if he
likes,
produc e
visible notes of
entirely
new
timbre and
dynamic quality,
so
long
as
these forms
represent possible
sounds.
As a basis for
note-pattern synthesis
of
any
kind,
it should be well worth
while for the
experimenter
to bec ome
ac quainted
with what is known about
the
c omposition
and movement of
music al sounds.7
7
See list of referenc es at end of this artic le.
75
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
Onc e
display arrangements
and note
forms are
selec ted,
the next
step
will
be to translate the "visual" sc ore
(as-
sumed
available)
to the film
by
anima-
If the visual is of the flame
type,
the
final
display may appear
as a "sea" of
notes,
rec eding, advanc ing, shifting
from side to
side,
bursting
into
peaEs
Fig.
8. Possible
proc edure
for c onstruc tion of
display
without automatic translation as
guide.
tion methods. Here it will be
nec essary
to introduc e ac c urate
timing,
the re-
quirements
for whic h are
already
fa-
miliar to the
animationist,
and to
inc orporate
detailed
movement,
suc h
as a
vibrato,
a sudden or
gradual
attac k,
glides,
or
stepped pitc h
movements,
and so on. There will also be the im-
portant problem
of
c olor,
as sum-
marized earlier.
of
c olor,
and
again
as one solo
pattern
swaying against
a distant
bac kground
of movement. Visible movement would
now
harmonize,
now c ontrast with
ac c ompanying
audible
movement,
threads of the c ombined
design linking
the two media.
Although
muc h c an be
ac c omplished
toward
development
of a c orrelated
audivisual music without sound-to-
76
AUDIVISUAL M USIC
sight
translation
aids,
there seems little
doubt that these
devic es,
when avail-
able,
would be of
apprec iable
assistanc e
in
perfec ting
suc h an art. That
they
will
eventually
be available seems as-
sured
by
the
present widespread
inter-
est in sound
portrayal
for other
pur-
poses.
Conc lusions.-The author's aim in
this disc ussion has
been,
not to tell the
artist how to
produc e
an audivisual
art,
but rather to
suggest
a c ombina-
tion that would be
quic kly ac c eptable
to an
average
audienc e,
bec ause it is
obvious that the art is
badly
in need
of an audienc e. Onc e
widespread
inter-
est in audivisual music is
established,
all artists in the field will be in a muc h
better
position
to
develop
their own
theories and to
c arry
on
explorations
in
any
direc tion
they
desire.
In the searc h for a
generally
ac -
c eptable
audivisual
music ,
it seems
there will be found a
key
in three
c harac teristic s
possessed by
all of us.
First,
we
enjoy
suc h
things
as flames
danc ing
in a
fireplac e,
restless c olor re-
flec ted from
dark,
disturbed
waters,
glittering
stars on
c risp.c lear nights,
fireworks
streaking
and
bursting
in
c asc ades of c olor
against
a blac k
sky,
Northern
Lights shooting
eerie beams
above the
night
horizon.
Sec ondly,
we
demand that
any performanc e
be one
performanc e, meaning
that its
parts
must
c learly belong together. Thirdly,
the animationist knows how
easily per-
suaded we are that visible and audible
effec ts
belong together,
if their move-
ments are related. A
study
of these
three c harac teristic s and
ways
to
satisfy
them has led the author to the follow-
ing
c onc lusions:
i. That it is
possible
to
produc e
a
visible and audible music on film that
will have immediate entertainment
value and
promise
of an extensive
range
for artistic
expression.
2. That suc h a c ombined music c an
be realized
by
refinement of movement
relationships
well known to the film
animationist.
3.
That this refinement amounts to
organization
of the visible
display
in
suc h a
way
as to show two dimensions
of visible movement that
may
be c or-
related with the two fundamental di-
mensions of movement in sound
music ,
namely, pitc h
and loudness.
4.
That
organization
suc h as is uti-
lized in these c orrelated visuals is
logi-
c al,
sinc e the sound music with whic h
these visuals are assoc iated is built
upon orderly arrangement
of tones.
5.
That in suc h c orrelated visuals
c olor
may
be
applied
and
arranged
with the same freedom that is
per-
mitted in the artistic
handling
of c os-
tumes and
sc enery
for a music al show.
6. That this c orrelated
type
of audi-
visual music
may
be written in the
familiar notes and staffs of sound
music .
7.
That its
c omposition
c ould
ap-
parently
utilize
many
of the
princ iples
already developed
in c onnec tion with
sound music .
8. That its
perfec tion
should
open
new fields of
expression
for both the
c omposer
of music and the animation
artist.
9.
That
progress
c ould be made in
the
development
of this c orrelated
audivisual music with the
present
tools
and
tec hniques
of the film
anima-
tionist,
although
automatic sound-to-
sight
translation devic es will be of
assistanc e when available.
io. That audivisual music of this
type might
be used
initially
as bac k-
77
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
ground
for c redit and title
lines,
for
passages
in music al
animations,
as
bac kgrounds
for tric k orc hestra shots
in music al
shorts,
and also for solo
parts
in suc h shorts. With
development,
it c ould
presumably
assume more im-
portant
roles.
Referenc es that
may
be useful to ex-
perimenters
in the field of c orrelated
audivisual music are the
following:
Psyc hology of
M usic ,
by
Carl E. Sea-
shore
(New
York:
M c Graw-Hill,
1938).
The Sc ienc e
of
M usic al
Sounds,
by
D. C. M iller
(New
York:
M ac millan,
1926).
M usic al
Ac oustic s,
by
Charles A.
Culver
(New
York:
Blakiston,
1947).
"Absolute
Amplitudes
and
Spec tra
of Certain M usic al Instruments and
Orc hestras,"
by
L.
J.
Sivian,
H. K.
Dunn,
and S. D. White.
Journal of
the
Ac oustic al
Soc iety
of Americ a,
Vol. II
(1931), PP. 330-371.
"The
Violin,"
by
Poul
Jarnak.
Journal of
the Franklin
Institute,
Vol.
225 (1938), Pp. 315-341-
"Ac oustic
Spec tra
of
Organ Pipes,"
by
C. P. Boner.
Journal of
the Ac ousti-
c al
Soc iety of Americ a,
Vol. IX
(1938),
pp. 32-40.
"Observations on the Vibrations of
Piano
Strings," by
O.
H. Sc huc k and
R. W.
Young.
Journal of
the Ac oustic al
Soc iety of
Americ a,
Vol. XV
(1943),
p. 2.
"Component
Tones from a
Bell,"
by
A. T.
Jones
and G. W. Alderman.
Journal of
the Ac oustic al
Soc iety of
Americ a,
Vol. IV
(1933),
p.
340.
78
F i l m M u s i c o f t h e Q u a r t e i
LAWRENCE M ORTON
LAWRENCE M ORTON h a s wr i t t e n a bo u t f i l m m u s i c
f o r
Sc r i pt ,
M o de r n
M u s i c , Ci ne m a ,
F i l m M u s i c
No t e s ,
a nd t h e
Ho l l ywo o d Q u a r t e r l y.
He h a s a l s o wo r ke d a s
o r c h e s t r a t o r f o r bo t h f i l m s a nd r a di o .
IN
So ng o f Lo ve ,
t h e
s t o r y
o f Cl a r a a nd
Ro be r t
Sc h u m a nn,
t h e r e i s a wo nde r -
f u l s c e ne i n wh i c h Cl a r a
po i nt s
o u t t o
F r a nz Li s zt t h e di f f e r e nc e s be t we e n h e r
h u s ba nd's
o r i gi na l c o nc e pt i o n
o f t h e
s o ng,
De di c a t i o n,
a nd Li s zt 's f l o r i d
t r a ns c r i pt i o n
o f i t . Th e s c e ne i s a s t r i k-
i ng
dr a m a t i za t i o n o f m u s i c c r i t i c i s m .
F r o m t h e
l i ps
o f a
be a u t i f u l ,
gr a c i o u s ,
a nd
h i gh l y i nt e l l i ge nt
c h a r a c t e r c o m e s
a n
e l o qu e nt e xpo s i t i o n
o f t h e
i nt e gr i t y
o f a r t a nd o f l i f e . Th i s i s t h e
s u bje c t
t h a t
r e s po ns i bl e
m u s i c c r i t i c s h a ve be e n
wr i t i ng
a bo u t f o r
ge ne r a t i o ns .
F o r t h e
m o s t
pa r t t h e y
s e e m t o h a ve be e n s h o u t -
i ng
i nt o t h e wi nd wh i l e t h e Ph i l i s t i ne s
h a ve c o nt i nu e d t o
pr o s pe r ;
a nd wh e n
t h e c r i t i c s h a ve be e n h e a r d a t
a l l ,
t h e y
h a ve be e n c r i e d do wn a nd
di s pa r a ge d
by
t h e
s e m i c u l t i va t e d,
c h a r ge d
wi t h
a s c e t i c i s m , i nt e l l e c t u a l i s m , o r
pl a i n
s no bbi s h ne s s . Bu t i n t h e f i l m Cl a r a 's
i de a l i s m
t r i u m ph s .
Sh e
s pe a ks
t o Li s zt
no t a bo u t no t e s o r
s t yl e
o r t e c h ni c a l
pr o we s s ,
bu t a bo u t t h o s e a t t i t u de s
t o wa r d l i f e t h a t f i nd
e xpr e s s i o n
i n
m u s i c . Sh e
s pe a ks
a bo u t h e r l o ve f o r
Ro be r t a nd h i s f o r
h e r ,
wh i c h i s t h e
s u bje c t
m a t t e r o f De di c a t i o n. Th i s i s
t h e ki nd o f l o ve t h a t
Li s zt ,
i n h i s
pa s -
s a ge
f r o m o ne br i l l i a nt a m o u r t o a n-
o t h e r ,
h a s ne ve r kno wn. And
s o ,
f o r a l l
h i s
ge ni u s ,
h e c a n h a ve no
c o m pr e h e n-
s i o n o f t h e l i f e
e xpe r i e nc e
r e c o r de d i n
t h e
s o ng,
no
a ppr e c i a t i o n
o f t h e f o r m -
c o nt e nt
c o m pl e x
a s a t r a ns l a t i o n o f l i f e
i nt o a r t . He c a n be s e ns i t i ve
o nl y
t o t h e
o u t wa r d
be a u t y.
And s o Cl a r a r e bu ke s
h i m -bu t s o
ge nt l y
a nd
ye t
wi t h s u c h
c o nvi c t i o n t h a t wh e n s h e e nds
by
ki s s -
i ng
h i s c h e e k a s a
s i gn
o f
a f f e c t i o n,
s h e
h a s e a r ne d h i s
gr a t i t u de
f o r
h a vi ng
s h a m e d h i m .
It i s a be a u t i f u l a nd
i m po r t a nt
s c e ne .
It s
s i gni f i c a nc e
wa s no t
f u l l y a ppr e c i -
a t e d, h o we ve r ,
by
t h e m a ke r s o f t h e
f i l m . So m e wh e r e i n t h e f r o nt o f f i c e s
Cl a r a 's a dm o ni t i o ns we r e
f o r go t t e n.
Sh e wo u l d h a ve be e n e m ba r r a s s e d
by
t h e e xc e s s e s o f Ge m i i t l i c h ke i t t h a t
gi ve
h e r f i l m e d
bi o gr a ph y
a ki nd o f e m o -
t i o na l
t e c h ni c o l o r ,
a n a r o m a o f o l d
l a ve nde r . F o r i f s h e wa s a wi f e a nd
m o t h e r ,
wi t h a n a bu nda nc e o f t h e
do m e s t i c c a r e s t h a t t h o s e
pr o f e s s i o ns
br i ng,
s h e wa s f i r s t o f a l l a
ve r y gr e a t
a r t i s t ,
s o
gr e a t
t h a t Be r na r d Sh a w
c a l l e d h e r "t h e
Ho l y
Gr a i l o f t h e c r i t i c 's
qu e s t ."
As t h a t ki nd o f
a r t i s t ,
s h e wo u l d
h a ve
r e c o gni ze d
a t o nc e t h e we a kne s s
o f a
s c r e e npl a y
t h a t c o u l d no t
s t o p
a t
t h e e nd o f t h e
s t o r y-t h e
de a t h o f Ro b-
e r t ,-bu t
h a d t o c o nt i nu e wi t h a r o u nd-
i ng
o u t o f t h e
pr o du c t i o n
s o t h a t i t
c o u l d e nd a s i t
be ga n,
wi t h a c o nc e r t
be f o r e
r o ya l t y
i n
Co l o gne 's
Gi i r ze ni c h .
And
f i na l l y,
Cl a r a ne ve r wo u l d h a ve
a ppr o ve d
t h e c h o i c e o f Ar t u r Ru bi n-
s t e i n f o r t h e
r e c o r di ng
o f Sc h u m a nn's
a nd Br a h m s 's
pi a no m u s i c -a l t h o u gh
s h e wo u l d
u ndo u bt e dl y
h a ve f e l t t h a t
Li s zt 's
go t ju s t
wh a t i t de s e r ve d. Ru bi n-
s t e i n's br i l l i a nt
s t yl e ,
wi t h i t s
t e nde nc y
t o wa r d
o ve r e m ph a s i s ,
i t s
i ndu l ge nc e
i n
i nt e r pr e t a t i o n,
i t s r e l i a nc e o n a
pe r c u s -
s i ve t o u c h t h a t i s
m a gni f i e d by
t h e m i -
E79 1
HOLLYWOOD
Q UARTERLY
c r o ph o ne -t h i s
i s
h a r dl y
t h e
s t yl e
wi t h
wh i c h t o
r e pr e s e nt
Cl a r a 's
pe r f o r m -
a nc e s . Sh e
pl a ye d, a c c o r di ng
t o t h o s e
wh o h e a r d
h e r ,
wi t h no t r a c e o f
pe r -
s o na l
di s pl a y,
wi t h t h e ke e ne s t o bs e r v-
a nc e o f t h e
c o m po s e r 's
i nt e nt i o ns , wi t h
pr o f o u nd i nt e l l e c t u a l i t y
a nd no bl e
pa s -
s i o n.
Ru bi ns t e i n,
a n a r t i s t o f t h e Li s zt
pe r s u a s i o n, br i ngs
t o t h e s o u nd t r a c k
a
t h o r o u gh
r e f u t a t i o n o f t h e
ve r y
a r -
t i s t i c
pr i nc i pl e s
t h a t Cl a r a h a d e x-
po u nde d
i n t h a t o ne m a r ve l o u s s c e ne .
Wh a t Cl a r a wo u l d h a ve
t h o u gh t
a bo u t t h e s c o r e f o r Th e
Unf i ni s h e d
Da nc e i s dr e a df u l t o
c o nt e m pl a t e .
Th i s
pi c t u r e
a bo u t a l i t t l e
gi r l
wh o c o m m i t s
m a yh e m u po n
t h e
pe r s o n
o f a r i va l t o a
f a vo r i t e ba l l e r i na i s t h e o c c a s i o n f o r
s u pe r -Li s zt i a n
ve r s i o ns o f m u s i c
by
Ts c h a i ko ws ky, Ch o pi n,
Sa i nt -Sa e ns ,
Kr e i s l e r , Be e t h o ve n, Sm e t a na , Go u no d,
Bo r o di n. Al l t h i s
m u s i c ,
e ve n
t h o u gh
i t
i s no t
pa r t
o f t h e
gr e a t e s t l e ga c y
t h a t
t h e m a s t e r s h a ve
be qu e a t h e d
t o
u s ,
ne ve r t h e l e s s de s e r ve s t o be t r e a t e d wi t h
r e s pe c t .
Ins t e a d,
i t i s
s u bje c t e d
t o t h e
e xqu i s i t e
t o r t u r e o f t h e
a r r a nge r 's
c r a f t .
Sa i nt -Sa e ns '
Swa n,
f o r
i ns t a nc e ,
i s
l a s h e d wi t h c h r o m a t i c
pi a no
r u ns ,
wi t h
s t r i ngs
h a r m o ni ze d di vi s i o n t h e t u ne .
Th e F a u s t ba l l e t m u s i c i s br o ke n o n t h e
wh e e l o f t h e Ko s t e l a ne t z e s t h e t i c . Th e
wh o l e i s a ve r i t a bl e
o r gy
o f l u s h o r c h e s -
t r a t i o n c l i m a xe d
by
s t i l l o ne m o r e o ve r -
bl o wn ve r s i o n o f
Ho l i da y f o r
St r i ngs ,
by
wh i c h t i m e
no bo dy
c a r e s . No do u bt
t h e
pr o du c e r s
o f t h i s f i l m a r e
c o ngr a t u -
l a t i ng
t h e m s e l ve s f o r
po pu l a r i zi ng
t h e
c l a s s i c s ,
br i ngi ng
m u s i c t o t h e
m a s s e s ,
e xt e ndi ng
t h e c u l t u r a l i nf l u e nc e o f t h e
s c r e e n. And s u c h no t i o ns wi l l do u bt l e s s
be
s t r e ngt h e ne d by
c r i t i c s wh o s e m u -
s i c a l t a s t e s h a ve ne ve r be e n
de ve l o pe d
be yo nd
t h e
po i nt
o f
e va l u a t i ng
m u s i c
a c c o r di ng
t o t h e de l i c i o u s ne s s o f t h e i r
s pi na l
r e a c t i o ns . F i l m s c o r e s l i ke
t h i s ,
i t s h o u l d be
r e c o gni ze d,
a r e
de vi l i s h l y
we l l c a l c u l a t e d t o
c o r r u pt pu bl i c
t a s t e ,
ju s t
a s wo u l d a n
Edga r
Gu e s t
t r a ns c r i p-
t i o n o f
Ha m l e t ,
o r a No r m a n Ro c kwe l l
i nt e r pr e t a t i o n
o f t h e La s t
Su ppe r .
Th e
be s t t h a t c a n be s a i d f o r t h e
pi c t u r e
i s
t h a t i t i s a l l o f o ne
pi e c e ,
wi t h a l l de -
pa r t m e nt s -wr i t i ng, ph o t o gr a ph y,
c h o -
r e o gr a ph y
a nd
m u s i c -c o nt e ndi ng
f o r
h o no r s i n ba d t a s t e .
Su c h s o u nds do no t
l i nge r l o ng
i n t h e
m e m o r y, a l t h o u gh a nge r
r e m a i ns . One
m o ve s wi t h r e l i e f t o a s c o r e l i ke Ha nns
Ei s l e r 's f o r Wo m a n o n t h e Be a c h . In
po i nt
o f f u nc t i o n t h e r e i s
no t h i ng
u n-
u s u a l i n
i t ;
m u s i c do e s i t s
jo b
h e r e
m u c h a s i t do e s i n a l l t h e be t t e r
f i l m s ,
wi t h
c o m pe t e nc e
a nd wi t h a n e f f e c t o f
i ne vi t a bi l i t y.
Bu t i n
po i nt
o f
qu a l i t y,
s h e e r m u s i c a l
qu a l i t y,
i t i s a di s t i n-
gu s h e d jo b
o f
c o m po s i t i o n.
Ei s l e r i s o ne
o f t h e f e w f i l m
c o m po s e r s
wi t h a di s -
t i nc t
pe r s o na l
i di o m . Yo u h e a r i t i n h i s
i ndi vi du a l u s e o f t h e wh o l e -t o ne
s c a l e ,
i n t h e
c u r i o u s l y s h a pe d
m e l o di e s t h a t
o f t e n s e e m t o h a ve t h e
c o nf i gu r a t i o ns
o f t we l ve -t o ne
m u s i c ,
i n t h e we bl i ke
t e xt u r e o f vo i c e
l e a di ng
a nd o r c h e s t r a -
t i o n wh e r e t h i c kne s s do e s no t
pr e c l u de
c l a r i t y,
no r
do e s
s pa r s e ne s s
l i m i t e m o -
t i o na l
e xpr e s s i ve ne s s .
Th e r e
i s ,
t o be
s u r e ,
o ne l o ve s c e ne i n wh i c h t h e m u s i c
bo r de r s o n t h e c l i c h e s o f l a t e r o m a nt i -
c i s m ;
i t do e s no t m a t c h t h e r e s t o f t h e
s c o r e ,
bu t i t i s a l s o
m e r c i f u l l y
s h o r t .
El s e wh e r e t h e m u s i c e vo ke s a n a t m o s -
ph e r e
o f
t e ns i o n,
di s qu i e t ,
a nd
pa s -
s i o n m u c h m o r e
s u c c e s s f u l l y
t h a n do e s
t h e
s c r e e npl a y
i t s e l f ,
t h e
a c t i ng
o r t h e
c a m e r a .
Th i s i s t h e ki nd o f
a t m o s ph e r e
t h a t
wa s wa nt e d f o r To r m e nt a nd t h a t Hi l d-
i ng Ro s e nbe r g
f a i l e d t o a c h i e ve be c a u s e
o f a
f r e qu e nt l y
na i ve
c o nc e pt i o n
o f
80
F ILM M USIC OF THE
Q UARTER
wh a t f u nc t i o n m u s i c h a d t o
pe r f o r m
(h e
t e l e gr a ph e d Ca l i gu l a 's pr e s e nc e
i n
Be r t h a 's
be dr o o m ,
a nd t h e
u nh a ppy
o u t c o m e o f t h e i r
m e e t i ng, l o ng
be f o r e
t h e c a m e r a wa s
pr e pa r e d
t o s h o w u s t h e
s c e ne ),
a nd be c a u s e o f a n
i na bi l i t y
t o
m a i nt a i n
m u s i c a l l y
t h e t e ns i o ns t h a t
we r e
be i ng
bu i l t
u p dr a m a t i c a l l y.
F r a nz
Wa xm a n s u c c e e de d i n
c r e a t i ng
a s o m e -
wh a t s i m i l a r
a t m o s ph e r e
i n Po s s e s s e d
by u s i ng
m u s i c a s s o u nd a nd
c o l o r ,
t o
pu nc t u a t e
dr a m a t i c
e pi s o de s
a nd t o
r e a l i ze wi t h r a t h e r e e r i e m u s i c a l e f f e c t s
t h e
de r a nge m e nt s
o f
i ns a ni t y;
bu t t h e
s c o r e h a s l i t t l e
ge nu i ne
m u s i c a l i nt e r -
e s t . Wh a t To r m e nt a nd Po s s e s s e d l a c k
i s t h e
c o m pl e t e
f u l f i l l m e nt o f m u s i c a s
f u nc t i o n a nd o f m u s i c a s m u s i c wh i c h i s
s o
m a r ke dl y a ppa r e nt
i n Wo m a n o n t h e
Be a c h . And
s t r a nge l y e no u gh ,
t h e l a s t
i s t h e l e a s t s u c c e s s f u l a s a m o t i o n
pi c -
t u r e .
So ng o f
Lo ve .
M GM ,
1947.
Pr o du c e r a nd
di r e c t o r ,
Cl a r e nc e Br o wn.
Sc r e e npl a y,
Iva n
To r s ,
Ir m ga r d
Vo n Cu be a nd Al l e n Vi n-
c e nt ,
a nd Ro be r t
Ar dr e y.
F r o m t h e
pl a y by
Be r na r d Sc h u be r t a nd M a r i o Si l va . Ph o -
t o gr a ph y, Ha r r y St r a dl i ng.
M u s i c a l di r e c -
t i o n,
Br o ni s l a u
Ka pe r .
Th e
Unf i ni s h e d
Da nc e .
M GM ,
1947.
Pr o -
du c e r ,
Jo e
Pa s t e r na k.
Di r e c t o r ,
He nr y
Ko s -
t e r .
Sc r e e npl a y, M yl e s Co nno l l y.
Ba s e d o n
t h e
s t o r y,
La M o r t du
c ygne , by
Pa u l M o -
r a nd.
Ph o t o gr a ph y,
Ro be r t Su r t e e s . M u s i -
c a l
s c o r e ,
He r be r t St o t h a r t .
Wo m a n o n t h e Be a c h .
RKO,
1947.
Pr o -
du c e r ,
Ja c k J.
Gr o s s .
Di r e c t o r , Je a n
Re no i r .
Sc r e e npl a y,
F r a nk Da vi s a nd
Je a n
Re no i r .
Ada pt a t i o n,
M i c h a e l
Ho ga n.
Ba s e d o n t h e
no ve l , No ne So
Bl i nd,
by
M i t c h e l l Wi l s o n.
Ph o t o gr a ph y,
Le e To va r a nd
Ha r r y
Wi l d.
M u s i c a l
s c o r e ,
Ha nns Ei s l e r .
To r m e nt . Oxf o r d F i l m s ;
Am e r i c a n r e -
l e a s e ,
1947.
Di r e c t o r ,
Al f
Sjo be r g.
Sc r e e n-
pl a y, Ingm a r Be r gm a n. Ph o t o gr a ph y,
M a r -
t i n Bo di n.
M u s i c ,
Hi l di ng Ro s e nbe r g.
An
SF
pr o du c t i o n.
Po s s e s s e d.Wa r ne r 's ,
1947.
Pr o du c e r ,
Je r r y
Wa l d.
Di r e c t o r ,
Cu r t i s Be r nh a r dt . Sc r e e n-
pl a y, Syl vi a
Ri c h a r ds a nd Ra na l d M a c -
Do u ga l l .
F r o m a
s t o r y by
Ri t a We i m a n.
Ph o t o gr a ph y, Jo s e ph
Va l e nt i ne . M u s i c a l
s c o r e ,
F r a nz Wa xm a n.
81
N o t e s a n d Co mmun ica t io n s
ON "MIRACLES COME C.O.D."
I HAVE re a d wit h in t e re s t a n d n o t a
lit t le
d is ma y
t he a rt icle
by
Cha rle s
Pa lme r. I d o n 't kn o w whe re he
ge t s
his
d a t a a bo ut films us e d in t he s cho o ls .
Much o f it is in a ccura t e . To s t a t e a s he
d o e s t ha t
pre s e n t -d a y
e d uca t io n a l films
"pre s e n t
n ice -t o -s e e
s ubje ct
ma t t e r in -
s t e a d o f
go t -t o -s e e "
is 180
d e gre e s wro n g.
Le t us lo o k a t t he
his t o ry
o f e d uca -
t io n a l films in t his
co un t ry.
In
1923
a co mmit t e e wa s
a ppo in t e d
by
t he N a t io n a l Ed uca t io n As s o cia t io n
t o
s t ud y
t he
pro ble m
o f e d uca t io n a l
films . The fin a l
pro po s a l
o f t his co m-
mit t e e e n d e d wit h a
s ugge s t io n
t ha t t he
Ea s t ma n Ko d a k
Co mpa n y
fin a n ce a n
e xpe rime n t
in t his fie ld . Dr. Be n Wo o d
o f Co lumbia
Un ive rs it y
a n d Dr. Fra n k
Fre e ma n
(n o w
De a n o f t he
De pa rt me n t
o f Ed uca t io n o f t he
Un ive rs it y
o f Ca li-
fo rn ia )
we re in
cha rge
o f t he
e xpe ri-
me n t . Te n films in
ge o gra phy
a n d t e n
films in s cie n ce we re
pro d uce d ,
n o t o n
t he "n ice -t o -s e e " ba s is
(us in g
Pa lme r's
t e rm),
but o n t he
"go t -t o -s e e "
ba s is .
The y
we re ma d e a ft e r ca re ful
a n a lys is
o f t he
s ubje ct
ma t t e r
co mmo n ly t a ught
in t he s e t wo fie ld s .
This
e xpe rime n t pro ve d
t ha t t he s e
films
pro d uce d
a bo ut
15 pe r
ce n t mo re
le a rn in g
o f in fo rma t io n t ha n
t e a chin g
wit ho ut films . The
fin d in gs
le d t o t he
s e t t in g up
o f Ea s t ma n
Te a chin g
Films ,
In c. I wa s a s s o cia t e d wit h t his
e a rly
e n -
t e rpris e
a n d I a ms ure it will be n e ws
t o
Ge o rge
Ho ke ,
Ke n n e t h
Ed wa rd s ,
a n d o t he rs a s s o cia t e d wit h t his co m-
pa n y
t o d is co ve r t ha t we fa ile d t o
pa y
a n y
a t t e n t io n t o wha t t he s cho o ls
wa n t e d
pro d uce d .
On e wo uld
ga t he r
fro mMr. Pa lme r t ha t t he Ea s t ma n
Ko d a k
Co mpa n y whims ica lly
a n d ca -
pricio us ly pro d uce d
a films uch a s
"Ho w Muffs Are Ma d e ," whe n
a ct ua lly
t he
o n ly ho pe
o f fin a n cia l s ucce s s wa s
t o
pro d uce
wha t t he s cho o ls wa n t e d .
Aro un d
1929
t he
Erpi
Film
Co mpa n y
be ga n pro d uct io n
o f 16-mm. s o un d
films . The ba s ic
pro d uct io n pla n
in -
vo lve d curriculum
a n a lys is
t o d is co ve r
wha t s ho uld be
pro d uce d
fo r s cho o l us e .
This ha s
a lwa ys
be e n t he
pla n
o f t his
co mpa n y,
who s e films a re n o w o wn e d
by En cyclo pe d ia
Brit a n n ica Films .
If t he re a d e r is in
a n y
d o ubt a bo ut
t he
a ccura cy
o f
my
s t a t e me n t ,
le t him
s e n d a
pe n n y po s t ca rd
t o t he
En cyclo -
pe d ia
Brit a n n ica Film
Co .,
1841
Bro a d -
wa y,
N e w Yo rk
23,
N .Y.; Co ro n e t Film
Co mpa n y,
Gle n vie w, Illin o is ;
o r
Yo un g
Ame rica
Films , In c.,
19
Ea s t
41s t
St re e t ,
N e w Yo rk
17,
N .Y.,
a n d
s t ud y
t he ir
ca t a lo gue s .
Mr. Pa lme r
s a ys :
"But filmca n t e a ch
o n ly prin ciple s ,
fo r
co mpre he n s io n ,
a n d t ho s e
o n ly
in e s s e n t ia l
o ut lin e ;
t e xt -
bo o ks mus t s t ill
pre s e n t
t he
fa ct s ,
in
d e t a il,
fo r
me mo riza t io n ";
"film
go e s
by
t he vie we r t o o fa s t t o
pe rmit
me mo -
riza t io n o r re t e n t io n o f
fa ct s ";
"t he n e w
filmwill in t ro d uce fa ct s
o n ly
fo r t he
purpo s e s
o f
ma kin g
co n cre t e o r
gra phic
a ba s ic
prin ciple ."
Firs t o f
a ll,
it is n o t
e a s y
t o d is t in -
guis h
be t we e n a fa ct a n d a
prin ciple .
Two a n d t wo is
fo ur.
Tha t is a fa ct . It is
a ls o a
prin ciple ,
a
ge n e ra l
t rut h,
a
ge n -
e ra liza t io n a bo ut
s pe cific
ca s e s .
C82
N OTES AN D COMMUN ICATION S
A filmis a co mbin a t io n o f wo rd a n d
ima ge .
To t he
s pe cificit y
o f t he
ima ge
we ca n a d d ve rba l
e xpla n a t io n .
This
ve rba l
e xpla n a t io n
ca n be
quit e s pe -
cific. It
ma y
a ls o be a s t a t e me n t o f a
prin ciple
o r
ge n e ra liza t io n .
Le t me
put
a
s imple
t e s t t o
my
re a d -
e rs . Did t he filmIt
Ha ppe n e d
On e
N ight go by
s o fa s t t ha t
yo u
d o n o t n o w
re me mbe r t he
s pe cific
me t ho d which
Cla ud e t t e Co lbe rt us e d t o
ge t
a rid e
whe n Cla rk Ga ble 's t humb ha d fa ile d
t o d o t he t rick? Do
yo u
re me mbe r t he
fin a l
but t e rfly
s ce n e in All
Quie t
o n t he
We s t e rn Fro n t ?
N o ;
t he filmis a
po we rful
me d ium
wit h t re me n d o us
t e a chin g po we r
fo r
s pe cifics ,
fo r
ge n e ra liza t io n s ,
fo r a t t i-
t ud e s ,
fo r
in fo rma t io n ,
fo r s kills . We
mus t n o t co n fin e it
by fo llo win g
a fa ls e
ps ycho lo gy
which
re ga rd s
d rill a n d
me mo riza t io n a s
ke y
me t ho d s fo r t e a ch-
in g.
So un d
t e a chin g
me t ho d
e mpha -
s ize s
me a n in g
ra t he r t ha n
me mo ry,
re a s o n in g
ra t he r t ha n
re pe t it io n .
N o w I d o n 't t hin k t he re is
a n y ro ya l
ro a d t o
le a rn in g.
I
ce rt a in ly
d o n 't t hin k
t ha t
le a rn in g
ca n be ma d e
pa in le s s
a n d
e n t e rt a in in g.
But I d o be lie ve t ha t it
is
po s s ible
fo r a n a rt is t
t e a che r,
t hro ugh
films a n d o t he r
me d ia ,
t o
a rra n ge e xpe -
rie n ce s in s uch a
wa y
t ha t
in s ight s
d e -
ve lo p
much mo re
ra pid ly
t ha n
t he y
ha ve in t he
pa s t .
I
re ga rd
a s
illus o ry
Mr. Pa lme r's
co n ce pt
o f "Sho wma n We d s Te a che r."
This is a ls o a fa vo rit e id e a o f t he ra d io
in d us t ry
a n d hid e s a ba s ic
fa lla cy.
To
s a y
t ha t
t e a chin g
mus t be in t e r-
e s t in g
is re d un d a n t . Wit ho ut
in t e re s t ,
in t he bro a d s e n s e o f t he
t e rm,
t he re is
n o
le a rn in g.
In t e re s t ,
if we n o t e it s
La t in
o rigin ,
co me s fro min t e r a n d
e s s e ,
me a n in g
t o be
be t we e n ,
t o be re la t e d .
To
d e ve lo p
in t e re s t , t he n ,
me a n s t ha t
t e a che r a n d s t ud e n t s d is co ve r t he re la -
t io n s hip
t o t he ir o wn live s o f wha t is
be in g t a ught .
If 't his
re la t io n s hip
is
gra s pe d , le a rn in g
ca n t a ke
pla ce .
An d
un t il it is d is co ve re d
yo u
ha ve me re
"le s s o n
le a rn in g,"
which d o e s n 't s t ick
ve ry lo n g.
It is "d a t e d
le a rn in g"-
le a rn in g
t ha t la s t s un t il t he d a t e o f t he
e xa min a t io n .
I ha ve s e e n
ma n y
films t ha t
Ho lly-
wo o d s ho wme n
pro d uce d
fo r t he
Army
a n d
N a vy. Sho wma n s hip
wa s
in je ct e d
in t o t he
pict ure by
a Ma e We s t s e -
que n ce ,
un re la t e d
ga gs ,
d ubio us vul-
ga rit y.
Mo s t o f t he s e
a t t e mpt s
fa ile d .
N o w t o
s a y
t ha t t he s e s ho wme n we re
n o t
go o d e n o ugh
is t o
be g
t he
que s t io n .
I be lie ve it is fa ir t o
s a y
t ha t t he s e rio us
filmma ke rs
gre w quit e wa ry
o f d ire ct
a t t e mpt s
t o us e
"s ho wma n s hip."
This d o e s n o t
me a n ,
o f
co urs e ,
t ha t
t he re is e ve r
a n y
e xcus e fo r
d ulln e s s ,
o r fo r a
co n ce pt
o f
t e a chin g
a s
me re ly
d id a ct ic. The a ble
Ho llywo o d
d ire ct o r
wa s
fre que n t ly
a ble t o us e t he humo r o f
t he s it ua t io n t o
brin g
t o his filmma k-
in g
a d e ft n e s s o f t o uch which ma d e
le a rn in g pa la t a ble .
He kn e w his
a rt ,
his
cra ft .
I s ho uld like t o d ire ct t he a t t e n t io n
o f re a d e rs o f t he
Ho llywo o d
Qua rt e rly
t o a filme n t it le d
Te a chin g
Me t ho d s in
t he
Army
Air
Fo rce s ,
writ t e n
by
Co urt -
n e y
An d e rs o n a n d
pro d uce d by
Rich-
a rd Go ld s t o n e in co n n e ct io n wit h t he
Firs t Mo t io n Pict ure Un it a t t he o ld
Ha l Ro a ch s t ud io .This filmha s
humo r,
but it ca me fro mt he
a bilit y
o f a n a ble
writ e r a n d d ire ct o r t o ma ke us e o f t he ir
ma t e ria ls . The re is n o co n t rive d
humo r,
n o
s t ra in in g
t o
put "s ho wma n s hip"
in t o t he film.
The re is a n o t he r
po in t
a t which t he
Ho llywo o d
t o uch
ma y
n o t fit t he n e e d s
o f t he s cho o ls . N o t e t he circums t a n ce s
83
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
un d e r which s cho o l films a re s ho wn .
Un d e r t he be s t circums t a n ce s
t he y
a re
t ie d in t o a
t e a chin g pro gra m.
This is
in
s ha rp
co n t ra s t wit h t he
wa y
in which
a
Ho llywo o d
filmis s ho wn . The a ve r-
a ge mo vie go e r ma y
co me in t o t he t he -
a t e r,
buy
a
ba g
o f
po pco rn ,
s it wit h his
a rma ro un d his
girl,
a n d t he n d e ma n d
o f t he film: "En t e rt a in me ." He ha s n o
le a rn in g o bliga t io n .
The a ble
t e a che r,
ho we ve r,
build s a n
o bliga t io n
in t he
min d s o f t he s t ud e n t s t o s e e k a n s we rs
t o t he ir
que s t io n s .
The filmis us e d a s
a me a n s t o o t he r
purpo s e s .
It is
n o t ,
pri-
ma rily,
a
t hin g
in it s e lf.
Re me mbe r, t o o ,
t ha t a n in s t ruct ive
film
ma y
ha ve t o d o
d o uble ,
t riple ,
a n d
s o me t ime s
qua d ruple d ut y.
It is s ho wn
t o d iffe re n t cla s s e s fo r d iffe re n t
pur-
po s e s .
N o o n e wa n t s t o he a r a
ga g,
e ve n
a
go o d
o n e ,
t wice . The re
is , t he n ,
a va s t
d iffe re n ce be t we e n
s a yin g
t ha t a film
s ho uld be
in t e re s t in g
a n d t ha t it s ho uld
be
e n t e rt a in in g.
An
in t e re s t in g
filmis
o n e
t ruly
re la t e d t o t he n e e d s o f t he
pe rs o n
who us e s it . Aft e r he s e e s
it ,
he
s a ys :
"I
go t
a lo t o f
he lp
o ut o f it . I
le a rn e d s o me
t hin gs
I n e ve r kn e w be -
fo re ."
The films t a rt s a t ra in o f
t hin kin g.
The re is
d yn a mis m
in it . An e n t e rt a in -
me n t filmha s n o s uch
o bliga t io n .
An
e d uca t io n a l filmd o e s ha ve t o ca t ch t he
a t t e n t io n o f it s
a ud ie n ce ,
but un like t he
e n t e rt a in me n t filmit d o e s n o t
us ua lly
ha ve t o ca t ch it s a ud ie n ce
it s e lf;
t he y
a re t he re .
Mr. Pa lme r
s a ys ,
"The min ut e we
o ffe r a filmt ha t will t e a ch a n e s s e n t ia l
t hin g
be t t e r a n d
fa s t e r-he n ce ,
che a pe r
-t he e n o rmo us s cho o l ma rke t will
a p-
pe a r."
I d o n 't
a gre e .
Of
co urs e ,
e d uca -
t io n a l films co uld be
impro ve d
a n d
n e e d
impro ve me n t ,
but
a n yo n e
who
ha s be e n o ut in t he fie ld kn o ws t ha t t his
is n o t t he
prima ry
re a s o n fo r la ck o f
purcha s e .
We ll, t he n ,
why
ha ve n 't we in cre a s e d
o ur us e o f films a s fa s t a s we s ho uld
ha ve ?
Firs t ,
t he re is t he
pro ble m
o f fun d s .
Our
t a xpa ye rs
ha ve n 't
ye t
be e n t o o
much co n ce rn e d a bo ut t he
qua lit y
o f
t e a chin g
ma t e ria ls . Go in t o a lmo s t
a n y
Ame rica n
cit y-N e w
Yo rk,
Phila d e l-
phia ,
Co lumbus ,
Chica go ,-n o t e
t he
o ld s cho o l
build in gs ,
t he
in a d e qua t e
ma ps ,
t he
grimy pict ure s
o f Lin co ln
a n d
Wa s hin gt o n ,
a n d
yo u
wo n 't n e e d
t o
go
much fa rt he r. If we ha ve n 't
be e n co n ce rn e d a bo ut
ha vin g
e xce lle n t
t e a che rs ,
we
ce rt a in ly
will n o t be co n -
ce rn e d a bo ut e xce lle n t ma t e ria ls .
Se co n d ,
it is n o
s imple
ma t t e r t o
t e a ch a millio n Ame rica n t e a che rs ho w
t o us e films
in t e llige n t ly.
Yo umus t s e t
up
a flo w o f films
t hro ugh
s t a t e filmli-
bra rie s ;
yo u
mus t ha ve
t e a chin g guid e s ;
t he re mus t be a flo w o f in fo rma t io n
t hro ugh pro fe s s io n a l jo urn a ls .
Un t il
t he la s t fe w
ye a rs
we ha ve ha d
o n ly
o n e
jo urn a l d e vo t in g
it s e lf
s pe cifica lly
t o
vis ua l
ma t e ria ls ,
a n d t ha t
jo urn a l
ha d
t o
s t ruggle
ha rd t o s urvive .
Mr. Pa lme r's a rt icle co mbin e s s o me
ge n uin e in s ight
wit h o t he r id e a s t ha t
t he
be gin n in g
wo rke r in t he vis ua l fie ld
will
re co gn ize
a s fa ls e o r
impo s s ible .
I
a ms ure t ha t e d uca t io n a l films ca n
be
impro ve d . The y
la ck
ima gin a t io n .
The y
a re t o o
wo rd y. The y
d o n o t
re ly
upo n
t he
ima ge
a s much a s
t he y
s ho uld .
The y
a re t o o d e n s e wit h
ve rba lly
s t a t e d
id e a s . The s o un d t ra ck ca rrie s t o o
he a vy
a burd e n o f id e a s wit ho ut
e n o ugh he lp
fro mt he filmit s e lf.
Wha t is t he
re me d y?
The
re me d y
is
t o ha ve mo re t e a che rs un d e rs t a n d wha t
a
go o d
film
is ,
a n d t o ha ve
pro d uce rs
o f
t he s e films un d e rs t a n d wha t
t e a chin g
is .
84
N OTES AN D COMMUN ICATION S N OTES AN D COMMUN ICATION S
But we a ls o n e e d
d ia gn o s e s
o f t he s it ua -
t io n t ha t a re much mo re fun d a me n t a l
t ha n t he o n e t ha t Mr. Pa lme r ha s
pre -
s e n t e d . s e n t e d .
EDGAR DALE
REPLY TO A CRITIC
PROFESSOR DALE'S
"d is ma y"
wo uld ha ve
ris e n t o s he e r ho rro r ha d he s e e n t he
firs t ve rs io n o f t his
a rt icle ,
t he o n e Mrs .
Pa lme r ma d e me t o n e d o wn . I'd like t o
be
po lit e
a n d
re t re a t ,
but t he is s ue is t o o
vit a l fo r t he
n ice t ie s ;
a n d I ha ve t he
fe e lin g
t ha t I a m
vo icin g
t he
o pin io n s
o f a
la rge
n umbe r o f
pe rs o n s
who fe e l
a s
s t ro n gly
a s I.
N o
que s t io n
a bo ut
it ,
o ur co n flict
is
d e e p-ro o t e d .
Pro fe s s o r Da le is n o
d re a my
t he o ris t ;
I'mn o t a n ut t e r
pra g-
ma t is t ;
ye t
n e it he r o f us ca n
he lp
le a n -
in g
in his
re s pe ct ive
d ire ct io n . As o n e
o f t he
gre a t pio n e e r
wo rke rs in e d uca -
t io n a l
film,
Pro fe s s o r Da le
n a t ura lly
t e n d s t o e va lua t e t he curre n t s it ua t io n
in t e rms o f t he
t ruly gre a t pro gre s s
t ha t
ha s be e n ma d e in t he
pa s t qua rt e r
ce n -
t ury.
As a
pra gma t is t
a n d
pa re n t ,
I t e n d
t o vie w t he s it ua t io n
impe rs o n a lly
in
t e rms o f "Wha t filmd o we ha ve
n o w,
wha t 's
wro n g
wit h
it ,
a n d whe re d o we
go
fro mhe re ?"
N e ve rt he le s s ,
we d o
s ha re a s in ce re co mmo n
o bje ct ive ,
a n d
t he
a irin g
o f o ur co n flict ca n n o t be
o t he r t ha n
he a lt hy.
Pro fe s s o r Da le
cha lle n ge s my a rgu-
me n t s o n t hre e ma in
po in t s : (1) my
cla s s ifica t io n o f mo s t curre n t e d uca -
t io n a l filma s "n ice -t o -s e e " ra t he r t ha n
"go t -t o -s e e ,"
(2) my
co n vict io n t ha t
films s ho uld co n ce n t ra t e o n
t e a chin g
prin ciple s
ra t he r t ha n
fa ct s ,
a n d
(3)
my
cla imt ha t
"s ho wma n s hip"
is n e e d e d in
t he
pre pa ra t io n
a n d
pro d uct io n
o f e d u-
ca t io n a l film.
The cla s s ifica t io n o f
a n y give n
e d uca -
But we a ls o n e e d
d ia gn o s e s
o f t he s it ua -
t io n t ha t a re much mo re fun d a me n t a l
t ha n t he o n e t ha t Mr. Pa lme r ha s
pre -
s e n t e d . s e n t e d .
EDGAR DALE
REPLY TO A CRITIC
PROFESSOR DALE'S
"d is ma y"
wo uld ha ve
ris e n t o s he e r ho rro r ha d he s e e n t he
firs t ve rs io n o f t his
a rt icle ,
t he o n e Mrs .
Pa lme r ma d e me t o n e d o wn . I'd like t o
be
po lit e
a n d
re t re a t ,
but t he is s ue is t o o
vit a l fo r t he
n ice t ie s ;
a n d I ha ve t he
fe e lin g
t ha t I a m
vo icin g
t he
o pin io n s
o f a
la rge
n umbe r o f
pe rs o n s
who fe e l
a s
s t ro n gly
a s I.
N o
que s t io n
a bo ut
it ,
o ur co n flict
is
d e e p-ro o t e d .
Pro fe s s o r Da le is n o
d re a my
t he o ris t ;
I'mn o t a n ut t e r
pra g-
ma t is t ;
ye t
n e it he r o f us ca n
he lp
le a n -
in g
in his
re s pe ct ive
d ire ct io n . As o n e
o f t he
gre a t pio n e e r
wo rke rs in e d uca -
t io n a l
film,
Pro fe s s o r Da le
n a t ura lly
t e n d s t o e va lua t e t he curre n t s it ua t io n
in t e rms o f t he
t ruly gre a t pro gre s s
t ha t
ha s be e n ma d e in t he
pa s t qua rt e r
ce n -
t ury.
As a
pra gma t is t
a n d
pa re n t ,
I t e n d
t o vie w t he s it ua t io n
impe rs o n a lly
in
t e rms o f "Wha t filmd o we ha ve
n o w,
wha t 's
wro n g
wit h
it ,
a n d whe re d o we
go
fro mhe re ?"
N e ve rt he le s s ,
we d o
s ha re a s in ce re co mmo n
o bje ct ive ,
a n d
t he
a irin g
o f o ur co n flict ca n n o t be
o t he r t ha n
he a lt hy.
Pro fe s s o r Da le
cha lle n ge s my a rgu-
me n t s o n t hre e ma in
po in t s : (1) my
cla s s ifica t io n o f mo s t curre n t e d uca -
t io n a l filma s "n ice -t o -s e e " ra t he r t ha n
"go t -t o -s e e ,"
(2) my
co n vict io n t ha t
films s ho uld co n ce n t ra t e o n
t e a chin g
prin ciple s
ra t he r t ha n
fa ct s ,
a n d
(3)
my
cla imt ha t
"s ho wma n s hip"
is n e e d e d in
t he
pre pa ra t io n
a n d
pro d uct io n
o f e d u-
ca t io n a l film.
The cla s s ifica t io n o f
a n y give n
e d uca -
t io n a l filma s "n ice -t o -s e e " o r
"go t -t o -
s e e "
is ,
o f
co urs e ,
la rge ly
a ma t t e r o f
in d ivid ua l
philo s o phy
a n d
o pin io n .
I
d re w
my a d mit t e d ly pra gma t ic
co n clu-
s io n s fro m
e xa ct ly
t he d a t a which Pro -
fe s s o r Da le re co mme n d s in his
le t t e r,
fro mt he
ca t a lo gue lis t in gs
o f t he
ca p-
t ive
pro d uce rs , plus ma n y s cre e n in gs .
But a
s urve y
o f t he re ce n t e d uca t io n a l
re le a s e s ,
a s re vie we d in t he vis ua l-e d u-
ca t io n t ra d e
pe rio d ica ls , o n ly
re in fo rce s
my pe rs o n a l
co n vict io n s -a n d
pro ba -
bly
d o e s t he s a me fo r Pro fe s s o r Da le 's .
He re a re t he curre n t "e d uca t io n a l"
re le a s e s ,
a s re vie we d in t he e d uca t io n a l
s e ct io n o f t he
Augus t , 1947,
Film
Wo rld :
Ca va lca d e
o f
Ma rble
Ha cie n d a in Old Me xico
Spe lun kin g (e xplo ra t io n
o f
ca ve s )
Wha t is a
Ma p?
An d N o w I Se e
(church s t e wa rd s hip)
Me n
o f
Glo uce s t e r
Willia mRo s e Be n e t
Mo n a rch
But t e rfly
Dut ie s
o f
a
Se cre t a ry
Sa mura i
Tin
Fa it h Ha s
Co n que re d (re ligio us )
In t ro d uct io n t o Fra ct io n s
Tid e -Po o l
Life
N e llie Wa s a
La d y (St e phe n Fo s t e r)
The
St o ry o f
Omo lo
To t his lis t t he re a d e r ca n
a pply
his
o wn bia s . To
e xpla in my
o wn
po in t
o f
vie w: a re ce n t
gra s s -ro o t s po ll
o f e le -
me n t a ry
a n d
s e co n d a ry
t e a che rs in d i-
ca t e d a n
urge n t
n e e d fo r
films ,
a
gre a t
ma n y
films ,
in a co urs e which I
pra g-
ma t ica lly cla s s ify
a s e s s e n t ia l-a rit hme -
t ic. Aft e r t he
t we n t y-five ye a rs
o f a ct ive
pro d uct io n
cit e d
by
Pro fe s s o r
Da le ,
pra ct ica lly
n o filmis a va ila ble in t his
a re a . The lis t a bo ve in clud e s s ixt e e n
films ,
wit h o n e a n d
o n ly
o n e
(a n d
by
a
n e w
pro d uce r,
a t
t ha t )
o n
a rit hme t ic.
Brit a n n ica 's mo s t -re vie we d re ce n t e d -
t io n a l filma s "n ice -t o -s e e " o r
"go t -t o -
s e e "
is ,
o f
co urs e ,
la rge ly
a ma t t e r o f
in d ivid ua l
philo s o phy
a n d
o pin io n .
I
d re w
my a d mit t e d ly pra gma t ic
co n clu-
s io n s fro m
e xa ct ly
t he d a t a which Pro -
fe s s o r Da le re co mme n d s in his
le t t e r,
fro mt he
ca t a lo gue lis t in gs
o f t he
ca p-
t ive
pro d uce rs , plus ma n y s cre e n in gs .
But a
s urve y
o f t he re ce n t e d uca t io n a l
re le a s e s ,
a s re vie we d in t he vis ua l-e d u-
ca t io n t ra d e
pe rio d ica ls , o n ly
re in fo rce s
my pe rs o n a l
co n vict io n s -a n d
pro ba -
bly
d o e s t he s a me fo r Pro fe s s o r Da le 's .
He re a re t he curre n t "e d uca t io n a l"
re le a s e s ,
a s re vie we d in t he e d uca t io n a l
s e ct io n o f t he
Augus t , 1947,
Film
Wo rld :
Ca va lca d e
o f
Ma rble
Ha cie n d a in Old Me xico
Spe lun kin g (e xplo ra t io n
o f
ca ve s )
Wha t is a
Ma p?
An d N o w I Se e
(church s t e wa rd s hip)
Me n
o f
Glo uce s t e r
Willia mRo s e Be n e t
Mo n a rch
But t e rfly
Dut ie s
o f
a
Se cre t a ry
Sa mura i
Tin
Fa it h Ha s
Co n que re d (re ligio us )
In t ro d uct io n t o Fra ct io n s
Tid e -Po o l
Life
N e llie Wa s a
La d y (St e phe n Fo s t e r)
The
St o ry o f
Omo lo
To t his lis t t he re a d e r ca n
a pply
his
o wn bia s . To
e xpla in my
o wn
po in t
o f
vie w: a re ce n t
gra s s -ro o t s po ll
o f e le -
me n t a ry
a n d
s e co n d a ry
t e a che rs in d i-
ca t e d a n
urge n t
n e e d fo r
films ,
a
gre a t
ma n y
films ,
in a co urs e which I
pra g-
ma t ica lly cla s s ify
a s e s s e n t ia l-a rit hme -
t ic. Aft e r t he
t we n t y-five ye a rs
o f a ct ive
pro d uct io n
cit e d
by
Pro fe s s o r
Da le ,
pra ct ica lly
n o filmis a va ila ble in t his
a re a . The lis t a bo ve in clud e s s ixt e e n
films ,
wit h o n e a n d
o n ly
o n e
(a n d
by
a
n e w
pro d uce r,
a t
t ha t )
o n
a rit hme t ic.
Brit a n n ica 's mo s t -re vie we d re ce n t e d -
85 85
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
But we also need
diagnoses
of the situa-
tion that are much more fundamental
than the one that Mr. Palmer has
pre-
sented. sented.
EDGAR DALE
REPLY TO A CRITIC
PROFESSOR DALE'S
"dismay"
would have
risen to sheer horror had he seen the
first version of this
article,
the one Mrs.
Palmer made me tone down. I'd like to
be
polite
and
retreat,
but the issue is too
vital for the
niceties;
and I have the
feeling
that I am
voicing
the
opinions
of a
large
number of
persons
who feel
as
strongly
as I.
No
question
about
it,
our conflict
is
deep-rooted.
Professor Dale is no
dreamy
theorist;
I'm not an utter
prag-
matist;
yet
neither of us can
help
lean-
ing
in his
respective
direction. As one
of the
great pioneer
workers in educa-
tional
film,
Professor Dale
naturally
tends to evaluate the current situation
in terms of the
truly great progress
that
has been made in the
past quarter
cen-
tury.
As a
pragmatist
and
parent,
I tend
to view the situation
impersonally
in
terms of "What film do we have
now,
what's
wrong
with
it,
and where do we
go
from here?"
Nevertheless,
we do
share a sincere common
objective,
and
the
airing
of our conflict cannot be
other than
healthy.
Professor Dale
challenges my argu-
ments on three main
points: (1) my
classification of most current educa-
tional film as "nice-to-see" rather than
"got-to-see,"
(2) my
conviction that
films should concentrate on
teaching
principles
rather than
facts,
and
(3)
my
claim that
"showmanship"
is needed in
the
preparation
and
production
of edu-
cational film.
The classification of
any given
educa-
But we also need
diagnoses
of the situa-
tion that are much more fundamental
than the one that Mr. Palmer has
pre-
sented. sented.
EDGAR DALE
REPLY TO A CRITIC
PROFESSOR DALE'S
"dismay"
would have
risen to sheer horror had he seen the
first version of this
article,
the one Mrs.
Palmer made me tone down. I'd like to
be
polite
and
retreat,
but the issue is too
vital for the
niceties;
and I have the
feeling
that I am
voicing
the
opinions
of a
large
number of
persons
who feel
as
strongly
as I.
No
question
about
it,
our conflict
is
deep-rooted.
Professor Dale is no
dreamy
theorist;
I'm not an utter
prag-
matist;
yet
neither of us can
help
lean-
ing
in his
respective
direction. As one
of the
great pioneer
workers in educa-
tional
film,
Professor Dale
naturally
tends to evaluate the current situation
in terms of the
truly great progress
that
has been made in the
past quarter
cen-
tury.
As a
pragmatist
and
parent,
I tend
to view the situation
impersonally
in
terms of "What film do we have
now,
what's
wrong
with
it,
and where do we
go
from here?"
Nevertheless,
we do
share a sincere common
objective,
and
the
airing
of our conflict cannot be
other than
healthy.
Professor Dale
challenges my argu-
ments on three main
points: (1) my
classification of most current educa-
tional film as "nice-to-see" rather than
"got-to-see,"
(2) my
conviction that
films should concentrate on
teaching
principles
rather than
facts,
and
(3)
my
claim that
"showmanship"
is needed in
the
preparation
and
production
of edu-
cational film.
The classification of
any given
educa-
tional film as "nice-to-see" or
"got-to-
see"
is,
of
course,
largely
a matter of
individual
philosophy
and
opinion.
I
drew
my admittedly pragmatic
conclu-
sions from
exactly
the data which Pro-
fessor Dale recommends in his
letter,
from the
catalogue listings
of the
cap-
tive
producers, plus many screenings.
But a
survey
of the recent educational
releases,
as reviewed in the visual-edu-
cation trade
periodicals, only
reinforces
my personal
convictions-and
proba-
bly
does the same for Professor Dale's.
Here are the current "educational"
releases,
as reviewed in the educational
section of the
August, 1947,
Film
World:
Cavalcade
of
Marble
Hacienda in Old Mexico
Spelunking (exploration
of
caves)
What is a
Map?
And Now I See
(church stewardship)
Men
of
Gloucester
William Rose Benet
Monarch
Butterfly
Duties
of
a
Secretary
Samurai
Tin
Faith Has
Conquered (religious)
Introduction to Fractions
Tide-Pool
Life
Nellie Was a
Lady (Stephen Foster)
The
Story of
Omolo
To this list the reader can
apply
his
own bias. To
explain my
own
point
of
view: a recent
grass-roots poll
of ele-
mentary
and
secondary
teachers indi-
cated an
urgent
need for
films,
a
great
many
films,
in a course which I
prag-
matically classify
as essential-arithme-
tic. After the
twenty-five years
of active
production
cited
by
Professor
Dale,
practically
no film is available in this
area. The list above includes sixteen
films,
with one and
only
one
(and
by
a
new
producer,
at
that)
on
arithmetic.
Britannica's most-reviewed recent ed-
tional film as "nice-to-see" or
"got-to-
see"
is,
of
course,
largely
a matter of
individual
philosophy
and
opinion.
I
drew
my admittedly pragmatic
conclu-
sions from
exactly
the data which Pro-
fessor Dale recommends in his
letter,
from the
catalogue listings
of the
cap-
tive
producers, plus many screenings.
But a
survey
of the recent educational
releases,
as reviewed in the visual-edu-
cation trade
periodicals, only
reinforces
my personal
convictions-and
proba-
bly
does the same for Professor Dale's.
Here are the current "educational"
releases,
as reviewed in the educational
section of the
August, 1947,
Film
World:
Cavalcade
of
Marble
Hacienda in Old Mexico
Spelunking (exploration
of
caves)
What is a
Map?
And Now I See
(church stewardship)
Men
of
Gloucester
William Rose Benet
Monarch
Butterfly
Duties
of
a
Secretary
Samurai
Tin
Faith Has
Conquered (religious)
Introduction to Fractions
Tide-Pool
Life
Nellie Was a
Lady (Stephen Foster)
The
Story of
Omolo
To this list the reader can
apply
his
own bias. To
explain my
own
point
of
view: a recent
grass-roots poll
of ele-
mentary
and
secondary
teachers indi-
cated an
urgent
need for
films,
a
great
many
films,
in a course which I
prag-
matically classify
as essential-arithme-
tic. After the
twenty-five years
of active
production
cited
by
Professor
Dale,
practically
no film is available in this
area. The list above includes sixteen
films,
with one and
only
one
(and
by
a
new
producer,
at
that)
on
arithmetic.
Britannica's most-reviewed recent ed-
85 85
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
ucational release has to do with "Paint-
ing
a Mural." At the risk of
being
tagged
a
fundamentalist,
I want
my
youngster
to learn to add as well as to
appreciate
a mural.
Professor Dale seems to construe
my
"nice-to-see" into "bad-to-see." I don't
mean that at all. I want
my youngster
to see all the films cited
above;
but I
want her to
see, also,
some others of
more fundamental and direct
utility.
My personal yardstick
is
something
like
this: if
my
child is forced to leave school
before her "education" is
complete,
what basic
things
must she know and
understand in order to
get along
in a
rugged
world? To
me,
these are the
"got-to-see" subjects.
The
infinity
of
other
things
that I want her to know
and understand and feel'
are,
though
important,
"nice-to-see." In the lan-
guage
of a recent
help-wanted
ad,
they
are
experience
which is "essential but
not
necessary."
A
study
of the cata-
logues
shows that these
"got-to-see"
areas have been
neglected, seriously
neglected,
and the case I tried to make
was that we need both kinds of film. We
have lots of one
kind,
almost none of
the other. So let's turn
part
of our
pro-
duction to the
neglected
area.
On the second
point-the
use of film
to teach
principles
rather than
fact,
the
"why"
and "how" versus the
"what,"-
I
cheerfully agree
that film can teach
fact. I would
agree
also that a bulldozer
can fill in a
gopher
hole;
but I'd like
to
point
out that a shovel is
cheaper,
faster,
more
readily
available,
and
just
as effective. I
grant,
too,
that Claudette
Colbert made memorable her hitch-
hiking technique.
But if this
particular
bit of fact is ever deemed essential to
the
curriculum,
can't it be
taught
even
more
effectively,
and less
expensively,
by having
our teachers lift their skirts
in the classroom?
My point
is that if
fact,
especially
those bodies of fact
which
require
memorization
(such
as
the
multiplication tables),
can be
taught
well
enough
and more eco-
nomically by
traditional
methods,
why
bother with film?
Why
not allocate
more of our limited
production
time to
items which
film,
a new
medium,
can
perhaps
teach better and more eco-
nomically
than traditional methods-
that
is,
principles,
abstractions,
and
concepts?
The
conjugation
of a
verb,
for
example,
can be learned
by
rote or
looked
up,
but that
necessary part
of
the
learning process
will be done
faster,
more
surely,
and will make more sense
to the
pupil,
if he first knows the
"why"
of verbs in
general.
A certain
too-typi-
cal film on the Great Lakes buried its
hearers
(sic)
under such an avalanche
of statistics that the residual
impression
was
confusion, net;
but had the film
used the same
footage
to
expose
some
-principle
of
communication,
the same
material would have been
significant
and rememberable.
Again,
in
my
own
mind,
it is a matter of
allocating
our
limited
production
time on a basis of
first
things
first.
As for Professor Dale's third
point-
the
desirability
of
showmanship
in edu-
cational
film,-we
find ourselves in com-
plete agreement, shaking
our fists at the
same
enemy
from our
respective
sides
of the fence. The
apparent
conflict rises
from the fact that the word "showman-
ship" per
se seems
semantically
inflam-
matory.
Professor Dale defines show-
manship
as
"injected
into the
picture
by
a Mae West
sequence,
unrelated
gags,
dubious
vulgarity..."
He took
off at such
speed
that he overlooked the
whole tone of
my approach,
which was
86
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
typified by
the
following quotes:
"The
term 'showman' is used here in its strict
sense,
and refers to
ability
and
ap-
proach,
not a
plaid
suit";
"probing
be-
yond
the
yuk
and boff manifestations
of the
term,
entertainment... is that
means of
presentation
which creates
and maintains interest in the
point
at
issue";
"this interest must be hon-
estly
earned,
not won with tricks and
dragged-in
devices which obscure the
real
point...
but
by
the fresh and in-
genious
use of materials which are in-
digenous
to the
point being
made." We
seem to be in full
agreement
thus far.
But we leave the area of
agreement
abruptly,
to air the
old,
blind
prejudice
against
that nonexistent morass of
"dubious
vulgarity" symbolized by
the
dread word
"Hollywood."
Not to labor
the
point,
the
impression
is a dated
and mistaken
stereotype.
The initials
S.W.G. do not stand for
Sammy
W.
Glick-the
Academy
is not the name of
a
burlesque
house. The motion
picture
industry
includes a
large
number of
men whose
literacy,
taste,
background,
good
will,
and-particularly
to the
point-specialized ability
and
experi-
ence
qualify
them to
help very
mate-
rially
in the creation of
truly
effective
teaching
film. As a matter of
fact,
these
men are
already experienced
in teach-
ing
on
film,
for
every good
theatrical
film-and there are
plenty
of
good
ones-opens
with a
premise, explores
and
develops
it
along
a
straight, logical
line,
and concludes with its
Q.E.D.
Hollywood's
talent, facilities,
and
capital
can make enormous contribu-
tions to the vital
objective
of
good
teaching
film,
an
objective
in which all
of us have a
stake,
not as
professionals,
but as citizens. This
potential
contribu-
tion should not be barred
through
un-
typified by
the
following quotes:
"The
term 'showman' is used here in its strict
sense,
and refers to
ability
and
ap-
proach,
not a
plaid
suit";
"probing
be-
yond
the
yuk
and boff manifestations
of the
term,
entertainment... is that
means of
presentation
which creates
and maintains interest in the
point
at
issue";
"this interest must be hon-
estly
earned,
not won with tricks and
dragged-in
devices which obscure the
real
point...
but
by
the fresh and in-
genious
use of materials which are in-
digenous
to the
point being
made." We
seem to be in full
agreement
thus far.
But we leave the area of
agreement
abruptly,
to air the
old,
blind
prejudice
against
that nonexistent morass of
"dubious
vulgarity" symbolized by
the
dread word
"Hollywood."
Not to labor
the
point,
the
impression
is a dated
and mistaken
stereotype.
The initials
S.W.G. do not stand for
Sammy
W.
Glick-the
Academy
is not the name of
a
burlesque
house. The motion
picture
industry
includes a
large
number of
men whose
literacy,
taste,
background,
good
will,
and-particularly
to the
point-specialized ability
and
experi-
ence
qualify
them to
help very
mate-
rially
in the creation of
truly
effective
teaching
film. As a matter of
fact,
these
men are
already experienced
in teach-
ing
on
film,
for
every good
theatrical
film-and there are
plenty
of
good
ones-opens
with a
premise, explores
and
develops
it
along
a
straight, logical
line,
and concludes with its
Q.E.D.
Hollywood's
talent, facilities,
and
capital
can make enormous contribu-
tions to the vital
objective
of
good
teaching
film,
an
objective
in which all
of us have a
stake,
not as
professionals,
but as citizens. This
potential
contribu-
tion should not be barred
through
un-
justified prejudice,
not be resented as
an intrusion on a
private preserve.
And now that we have
swapped
our
punches-and
some of the Professor's
were
really haymakers-I hope
that
some
day
soon we can
get together
and
split
a
dubiously vulgar
beer. The fact
is,
we both want the same
thing,
and in
our
respective spheres
of erudition and
pragmatism
we both want it
very
sin-
cerely.
CHARLES PALMER
MR. DICKENS AND
MR. PICHEL
MR.
PICHEL'S
discussion of This
Happy
Breed and Great
Expectations
in the
July
issue of
Hollywood Quarterly
is an
excellent
one,
but I feel that he has
made one error in the
analysis
of Great
Expectations
which is worth comment-
ing
on. It is a
logical
error in a
way
be-
cause it stems
directly
from the cinema
treatment of the book and seems to
have
by-passed
a
study
of what Dickens
was
trying
to do in the book itself.
Mr. Pichel writes: "Dickens was a
teller of
tales,
recounting
what his ex-
traordinary people
did,
and because
the
people
were
extraordinary,
he was
freed from the
obligation
of
telling
why they
behaved as
they
did." The
responsibility
for this
impression
rests
far more on the shoulders of David
Lean than on the author of the
book,
and Mr. Pichel's
examples
to substanti-
ate his comment are evidence of it.
In his next
paragraph
Mr. Pichel
says:
"Consider the
gallery
in Great
Expectations:
an
escaped
convict who
becomes rich in Australia
and,
out of
gratitude
to
young Pip
who had
helped
him,
enters
secretly upon
the
project
of
converting
the little blacksmith
boy
into a
gentleman."
justified prejudice,
not be resented as
an intrusion on a
private preserve.
And now that we have
swapped
our
punches-and
some of the Professor's
were
really haymakers-I hope
that
some
day
soon we can
get together
and
split
a
dubiously vulgar
beer. The fact
is,
we both want the same
thing,
and in
our
respective spheres
of erudition and
pragmatism
we both want it
very
sin-
cerely.
CHARLES PALMER
MR. DICKENS AND
MR. PICHEL
MR.
PICHEL'S
discussion of This
Happy
Breed and Great
Expectations
in the
July
issue of
Hollywood Quarterly
is an
excellent
one,
but I feel that he has
made one error in the
analysis
of Great
Expectations
which is worth comment-
ing
on. It is a
logical
error in a
way
be-
cause it stems
directly
from the cinema
treatment of the book and seems to
have
by-passed
a
study
of what Dickens
was
trying
to do in the book itself.
Mr. Pichel writes: "Dickens was a
teller of
tales,
recounting
what his ex-
traordinary people
did,
and because
the
people
were
extraordinary,
he was
freed from the
obligation
of
telling
why they
behaved as
they
did." The
responsibility
for this
impression
rests
far more on the shoulders of David
Lean than on the author of the
book,
and Mr. Pichel's
examples
to substanti-
ate his comment are evidence of it.
In his next
paragraph
Mr. Pichel
says:
"Consider the
gallery
in Great
Expectations:
an
escaped
convict who
becomes rich in Australia
and,
out of
gratitude
to
young Pip
who had
helped
him,
enters
secretly upon
the
project
of
converting
the little blacksmith
boy
into a
gentleman."
87 87
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
typified by
the
following quotes:
"The
term 'showman' is used here in its strict
sense,
and refers to
ability
and
ap-
proach,
not a
plaid
suit";
"probing
be-
yond
the
yuk
and boff manifestations
of the
term,
entertainment... is that
means of
presentation
which creates
and maintains interest in the
point
at
issue";
"this interest must be hon-
estly
earned,
not won with tricks and
dragged-in
devices which obscure the
real
point...
but
by
the fresh and in-
genious
use of materials which are in-
digenous
to the
point being
made." We
seem to be in full
agreement
thus far.
But we leave the area of
agreement
abruptly,
to air the
old,
blind
prejudice
against
that nonexistent morass of
"dubious
vulgarity" symbolized by
the
dread word
"Hollywood."
Not to labor
the
point,
the
impression
is a dated
and mistaken
stereotype.
The initials
S.W.G. do not stand for
Sammy
W.
Glick-the
Academy
is not the name of
a
burlesque
house. The motion
picture
industry
includes a
large
number of
men whose
literacy,
taste,
background,
good
will,
and-particularly
to the
point-specialized ability
and
experi-
ence
qualify
them to
help very
mate-
rially
in the creation of
truly
effective
teaching
film. As a matter of
fact,
these
men are
already experienced
in teach-
ing
on
film,
for
every good
theatrical
film-and there are
plenty
of
good
ones-opens
with a
premise, explores
and
develops
it
along
a
straight, logical
line,
and concludes with its
Q.E.D.
Hollywood's
talent, facilities,
and
capital
can make enormous contribu-
tions to the vital
objective
of
good
teaching
film,
an
objective
in which all
of us have a
stake,
not as
professionals,
but as citizens. This
potential
contribu-
tion should not be barred
through
un-
typified by
the
following quotes:
"The
term 'showman' is used here in its strict
sense,
and refers to
ability
and
ap-
proach,
not a
plaid
suit";
"probing
be-
yond
the
yuk
and boff manifestations
of the
term,
entertainment... is that
means of
presentation
which creates
and maintains interest in the
point
at
issue";
"this interest must be hon-
estly
earned,
not won with tricks and
dragged-in
devices which obscure the
real
point...
but
by
the fresh and in-
genious
use of materials which are in-
digenous
to the
point being
made." We
seem to be in full
agreement
thus far.
But we leave the area of
agreement
abruptly,
to air the
old,
blind
prejudice
against
that nonexistent morass of
"dubious
vulgarity" symbolized by
the
dread word
"Hollywood."
Not to labor
the
point,
the
impression
is a dated
and mistaken
stereotype.
The initials
S.W.G. do not stand for
Sammy
W.
Glick-the
Academy
is not the name of
a
burlesque
house. The motion
picture
industry
includes a
large
number of
men whose
literacy,
taste,
background,
good
will,
and-particularly
to the
point-specialized ability
and
experi-
ence
qualify
them to
help very
mate-
rially
in the creation of
truly
effective
teaching
film. As a matter of
fact,
these
men are
already experienced
in teach-
ing
on
film,
for
every good
theatrical
film-and there are
plenty
of
good
ones-opens
with a
premise, explores
and
develops
it
along
a
straight, logical
line,
and concludes with its
Q.E.D.
Hollywood's
talent, facilities,
and
capital
can make enormous contribu-
tions to the vital
objective
of
good
teaching
film,
an
objective
in which all
of us have a
stake,
not as
professionals,
but as citizens. This
potential
contribu-
tion should not be barred
through
un-
justified prejudice,
not be resented as
an intrusion on a
private preserve.
And now that we have
swapped
our
punches-and
some of the Professor's
were
really haymakers-I hope
that
some
day
soon we can
get together
and
split
a
dubiously vulgar
beer. The fact
is,
we both want the same
thing,
and in
our
respective spheres
of erudition and
pragmatism
we both want it
very
sin-
cerely.
CHARLES PALMER
MR. DICKENS AND
MR. PICHEL
MR.
PICHEL'S
discussion of This
Happy
Breed and Great
Expectations
in the
July
issue of
Hollywood Quarterly
is an
excellent
one,
but I feel that he has
made one error in the
analysis
of Great
Expectations
which is worth comment-
ing
on. It is a
logical
error in a
way
be-
cause it stems
directly
from the cinema
treatment of the book and seems to
have
by-passed
a
study
of what Dickens
was
trying
to do in the book itself.
Mr. Pichel writes: "Dickens was a
teller of
tales,
recounting
what his ex-
traordinary people
did,
and because
the
people
were
extraordinary,
he was
freed from the
obligation
of
telling
why they
behaved as
they
did." The
responsibility
for this
impression
rests
far more on the shoulders of David
Lean than on the author of the
book,
and Mr. Pichel's
examples
to substanti-
ate his comment are evidence of it.
In his next
paragraph
Mr. Pichel
says:
"Consider the
gallery
in Great
Expectations:
an
escaped
convict who
becomes rich in Australia
and,
out of
gratitude
to
young Pip
who had
helped
him,
enters
secretly upon
the
project
of
converting
the little blacksmith
boy
into a
gentleman."
justified prejudice,
not be resented as
an intrusion on a
private preserve.
And now that we have
swapped
our
punches-and
some of the Professor's
were
really haymakers-I hope
that
some
day
soon we can
get together
and
split
a
dubiously vulgar
beer. The fact
is,
we both want the same
thing,
and in
our
respective spheres
of erudition and
pragmatism
we both want it
very
sin-
cerely.
CHARLES PALMER
MR. DICKENS AND
MR. PICHEL
MR.
PICHEL'S
discussion of This
Happy
Breed and Great
Expectations
in the
July
issue of
Hollywood Quarterly
is an
excellent
one,
but I feel that he has
made one error in the
analysis
of Great
Expectations
which is worth comment-
ing
on. It is a
logical
error in a
way
be-
cause it stems
directly
from the cinema
treatment of the book and seems to
have
by-passed
a
study
of what Dickens
was
trying
to do in the book itself.
Mr. Pichel writes: "Dickens was a
teller of
tales,
recounting
what his ex-
traordinary people
did,
and because
the
people
were
extraordinary,
he was
freed from the
obligation
of
telling
why they
behaved as
they
did." The
responsibility
for this
impression
rests
far more on the shoulders of David
Lean than on the author of the
book,
and Mr. Pichel's
examples
to substanti-
ate his comment are evidence of it.
In his next
paragraph
Mr. Pichel
says:
"Consider the
gallery
in Great
Expectations:
an
escaped
convict who
becomes rich in Australia
and,
out of
gratitude
to
young Pip
who had
helped
him,
enters
secretly upon
the
project
of
converting
the little blacksmith
boy
into a
gentleman."
87 87
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
That is
exactly
the case in the
pic-
ture;
but the book
probes deeply
into
a
complex
set of motivations far be-
yond
this.
Magwitch,
the
convict, had
been used and
betrayed by
a master
criminal: the
gentleman, Compayson.
That was
why Magwitch
sacrificed his
own freedom on the marshes to turn
Compayson
back to the authorities as
he did. When
Magwitch
was in Aus-
tralia,
he took abuse and scorn from
the
gentlemen
there,
and the word
gentleman
took on a
significance
for
him far
greater
than the name of a
reward he could
give Pip
out of
grati-
tude.
Magwitch
was
revenging
him-
self on
gentlemen,
because
they
had
abused
him,
tricked
him,
and
betrayed
him-and now he owned one. Out of
his own toil and ambition he had
created a man
equal
to
any
who could
ride him down. Far from
lacking
mo-
tivation
here,
Magwitch
shows a set of
reasons for his actions which are a rich
commingling
of
gratitude
for a
very
small favor and
revenge against
those
who had made the favor
necessary
in
the first
place.
Mr. Pichel's next
example
is: "...
Pip
himself, who,
not
by
education,
but
by
dress and
tutelage
in
manners,
ac-
quires
the earmarks and attitudes of a
man of fashion but retains the inherent
nobility
of his humble source..."
Here is a double error created
by
David Lean's
interpretation
of the
book.
First,
education did
play
a
part
in
making Pip
a
gentleman
because
the real
relationship
between
Pip
and
Herbert Pocket was not that of mere
happenstance.
Herbert's
father,
the
finest character in the book outside of
Joe Gargery,
so far as
plain decency
goes,
was hired to tutor
Pip.
I am not
too sure of what the education con-
sisted
in,
but it
certainly
was a matter
of
scholarship
and not
"tutelage
in
manners." Matthew
Pocket,
the
tutor,
was a scholar and
played
an
important
role in
making
a
gentleman
out of
Pip.
Second,
Pip
did not retain the "in-
herent
nobility
of his humble source."
He became an
outrageous
snob and
fool,
and
only
when the source of his
Great
Expectations
was made known
to him did he revert to the common
sense and
decency
of his childhood.
An
example
which Mr. Pichel has
not
used,
but which shows to a fault
exactly why
someone
seeing
the
picture
is bound to
get
a sense of character
minus
complex
and
positive
motiva-
tion,
is that of the
relationship
be-
tween
Joe Gargery
and his
wife,
Pip's
sister. Here is the traditional shrew
constantly besetting
the traditional
sheepish
husband,
and a fine occasion
for mirth it
is,
according
to the
picture.
But Mr. Pichel will find in the book
that the
relationship
is motivated
by
one of the most
pathetic
and
tragic
passages
in Dickens:
Joe's explanation
of his childhood life in a home where
a sensitive mother was abused
savagely
by
a drunken and vicious husband.
Says Joe:
"I see so much in
my poor
mother,
of a woman
drudging
and slav-
ing,
and
breaking
her honest heart and
never
getting
no
peace
in her mortal
days,
that I'm dead afeerd of
going
wrong
in the
way
of not
doing
what's
right by
a
woman,
and I'd far rather
of the two
go wrong
the t'other
way."
This transforms the
purely
comic
picture
of a man
taking
abuse from his
wife out of what is
evidently
cowardice
or
stupidity,
into the
portrait
of a
man who is so
astonishingly
sensitive
for his time and
upbringing
that he
becomes a veritable hero on the
spot.
88
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dickens was not a
perfect
writer,
but
he
rarely
made the mistake of not mo-
tivating every
character
solidly.
If the
impression
is
given
that he did not so
motivate
them,
it is David Lean's
fault,
or the fault of those who
adapted
the
book to the screen. And
taking
them to
task for this would be
unjust
in the
light
of the
magnificent picture they
made
despite
inevitable small flaws.
The mistake Mr. Pichel made was in
analyzing
Dickens on the basis of a
picture
he never
wrote,
instead of the
book he did.
STANLEY ELLIN
HOUSEMAN REPLIES TO
ASHEIM
MR. ASHEIM accuses me of
betraying
the
Zeitgeist.
He feels that in
analyzing
the neurotic
personality
of our time as
reflected in current
movies,
I have used
"highly
selected evidence" to make
my
point.
To
support
his
complaint,
he
invokes a
long
list of last
year's
box-
office
favorites-Psychological
Murder
Mysteries, Goofy
Comedies,
Costume
Pictures,
Religious-Sentimental
Pic-
tures, Musicals,
and Westerns.
Adding
them
up,
he comes to the conclusion
that there was no clear trend in Ameri-
can
public
taste in the
year 1946,
or
that at most there was a
complex
of
trends so
opposite
and diversified that
they
cannot and should not be sub-
jected
to the
simplified
conclusions of
my
article.
Mr. Asheim's
argument
is unanswer-
able. Four hundred and
fifty
feature
pictures
are bound to reveal a more
elaborate
pattern
of
public
reaction
and taste than could be indicated in
one
single
brief and
captious critique.
I
firmly
believe, however,
that
my
analysis
of the
prevalent
trend was
Dickens was not a
perfect
writer,
but
he
rarely
made the mistake of not mo-
tivating every
character
solidly.
If the
impression
is
given
that he did not so
motivate
them,
it is David Lean's
fault,
or the fault of those who
adapted
the
book to the screen. And
taking
them to
task for this would be
unjust
in the
light
of the
magnificent picture they
made
despite
inevitable small flaws.
The mistake Mr. Pichel made was in
analyzing
Dickens on the basis of a
picture
he never
wrote,
instead of the
book he did.
STANLEY ELLIN
HOUSEMAN REPLIES TO
ASHEIM
MR. ASHEIM accuses me of
betraying
the
Zeitgeist.
He feels that in
analyzing
the neurotic
personality
of our time as
reflected in current
movies,
I have used
"highly
selected evidence" to make
my
point.
To
support
his
complaint,
he
invokes a
long
list of last
year's
box-
office
favorites-Psychological
Murder
Mysteries, Goofy
Comedies,
Costume
Pictures,
Religious-Sentimental
Pic-
tures, Musicals,
and Westerns.
Adding
them
up,
he comes to the conclusion
that there was no clear trend in Ameri-
can
public
taste in the
year 1946,
or
that at most there was a
complex
of
trends so
opposite
and diversified that
they
cannot and should not be sub-
jected
to the
simplified
conclusions of
my
article.
Mr. Asheim's
argument
is unanswer-
able. Four hundred and
fifty
feature
pictures
are bound to reveal a more
elaborate
pattern
of
public
reaction
and taste than could be indicated in
one
single
brief and
captious critique.
I
firmly
believe, however,
that
my
analysis
of the
prevalent
trend was
sound and I
defy
Mr. Asheim to show
any
other fashion or reflection of
public
taste
comparable
in
number,
or in
significance,
to the
"tough"
American
movies.
Indisputably,
The Best Years
of
Our Lives
gave
a more humane
and,
probably,
a more
typical
reflection of
the
returning
veteran than Blue
Dahlia.
May
I
point
out that in
spite
of its enormous success at the box office
the
Wyler picture
remains an almost
isolated
specimen
of its
kind,
while
Marlowe and his sort continue to mul-
tiply-the
nation's chosen
leading
man.
Only
last
night
I watched
him,
this
time in the costume of a Professional
Hunter,
trudging through
Darkest Af-
rica with a
gun
under his
arm,
an
honest, indifferent, submissive victim
of the bitter ardor of Mrs. Macomber.
He, too,
was "neither tarnished nor
afraid,"
to
quote
from an
indignant
defender of the
species writing
last
month in
Harper's Magazine.
He, too,
was as
proud
and
strange
and as in-
effectual as an Existentialist hero.
I
agree
with Mr. Asheim that a
proper
and elaborate
diagnosis
of
pub-
lic taste on the basis of box-office re-
turns could and should be
attempted.
Such an
analysis might
be
sociologically
valuable,
but
critically
it would be
negligible.
How
strange
a
spectacle
the
statisticians can make of themselves
when
they
venture into the art world
is
clearly
demonstrated
by
the
gro-
tesque,
if
lucrative,
antics of the ubi-
quitous
Dr.
Gallup.
On one
point
I do take a
strong
issue
with Mr. Asheim. I believe that a com-
parison
between
Open City
and
Big
Sleep
was
quite proper.
Both
pictures
were made in the same
year
and re-
flected, to my mind,
the true reaction
of two
very
different societies to acts of
sound and I
defy
Mr. Asheim to show
any
other fashion or reflection of
public
taste
comparable
in
number,
or in
significance,
to the
"tough"
American
movies.
Indisputably,
The Best Years
of
Our Lives
gave
a more humane
and,
probably,
a more
typical
reflection of
the
returning
veteran than Blue
Dahlia.
May
I
point
out that in
spite
of its enormous success at the box office
the
Wyler picture
remains an almost
isolated
specimen
of its
kind,
while
Marlowe and his sort continue to mul-
tiply-the
nation's chosen
leading
man.
Only
last
night
I watched
him,
this
time in the costume of a Professional
Hunter,
trudging through
Darkest Af-
rica with a
gun
under his
arm,
an
honest, indifferent, submissive victim
of the bitter ardor of Mrs. Macomber.
He, too,
was "neither tarnished nor
afraid,"
to
quote
from an
indignant
defender of the
species writing
last
month in
Harper's Magazine.
He, too,
was as
proud
and
strange
and as in-
effectual as an Existentialist hero.
I
agree
with Mr. Asheim that a
proper
and elaborate
diagnosis
of
pub-
lic taste on the basis of box-office re-
turns could and should be
attempted.
Such an
analysis might
be
sociologically
valuable,
but
critically
it would be
negligible.
How
strange
a
spectacle
the
statisticians can make of themselves
when
they
venture into the art world
is
clearly
demonstrated
by
the
gro-
tesque,
if
lucrative,
antics of the ubi-
quitous
Dr.
Gallup.
On one
point
I do take a
strong
issue
with Mr. Asheim. I believe that a com-
parison
between
Open City
and
Big
Sleep
was
quite proper.
Both
pictures
were made in the same
year
and re-
flected, to my mind,
the true reaction
of two
very
different societies to acts of
89 89
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dickens was not a
perfect
writer,
but
he
rarely
made the mistake of not mo-
tivating every
character
solidly.
If the
impression
is
given
that he did not so
motivate
them,
it is David Lean's
fault,
or the fault of those who
adapted
the
book to the screen. And
taking
them to
task for this would be
unjust
in the
light
of the
magnificent picture they
made
despite
inevitable small flaws.
The mistake Mr. Pichel made was in
analyzing
Dickens on the basis of a
picture
he never
wrote,
instead of the
book he did.
STANLEY ELLIN
HOUSEMAN REPLIES TO
ASHEIM
MR. ASHEIM accuses me of
betraying
the
Zeitgeist.
He feels that in
analyzing
the neurotic
personality
of our time as
reflected in current
movies,
I have used
"highly
selected evidence" to make
my
point.
To
support
his
complaint,
he
invokes a
long
list of last
year's
box-
office
favorites-Psychological
Murder
Mysteries, Goofy
Comedies,
Costume
Pictures,
Religious-Sentimental
Pic-
tures, Musicals,
and Westerns.
Adding
them
up,
he comes to the conclusion
that there was no clear trend in Ameri-
can
public
taste in the
year 1946,
or
that at most there was a
complex
of
trends so
opposite
and diversified that
they
cannot and should not be sub-
jected
to the
simplified
conclusions of
my
article.
Mr. Asheim's
argument
is unanswer-
able. Four hundred and
fifty
feature
pictures
are bound to reveal a more
elaborate
pattern
of
public
reaction
and taste than could be indicated in
one
single
brief and
captious critique.
I
firmly
believe, however,
that
my
analysis
of the
prevalent
trend was
Dickens was not a
perfect
writer,
but
he
rarely
made the mistake of not mo-
tivating every
character
solidly.
If the
impression
is
given
that he did not so
motivate
them,
it is David Lean's
fault,
or the fault of those who
adapted
the
book to the screen. And
taking
them to
task for this would be
unjust
in the
light
of the
magnificent picture they
made
despite
inevitable small flaws.
The mistake Mr. Pichel made was in
analyzing
Dickens on the basis of a
picture
he never
wrote,
instead of the
book he did.
STANLEY ELLIN
HOUSEMAN REPLIES TO
ASHEIM
MR. ASHEIM accuses me of
betraying
the
Zeitgeist.
He feels that in
analyzing
the neurotic
personality
of our time as
reflected in current
movies,
I have used
"highly
selected evidence" to make
my
point.
To
support
his
complaint,
he
invokes a
long
list of last
year's
box-
office
favorites-Psychological
Murder
Mysteries, Goofy
Comedies,
Costume
Pictures,
Religious-Sentimental
Pic-
tures, Musicals,
and Westerns.
Adding
them
up,
he comes to the conclusion
that there was no clear trend in Ameri-
can
public
taste in the
year 1946,
or
that at most there was a
complex
of
trends so
opposite
and diversified that
they
cannot and should not be sub-
jected
to the
simplified
conclusions of
my
article.
Mr. Asheim's
argument
is unanswer-
able. Four hundred and
fifty
feature
pictures
are bound to reveal a more
elaborate
pattern
of
public
reaction
and taste than could be indicated in
one
single
brief and
captious critique.
I
firmly
believe, however,
that
my
analysis
of the
prevalent
trend was
sound and I
defy
Mr. Asheim to show
any
other fashion or reflection of
public
taste
comparable
in
number,
or in
significance,
to the
"tough"
American
movies.
Indisputably,
The Best Years
of
Our Lives
gave
a more humane
and,
probably,
a more
typical
reflection of
the
returning
veteran than Blue
Dahlia.
May
I
point
out that in
spite
of its enormous success at the box office
the
Wyler picture
remains an almost
isolated
specimen
of its
kind,
while
Marlowe and his sort continue to mul-
tiply-the
nation's chosen
leading
man.
Only
last
night
I watched
him,
this
time in the costume of a Professional
Hunter,
trudging through
Darkest Af-
rica with a
gun
under his
arm,
an
honest, indifferent, submissive victim
of the bitter ardor of Mrs. Macomber.
He, too,
was "neither tarnished nor
afraid,"
to
quote
from an
indignant
defender of the
species writing
last
month in
Harper's Magazine.
He, too,
was as
proud
and
strange
and as in-
effectual as an Existentialist hero.
I
agree
with Mr. Asheim that a
proper
and elaborate
diagnosis
of
pub-
lic taste on the basis of box-office re-
turns could and should be
attempted.
Such an
analysis might
be
sociologically
valuable,
but
critically
it would be
negligible.
How
strange
a
spectacle
the
statisticians can make of themselves
when
they
venture into the art world
is
clearly
demonstrated
by
the
gro-
tesque,
if
lucrative,
antics of the ubi-
quitous
Dr.
Gallup.
On one
point
I do take a
strong
issue
with Mr. Asheim. I believe that a com-
parison
between
Open City
and
Big
Sleep
was
quite proper.
Both
pictures
were made in the same
year
and re-
flected, to my mind,
the true reaction
of two
very
different societies to acts of
sound and I
defy
Mr. Asheim to show
any
other fashion or reflection of
public
taste
comparable
in
number,
or in
significance,
to the
"tough"
American
movies.
Indisputably,
The Best Years
of
Our Lives
gave
a more humane
and,
probably,
a more
typical
reflection of
the
returning
veteran than Blue
Dahlia.
May
I
point
out that in
spite
of its enormous success at the box office
the
Wyler picture
remains an almost
isolated
specimen
of its
kind,
while
Marlowe and his sort continue to mul-
tiply-the
nation's chosen
leading
man.
Only
last
night
I watched
him,
this
time in the costume of a Professional
Hunter,
trudging through
Darkest Af-
rica with a
gun
under his
arm,
an
honest, indifferent, submissive victim
of the bitter ardor of Mrs. Macomber.
He, too,
was "neither tarnished nor
afraid,"
to
quote
from an
indignant
defender of the
species writing
last
month in
Harper's Magazine.
He, too,
was as
proud
and
strange
and as in-
effectual as an Existentialist hero.
I
agree
with Mr. Asheim that a
proper
and elaborate
diagnosis
of
pub-
lic taste on the basis of box-office re-
turns could and should be
attempted.
Such an
analysis might
be
sociologically
valuable,
but
critically
it would be
negligible.
How
strange
a
spectacle
the
statisticians can make of themselves
when
they
venture into the art world
is
clearly
demonstrated
by
the
gro-
tesque,
if
lucrative,
antics of the ubi-
quitous
Dr.
Gallup.
On one
point
I do take a
strong
issue
with Mr. Asheim. I believe that a com-
parison
between
Open City
and
Big
Sleep
was
quite proper.
Both
pictures
were made in the same
year
and re-
flected, to my mind,
the true reaction
of two
very
different societies to acts of
89 89
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
90 90 90
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
90 90 90
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
tragic
violence. In defiance of Mr.
Asheim I
give you
for this
year's
com-
parison,
Shoe Shine versus Brute Force.
The conclusions are
inescapable.
JOHN
HOUSEMAN
SUGGESTION FOR A
NEW FILM ANTHOLOGY
REVIEWING Best Film
Plays, I945,
in
your April, 1947,
volume,
John
Paxton
has stressed the
importance
of these
anthologies
in
establishing
screen
standards.
The same issue
contains, too,
an
arresting
and valuable
essay by
Robert
Rahtz on the
traveling
camera. He cites
three
splendid examples
wherein cam-
era movements are used as
"functional,
expressive
elements of film
making"
and another of "sheer filmic exhibi-
tionism."
A third
article,
by
Herbert F. Mar-
golis,
details a
variety
of
experiences
and
responses
in an
attempt
to
help
students to
"comprehend
the
technique
and the aesthetic
qualities peculiar
to
the film medium."
Correlating
the observations con-
tained in these three
discussions,
it
ap-
pears logical
that what is most needed
to further
develop
standards and
possi-
bly
raise artistic taste is an annual
anthology,
"Best Screen IDIOMS of
ig-,"
etc.
How often have we
encountered,
in
an otherwise
disappointing
movie,
one
or two brief cinematic devices or
"touches" that remain in the
memory
as brilliant functional
expressions!
And,
conversely,
how
many pages
of
purely literary,
static
dialogue
are to
be found in even the "best" screen
plays!
As Paxton's review
suggests,
your annoyance
or satisfaction con-
cerning
the ten screen
plays
selected
by
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
Gassner and Nichols will
depend,
to a
great
extent,
on
personally developed
critical standards. But the
examples
offered
by
Rahtz,
to illustrate that the
ambulatory
camera can achieve a re-
sult which edited shots
cannot,
leaves
a
very slight margin
for
appreciative
disagreement.
Accordingly,
in
pursuit
of
Margolis'
aim to introduce and
develop
a
knowledge
of those elements which dis-
tinguish
the motion
picture's way
of
conveying
a
story
or
idea,
a seasonal
appraisal geared
to incidental struc-
tural
form,
rather than over-all theatri-
cal
merit,
would offer a firmer founda-
tion for the establishment of real
critical standards for the screen.
One is reminded of the recent Col-
lier's cartoon: The scene occurs in the
office of a
Hollywood
studio
chief;
a
production
conference is in
progress,
and the executives are in a
quandary
about the treatment of a
projected
screen
play. Suddenly,
one of the
writers cries in
disgust; "Why
don't we
just
discard our version and do it
exactly
as
Shakespeare
wrote the
thing?
It isn't half bad."
The cartoonist's
gag
is rather
super-
ficial;
his error and
ignorance
of what
constitutes a
good
movie, however,
are
abysmal.
WILLIAM SERIL
BIRTH OF A STEREOTYPE
THOSE who are
seriously
concerned
with the communication media are
well aware of the harm which stereo-
types
do to the ethnic minorities and
the fuel which
they provide
in
explo-
sive tensional situations. These facts
lose dramatic
impact simply
because
they
are so well known. The writer and
the
public
lose the sense of
urgency
90 90 90
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
and come to take the existence of
stereotyped
characters and situations
in radio and film for
granted.
It is not often that we
may
observe
the birth of an ethnic
stereotype.
Our
culture at the
present
time is in the
process
of
elaborating
and
absorbing
a Mexican-American
stereotype.
The
places
in which this
stereotype
is
originating,
and the situations in which
it is
spreading
most
rapidly
deserve our
attention.
When the orchestra leader cries
"01le!" as the climax to the last cres-
cendo of the
orchestra,
he is
building
the
stereotype. Many
actual
Spanish
words, exclamations,
and
phrases
are
used in connection with the increas-
ingly popular
Latin-American music.
But such words and
phrases
are also
used in connection with music that is
not
specifically
Latin-American. "Ami-
go, 'migo,"
the disk
jockey may
call,
"the next
record,
please."
These
Spanish
words evoke a
picture
for the
listener. At an earlier
date,
the
picture
might
have been one of a toreador or
a
Spanish grandee.
Both of these
characters are now
becoming
as remote
in
imagination
as
they
are
geographi-
cally.
The context in which the
per-
former uses the
phrase,
and in which
the listener hears
it,
compounded
with
other
experiences,
creates neither of
these two romantic
images,
but a stereo-
type
of a Mexican-American.
This
process
is hastened
by
the oc-
casional
practice
of some
performers
of
announcing
Latin-American selec-
tions in accented
English mimicking
what
they
believe is the accent of Mexi-
can-Americans. Or it is not unusual
to find the radio
M.C.,
when the ladies
at the breakfast clubs need a
lift,
crying
"Arriba,
'riba!" before
introducing
a
musical
interlude,
as well as the
"01le!"
after it. The ladies love it. But with
their breakfast
they
and the radio
audience have
begun
to assimilate a
new
stereotype.
The Mexican-American
speech
has
an intonation
pattern slightly
reminis-
cent of the Russian
stereotype
and some
pronunciations
which are reminiscent
of the Yiddish
stereotypes.
This
past
winter a network
comedy
show under
the
aegis
of
Judy
Canova derived a
large part
of its humor from a character
called Pedro. His
speech
was so ex-
aggerated
that at times he sounded like
a bad imitation of Akim Tamiroff.
Another
attempt
to imitate the
pat-
tern is found in the recent
widely
played song
which
supposedly
mim-
icked the
Calypso style.
The
perform-
ing
artists
sing,
"I dawn't like mehn....
Weemehn I dawn't like toooo....Bot
I
dooo, dooo,
dooo . .." etc. The
style
of the
song,
whatever it was intended
to
be,
comes out in
exaggerated
"Mexi-
can-Americanese."
Of
course,
not
every
use of the Mexi-
can-American
speech pattern
contri-
butes to the
stereotype.
If it is used in
context,
or where it is a
necessary part
of the
story (situation),
it
may
be a
valid dramatic device. The distinction
between this and its use as a
sterotype
is clarified
by contrasting
two motion
pictures:
The Ox-Bow Incident and
A Medal
for
Benny.
In The Ox-Bow
Incident the false identification of the
lynchees
as villains is made
by
a trail-
man who is more
gross,
greasier,
and
less
pleasant
than
any
of the other
members of the cast. He
speaks
with a
Mexican-American
accent,
heavily
ex-
aggerated.
On the other
hand,
A Medal
for
Benny recognizes
that Mexican-
American
speech
does have its own
91
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
rhythm
and
pitch patterns,
even when
grammar
and
pronunciation
are them-
selves
typically
American. This fact is
an essential
part
of the
living picture
of this Mexican-American
family,
and
the realistic use of the
speech pattern
with all its variations makes it an in-
dicator of the
group's integration
with
our
culture;
it is not used as a source
of
fun,
and it is not obtrusive.
This
brings up
the matter of avail-
ability
of the
stereotype
as a vehicle for
gags.
In A Medal
for Benny
the
very
fact that the
dialogue
is so
clearly
a
part
of the action
prevents
it from
standing
out as
joke vocabulary.
But such items
as the
previously
described
"Calypso"
song provide
an isolated
model,
out of
any
context,
for
professional
and ama-
teur comics
everywhere
to mimic.
Extensive
dialogue
to fit all sorts of
situations is
provided by
the
syndicated
comic
strip,
Gordo,
in which almost all
the characters talk with as much of the
Mexican-American
speech pattern
as
can be
put
on
paper
in
ordinary type.
An essential
part
of the Mexican-
American
speech pattern
cannot be
conveyed by
the
strip,
since it must
leave out the intonation and
pitch pat-
terns and the comic
strip
characters
lack the dimension of sound. The
reader,
already prepared by
radio and
films, however,
superimposes
the neces-
sary speech patterns
on the comic
strip
speech.
He thus builds
up
a wide vo-
cabulary
of
exaggerated
"Mexican-
Americanese."
The
process
has reached the
point
where the Mexican-American
emerges
as a
stereotype
which is
conjured up
by
the mere
speech pattern
or
by
a
single phrase
or even an exclamation.
He is
pictured
as a
person
with one of
a
very
few
occupations,
with no or low
income,
with certain
drinking, eating,
and
lovemaking
habits. The
picture
sets the Mexican-Americans
apart
as a
group,
all of whom
presumably
behave
in a fixed
way.
It robs them of their
individuality
and of their
identity
as
Americans.
Who is affected
by
this sort of
thing,
and how?
Everyone
is affected-both children
and adults. When children
play, they
utilize all the materials of their
daily
experience
in their
play. They play
at
what
they
hear on the radio.
"Hey,"
I
have heard them
shout,
"let's
play.
I'll
be Pancho."
Then,
calling loudly:
"Hahlo-o-o! Ceesco!" And off
they go,
intoning
about the
"pretty gorls" they
capture
on the
way.
This sort of
play
is
frequent
in California. It is
likely
to be
increasingly frequent
all over the
country.
I have chosen the Pancho-
Cisco combination
especially
because
this is a network
program,
broadcast
three times a week. Children listen to
The Cisco Kid. It is the
only
children's
program
broadcast at that time of
night. They
can
scarcely
avoid absorb-
ing
the
stereotype.
As for
adults,
the most
widespread
indicator of the
impact
of this
pattern
is the
joke-telling
behavior of
everyday
people-people
who are not
profes-
sional comedians. In
California,
it is a
familiar technic to make a bad
joke
"fonnier"
by employing
the Mexican-
American idiom. This is done either
by
the subtle device of Mexican-
American
intonation,
or the not-so-
subtle device of
mispronunciation
or
inverted word order. The
technique
is not limited to
joke telling.
In order
to make comments seem
gay
and
piquant,
a dash of inflection and mis-
pronunciation may
be added. Instead
92
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
93 93 93 93
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
93 93 93 93
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
93 93 93 93
NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
of
simply saying,
"Where are we
go-
ing?"
the life of the
party
will
query
"Where we are
gaw-eeng?" (with equal
emphasis
and
equal pitch
on the ital-
icized
syllables)
and almost
everybody
laughs, except
Mexican-Americans.
These are but a few of the cues which
indicate the birth of a new
stereotype.
It will be
interesting
to watch the
elaboration of this
stereotype
and its
increasingly frequent appearance.
LUELYNE DOSCHER
CONCERNING VON
STROHEIM
I AM
preparing
for
publication
at an
early
date a book called The Man You
Love To
Hate,
a
biography
of Erich
von
Stroheim,
now
acting
in French
films. I should be
grateful
if
you
would
publish
this letter in order that
any
of
your
readers who
possess cuttings,
articles,
or
photographs
of Von Stro-
heim,
or of films directed and written
by
him,
might
lend me their material
for use in
my
book. All such material
will be
acknowledged
and returned im-
mediately
to the
persons
concerned.
I
hope you
are able to
help
me in
this matter
since,
although
books on
Von Stroheim have been
published
in
French and also in
Italian,
there has
been as
yet
no
published appreciation
in
English
of the work and influence of
one of the most remarkable
personal-
ities in the
history
of the cinema.
PETER NOBLE
Editor: The British Film
Yearbook,
15
Arnos Grove
Court,
London,
N.
11,
England.
COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION
THE Student Film
Group,
which an-
nounced in the
April
issue of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly
its
project
for
study
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
and
production,
has demonstrated the
soundness of its
conception
and the
abilities of its members in its first
pro-
duction,
Home
for
the Brave. The
film is a clear and
well-organized
attack
on the
housing
situation that faces the
returning
veteran who has the
money
to rent a decent home and even the
credit to build and own
one,
but who
cannot rent or build the home he
should have. It is not so clear or well
organized
in its incidental attack
upon
the
plight
of the "third of a nation"
which is ill housed
largely
because it
hasn't the
money
for
proper housing
without
government
aid.
Home
for
the Brave shows what
good
and useful work can be done
by
ama-
teurs and
semiprofessionals working
as
a
co6perative
unit.
Though
Steve
Fleischman was
primarily responsible
for the
directing
and
writing,
Ross
Lowell for the camera
work, and
Charles H. Powell for the
editing, they
found their best method of work in an
interchange
of
jobs
and keen mutual
criticism.
Home
for
the Brave is distributed
by
the Los
Angeles Housing
Caravan
Committee,
659
N. Western
Avenue,
Los
Angeles.
K. M.
"SIGHT AND SOUND'S"
MOTION PICTURE INDEX
THE SAME aliveness to the
importance
of film which has set Great Britain far
ahead of the United States in docu-
mentary
and educational motion
pic-
tures is all too evident in the
English
magazine Sight
and
Sound,
and
parti-
cularly
in the
special supplements
issued since
1943 by
that admirable
periodical.
The first ten numbers of
this Index Series deal with the work of
93 93 93 93
94
HOLLYWOOI
such
pioneer
directors as
Griffith,
Von
Stroheim,
Lang, Chaplin, Flaherty,
and
Richter. The Index Series lists the films
in which the men
appeared
as actors
and those that
they
directed,
and
gives
all
pertinent
facts available
concerning
cast, writers, cameramen,
and
plot.
This veritable
treasury
of the film is to
be
published
in book
form; meantime,
)
QUARTERLY
it is available to subscribers to
Sight
and Sound. The
presence
of American
names
among
its editors-Herman G.
Weinberg,
Theodore
Huff,
and
Sey-
mour Stern-makes us wish that the
Hollywood Quarterly
had been in ex-
istence in
1943
and had been able to
initiate or
participate
in this series of
indexes.
THE EDITORS
THE EDITORS
B o o k R e v i e w s
B o o k R e v i e w
Edi to r,
FR ANKLIN FEAR ING
TECHNICIANS IN
SENTIMENT
Mas s Pe rs uas i o n: The So ci al
Ps ycho lo gy
o f
a War B o nd Dri v e .
B y
R OB ER T K.
MER TON,
w i th the as s i s tance o f MAR -
JOR IE
FISKE and ALB ER TA CUR TIS.
Ne w Yo rk :
Harpe rs . 1946
ON
Se pte mbe r
21,
1943,
Kate Smi th
bro adcas t
s i xty-fi v e s e parate
o ne - to
tw o -mi nute
appe als
i n the co urs e o f
e i ghte e n
ho urs ,
to s ti mulate the
pur-
chas e o f w ar bo nds . The re s ult w as
thi rty-ni ne
mi lli o n do llars ' w o rth o f
bo nd
ple dge s .
Thi s i s the i ns tance o f
mas s
pe rs uas i o n
w hi ch i s the
s ubje ct
o f
i nv e s ti gati o n
i n thi s bo o k .
Why
mak e s uch a
s tudy?
Thi s
que s ti o n, alw ays di s co nce rti ng
to the
pro fe s s i o nal
s ci e nti s t,
i s almo s t
alw ays
as k e d
by
the
layman, parti cu-
larly
abo ut s tudi e s o f thi s s o rt. The re
are
many
ans w e rs ,
but thre e w i ll s uffi ce .
In the fi rs t
place ,
the re are
re lati v e ly
fe w o ccas i o ns w he n the s o ci al
ps ycho l-
o gi s t may s tudy
co lle cti v e be hav i o r o n
the
ho o f,
s o to
s pe ak .
The numbe r i s
i ncre as i ng,
but i n
ge ne ral
he has had
to
re ly
o n
s ynthe ti c
s i tuati o ns i n the
labo rato ry
o r clas s ro o m to
s upply
hi m
hi s data. The s e hav e
many adv antage s ,
o f
co urs e ,
chi e f o f w hi ch i s a
hi gh
de -
gre e
o f
co ntro l;
but
many
s ubtle di s -
to rti o ns
may cre e p
i n,
to o . The Kate
Smi th bro adcas t i s a "re al li fe " s i tua-
ti o n o f he ro i c
pro po rti o ns
and w i th
pe culi arly s i gni fi cant
s o ci al
i mpli ca-
ti o ns .
In the s e co nd
place ,
w e k no w
v e ry
li ttle abo ut the
dynami cs
and s tructure
o f mas s
pe rs uas i o n
i n o ur
s o ci e ty-thi s
i n
s pi te
o f the fact that mas s
pe rs uas i o n,
o r at le as t an
atte mpt
at
i t,
o ccupi e s
a
ce ntral
place
i n Ame ri can culture . The
fact that o ur
k no w le dge
o f i t i s
s li ght
may
co me as a s ho ck to
many
o f tho s e
w ho
plan publi ci ty campai gns
and
thi nk
the y
k no w "w hat the
publi c
w ants " and ho w to
s ati s fy
i t. The s ho ck
may
be the mo re s e v e re s i nce the i r cam-
pai gns ,
bas e d o n
i mpe ccable
armchai r
ps ycho lo gy,
are
fre que ntly
s ucce s s ful.
In the thi rd
place ,
the
layman,
the
s o ci al
s ci e nti s t,
and the te chni ci ans
the ms e lv e s ,
di s turbe d
pe rhaps by
the
fact that a
s i ngle pe rs o nali ty,
a me re
v o i ce , co uld,
thro ugh
the me di um o f
radi o ,
e li ci t s uch a
re s po ns e ,
are bo und
to
s pe culate re gardi ng
the s o ci al
po r-
te nts and mo ral
i mpli cati o ns
o f s uch
an e v e nt. What i s the nature o f the
s o ci al fo rce s he re unle as he d? Who s e
re s po ns i bi li ty
i s i t to us e the m?
Cate go ri cal
ans w e rs are no t
gi v e n
to
the s e
que s ti o ns ,
o f co urs e . B ut the
autho r do e s no t e v ade
any
o f the m. The
fact that
the y
are de alt
w i th,
and that
the autho r has had the s ci e nti fi c i m-
agi nati o n
to s e e i n the Kate Smi th
radi o maratho n an o ccas i o n fo r
s tudy-
i ng
the m,
mak e s thi s bo o k a
uni que
and
e xci ti ng
co ntri buti o n to the s o ci al
ps ycho lo gy
o f co lle cti v e be hav i o r.
It i s
i mpo s s i ble
to s ummari ze he re
the
s pe ci fi c
re s ults ,
le t alo ne the mas s
o f s hre w d
ps ycho lo gi cal
and s o ci al
i nte rpre tati o ns
w hi ch mak e
up
thi s
v aluable and
i nte re s ti ng
s o ci al re s e arch
do cume nt. Of
s pe ci al
i nte re s t to tho s e
co nce rne d w i th the facto rs w hi ch
C:95
HOLLYWOOD
QUAR TER LY
unde rli e audi e nce
re s po ns e
o n s o co -
lo s s al a s cale i s Me rto n's
analys i s
o f the
s i gni fi cance
o f Kate Smi th as a s o ci al
s ymbo l. R e co gni zi ng
that thi s e v o cati v e
i mage
di d no t
e me rge
o n the
day
o f the
maratho n,
but has be e n
de v e lo pe d
o v e r
a
lo ng pe ri o d,
he as k s thi s
que s ti o n:
"Can w e di s co v e r i ts bas e s i n ce rtai n
as pe cts
o f Ame ri can culture and s o ci al
s tructure ?" What s o ci al functi o n do e s
Kate Smi th
fulfi ll,
as a
s ymbo l,
i n
Ame ri can li fe ? The ans w e r i s fo und i n
the
o v e rw he lmi ng
i de nti fi cati o n,
by
re s po nde nts
i n
i nte rv i e w s ,
o f Kate
Smi th as a
s ymbo l
o f
s i nce ri ty
and
ho ne s ty.
"It i s
s i gni fi cant," s ays
Me r-
to n,
"that o fte n thi s i nte ns e be li e f i s
e xpre s s e d by
i nfo rmants w ho
go
o n to
co ntras t he r
i nte gri ty
w i th the
pre -
te ns e s ,
de ce pti o ns ,
and
di s s e mbli ng
w hi ch
the y
o bs e rv e i n the i r
dai ly
e x-
pe ri e nce ." The y
li v e i n a w o rld i n
w hi ch
the y co ns tantly
fe e l that
the y
are
s ubje cts
o f
mani pulati o n,
the "tar-
ge t
fo r
i nge ni o us
me tho ds o f
co ntro l,
thro ugh adv e rti s i ng
w hi ch
cajo le s ,
pro mi s e s ,
te rro ri ze s ;
thro ugh pro pa-
gandas that,
uti li zi ng
av ai lable te ch-
ni que s , gui de
the
unw i tti ng
audi e nce
i nto
o pi ni o ns
w hi ch
may
o r
may
no t
co i nci de w i th the be s t i nte re s ts o f the m-
s e lv e s ." In s uch a w o rld the re i s o v e r-
w he lmi ng
ne e d fo r
affi rmati o n,
fo r
re as s urance ,
a
"fli ght
i nto fai th." Kate
Smi th,
as an
i mage ,
fulfi lls thi s ne e d.
It w as to thi s
i mage
that the audi e nce
made
o v e rw he lmi ng re s po ns e .
The s k i llful uti li zati o n o f thi s
i mage
fo r
purpo s e s
o f mas s
pe rs uas i o n
rai s e s ,
o f
co urs e ,
a mo ral
pro ble m,
w hi ch the
autho r do e s no t e v ade . In the fi nal
chapte r
he de als w i th the mo ral di -
le mma o f the "te chni ci ans i n s e nti -
me nt." The te chni ci an i s
v e ry
s k i llful
i n hi s
mani pulati o n
o f the
ps ycho -
cultural
co mpo ne nts
i n the s i tuati o n.
He k no w s ho w to s e e k o ut the s o urce s
o f
gui lt
and i nne r co nfli ct i n the mas s
audi e nce ,
and ho w to di re ct hi s thrus ts
to w ard the s e are as o f
v ulne rabi li ty.
B ut he mus t face -o r
e s cape
i nto a
me ani ngle s s
and ne uro ti c
cyni ci s m-hi s
re s po ns i bi li ti e s ,
and de ci de "w he the r
o r no t to us e ce rtai n
te chni que s
w hi ch,
tho ugh po s s i bly
'e ffe cti v e ,'
v i o late hi s
o w n s e nti me nts and mo ral co de s ." One
w o nde rs to w hat e xte nt thi s mo ral co n-
fli ct haunts the dre ams o f tho s e w ho
w ri te and
s pe ak
radi o co mme rci als .
The re
i s ,
s ays
Me rto n,
an i nti mate re -
lati o n be tw e e n
te chni que
and
mo rali ty
w hi ch,
pre s umably,
e v e n radi o an-
no unce rs
may
no t e v ade .
The s e
pro ble ms
are
rare ly
face d
by
the te chni ci ans i n
any
fi e ld. The
ho no re d tradi ti o n i s that o f the v alue -
fre e s ci e nti s t-o r te chni ci an. Tradi -
ti o nally,
as Me rto n
po i nts
o ut,
"he
me re ly re po rts
hi s
fi ndi ngs ,
and
the s e ,
i f
the y
are
v ali d,
can be us e d
by any
i nte re s te d
gro up,
li be ral o r
re acti o nary,
de mo crati c o r
fas ci s ti c,
i de ali s ti c o r
po w e r-hungry."
The te chni ci an i n
s e nti me nt i s
me re ly
hi re d to
plan
the
campai gn,
to w ri te the
s cri pts
o r to
s pe ak
the li ne s .
As I hav e
s ai d,
the s e
pro ble ms
and
the
me ani ng
o f the culture o ut o f w hi ch
the y
ari s e ,
are
rare ly
face d,
le t alo ne
di s cus s e d,
i n a re s e arch
re po rt.
It i s
pe rhaps
a
s i gn
that s o ci al s ci e nce i s
ap-
pro achi ng maturi ty
to fi nd the m di s -
cus s e d i n a re s e arch tre ati s e . It i s o ne
o f the re as o ns
w hy e v e ry
i ndi v i dual
s e ri o us ly
i nte re s te d i n the
pro ble ms
o f
mas s co mmuni cati o n s ho uld re ad thi s
bo o k .
FR ANKLIN FEAR ING
96
BOOK REVIEWS
RADIO GROWING UP
The Eternal
Light. By
MORTON WISH-
ENGRAD. New York: Crown.
1947
Untitled and Other Radio Dramas.
By
NORMAN CORWIN. New York: Holt.
1945, 1947
WITH the release of
Crossfire, many
people
cheer a
turning point
in motion
picture history.
The films are
growing
up,
these
people hope.
The films have
matured.
They
are
willing
to look the
facts of life in the
face,
and a
grateful
public
looks toward a new
day.
But
maturity
is not
altogether
new in
the field of the mass media. For a nium-
ber of
years,
radio's
sustaining pro-
grams
have
championed
freedom of
speech
and
thought,
freedom to live a
decent life. Over the air we have heard
the
fight against
anti-Semitism more
dramatically
than we have ever seen it
on the screen. This achievement of
intellectual
integrity
has
quietly
devel-
oped
within the framework of an in-
dustry
that has
peddled
some of the
most infantile and unrealistic litera-
ture that the human mind can con-
ceive;
where
escapism
sells
soap;
and
where, as in the motion
picture,
sadism
passes
for
comedy.
Representative
of the best in radio
output
are these two collections
by
Morton
Wishengrad
and Norman Cor-
win. No matter what one's reservations
about radio
writing may
be,
a
reading
of these
scripts
leaves no doubt that at
its
highest
level radio has reached a
maturity
of
expression
and outlook
quite foreign
to its sister art.
Indeed,
their
average grade
is above that of the
writing
one finds in the annual motion
picture anthologies
edited
by
Nichols
and Gassner.
Morton
Wishengrad's
The Eternal
Light
is a collection of
twenty-six
of the
best
plays
he has written for the NBC
program
of that
name,
broadcast on
Sundays
under the
auspices
of the
Jew-
ish
Theological Seminary. During
a
pe-
riod of three
years Wishengrad
wrote
two-thirds of the
scripts.
He has con-
sistently emphasized
one idea: that the
Jewish people
are human
beings,
that
theirs is a rich and wide culture that
has
steadily
enriched the world. One
might
think that such a
program
would
inevitably
sink to the level of the didac-
tic and doctrinaire. It doesn't. Wishen-
grad's scripts
are
beautifully
written,
and the level of
writing
is
consistently
high. They
are
tightly packed, objec-
tive,
completely lacking
in the tricks
and flourishes of the
grand style (radio
manner),
or of
hackneyed phrases.
There is no
attitudinizing,
no intrusion
of self. Both the
highly
informative
preface
on radio
writing
and the
scripts
illustrate
perfectly Wishengrad's
con-
cept
of his craft:
When radio
offends,
it offends
twice,
be-
cause the offence is committed in the home.
This
intimacy
of radio is the bane of
every
ministerial voice in a frock coat. You
do not enter the home of a friend with a
hortatory
strut. You do not make
stump
speeches
to
your
brother.
Good radio drama is
always
modest.
Norman Corwin's Untitled and
Other Radio Dramas is much more
per-
plexing
to the reviewer. Corwin is a
man who commands our
respect,
be-
cause he has been an articulate
spokes-
man on the side of the
right,
because he
has forced
people
to listen to new ideas.
I do not doubt
that,
if he had chosen to
speak
on behalf of the less
progressive
forces in
radio,
we should hear the beat-
ing
of drums and the blare of
trumpets
whenever his name was mentioned. So
97
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
one must
say:
All honor to him as a man
who has
spoken
without hesitation in
support
of his beliefs.
The seventeen
scripts
that
comprise
the
present
Corwin collection were
written in the war
years.
A number of
people
will toss them aside as
dated;
for
they
are
unremitting
in their call
for One World. Now that we have
turned toward a Two-World
concept,
Corwin's
pages
have an
alien,
even a
nostalgic ring. Many
readers will
put
down the book with a
feeling
of
deep
sadness that in so short a time we have
moved so far from the doctrine of the
Brotherhood of Man.
Corwin's
writingoffers
an
interesting
contrast with
Wishengrad's
methods.
Wishengrad
moves on a
consistently
high plateau.
Much less
experimental
than
Corwin,
he is never
mawkish,
never
sentimental,
and there is a self-
less
quality throughout.
Corwin,
on the
other
hand,
writes in a much looser
form. What strikes the reader almost
immediately
is his enormous uneven-
ness. One minute he can be
superb,
and
the next minute he can roll in
flagrant
sentimentality.
From the
magnificent
Himalayas
of "Untitled" and "On a
Note of
Triumph"
he slithers effort-
lessly
to the Salton Sea of the mawkish
"El
Capitan
and the
Corporal"
or the
sentimental "Tel Aviv."
What is
inescapable
is the
projection
of the man's
personality
into his
scripts.
He is
always personal.
We cannot hear
or read him without the
feeling
of "Cor-
win
presents!
Corwin
presents!"
He
comes at us with the
"hortatory
strut,"
uttering stump speeches.
He must al-
ways
be out of the mike or
out.
of the
page, plucking
at
our
elbows. And
in order to make sure that we don't
miss
him,
he has
appended
a series
of notes-an informal confessional-to
each
script.
Some of the notes are fact-
ual,
some are
merely
cute.
But, cute or
factual,
I can't see that
they
add a
thing
to one's
reading pleasure. They merely
sound as if he had
hurriedly
dictated
them to his
secretary.
Corwin is a man of
stylistic preten-
sions. If I am not
mistaken,
his
literary
style
has
brought
him a number of ad-
mirers
among
the
blue-stocking
class of
radio listeners. I can't
help thinking,
however,
that
they rally
to his
support
not because of the
originality
of his
manner but because he titillates the
high-brow. Flipping through
his
pages
has
something
of the
quality
of a liter-
ary
Baedecker;
one detects Walt Whit-
man,
Gilbert and
Sullivan,
Edgar
Lee
Masters,
T S.
Eliot,
Carl
Sandburg,
and
Shakespeare,
to name a few. I
thought
I
perceived
Herman
Melville,
too.
These remarks
have,
I
hope,
shown
how
stimulating
is a
comparison
of
these two men with their different tech-
niques.
To sum
up,
I am forced to con-
clude that
Wishengrad
is a radio
writer,
exercising
a
knowledge
of his craft and
a
gift
of
imagination
that makes him a
pleasure
to read. Sensitive and articu-
late,
he writes with
poetic feeling,
with
variety,
and with
insight.
On the other
hand, Corwin,
with his immense sense
of the
theatrical,
his keen instinct for
the
timely,
and his enormous
bag
of
tricks,
is a radio
personality,
a
virtuoso,
a
producer
who
puts
what he wants to
say
into words that are sometimes
deeply moving,
often
colorful,
and ex-
ceedingly
effective,
but sometimes hol-
low and bathetic.
Both men
grapple
with abstruse
ideas,
and
they
are not afraid to dis-
guise
the fact. Like so
many
of their
fellow
writers,
they
have
proved
that it
98
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
is
possible
to write
scripts
without the
inevitable
boy-meets-girl
treacle
that
sparks
the action of most of our films.
When we
point
with
despair
to the
per-
petrations
of
daytime
radio,
we can
quickly
turn with
hope
and
pride
to
radio's
potentialities,
the skillful writ-
ing
and the mature outlook that have
been so
ably
foreshadowed
by
these two
men.
HELENE MAXWELL HOOKER
THE RADIO DIRECTOR
AS MAGICIAN
Radio Drama Production.
By
Rome
and Walter Krulevitch. Rinehart
Radio Series. New York: Rinehart.
1946
THE ADVENT of
FM,
the recent lib-
erality
of the Federal Communications
Commission in
granting
new AM and
FM
licenses,
and the
"get-in-there-
Jackson-and-make-your-stake" promises
of the
purported
lush
industry
have
combined to blanket and reblanket the
nation with radio waves.
(We
have
yet
to hear the first
community
boast that
it is located in the
only
extant radio
"dead
spot.")
If all these stations are to
operate,
it follows that
personnel
will
be
required
to man them.
Thus,
there
may yet
be some
justification
for the
"radio
training" supplied
to thousands
of
applicants
and
hopefuls by
hundreds
of
private
and
public
schools. I some-
times
wonder, however,
if the
country
isn't
evolving
toward an ultimate cen-
sus of a hundred and
fifty
million radio
announcers, actors,
and directors.
The error which too
many colleges,
universities,
and
private
schools have
made in all branches of
learning,
from
English
literature to electrical
engi-
neering, applies
to radio instruction:
too
frequently they
have failed to
pre-
is
possible
to write
scripts
without the
inevitable
boy-meets-girl
treacle
that
sparks
the action of most of our films.
When we
point
with
despair
to the
per-
petrations
of
daytime
radio,
we can
quickly
turn with
hope
and
pride
to
radio's
potentialities,
the skillful writ-
ing
and the mature outlook that have
been so
ably
foreshadowed
by
these two
men.
HELENE MAXWELL HOOKER
THE RADIO DIRECTOR
AS MAGICIAN
Radio Drama Production.
By
Rome
and Walter Krulevitch. Rinehart
Radio Series. New York: Rinehart.
1946
THE ADVENT of
FM,
the recent lib-
erality
of the Federal Communications
Commission in
granting
new AM and
FM
licenses,
and the
"get-in-there-
Jackson-and-make-your-stake" promises
of the
purported
lush
industry
have
combined to blanket and reblanket the
nation with radio waves.
(We
have
yet
to hear the first
community
boast that
it is located in the
only
extant radio
"dead
spot.")
If all these stations are to
operate,
it follows that
personnel
will
be
required
to man them.
Thus,
there
may yet
be some
justification
for the
"radio
training" supplied
to thousands
of
applicants
and
hopefuls by
hundreds
of
private
and
public
schools. I some-
times
wonder, however,
if the
country
isn't
evolving
toward an ultimate cen-
sus of a hundred and
fifty
million radio
announcers, actors,
and directors.
The error which too
many colleges,
universities,
and
private
schools have
made in all branches of
learning,
from
English
literature to electrical
engi-
neering, applies
to radio instruction:
too
frequently they
have failed to
pre-
pare
the student for the shock of
ultimately being
forced to start sans
glamour,
sans
authority,
sans
upper
financial
bracket,
and sans name on an
office door.
I wish Rome and Walter Krulevitch
had led off with a bit of that sort of in-
doctrination in an otherwise first-rate
manual, Radio Drama Production. I
cannot
help wondering
how
many years
of
hoping
and
trying,
defeat and en-
couragement,
will
intervene,
for most
of the students who
employ
this hand-
book,
between the
reading
of it and
their first
assignment.
The handbook will
go
far in
adding
some luster to the hitherto drab
quality
of radio instruction. Too often the in-
structors or
faculty
of the radio school
are those who have existed on the
fringe
or in the
imagined glamour
of the in-
dustry.
The
expert,
the
authority
in
radio
art,
has had neither time nor in-
clination to undertake the task of im-
parting
his "know-how" to others.
Somehow,
I cannot
quite imagine
that
combination of
expertness
and
just
plain
love of
teaching
in a radio in-
structor;
or am I
asking
the
impossible?
Are law
professors
the
slag
of the
legal
profession?
Rome and Walter Krulevitch know
what radio
production
is all about. I
dare
say they,
too,
have been horrified
at the textbooks
they
have found in
some radio
schools;
maybe
that
helped
prompt
them to
prepare
their hand-
book. It would
appear
to me that this
manual,
diligently
studied
and com-
bined with sorme native talent and im-
agination,
should
provide
the student
with a set of tools which he can
apply
when
opportunity
is
outwaited,
discov-
ered,
or created.
The Krulevitches are to be
congratu-
pare
the student for the shock of
ultimately being
forced to start sans
glamour,
sans
authority,
sans
upper
financial
bracket,
and sans name on an
office door.
I wish Rome and Walter Krulevitch
had led off with a bit of that sort of in-
doctrination in an otherwise first-rate
manual, Radio Drama Production. I
cannot
help wondering
how
many years
of
hoping
and
trying,
defeat and en-
couragement,
will
intervene,
for most
of the students who
employ
this hand-
book,
between the
reading
of it and
their first
assignment.
The handbook will
go
far in
adding
some luster to the hitherto drab
quality
of radio instruction. Too often the in-
structors or
faculty
of the radio school
are those who have existed on the
fringe
or in the
imagined glamour
of the in-
dustry.
The
expert,
the
authority
in
radio
art,
has had neither time nor in-
clination to undertake the task of im-
parting
his "know-how" to others.
Somehow,
I cannot
quite imagine
that
combination of
expertness
and
just
plain
love of
teaching
in a radio in-
structor;
or am I
asking
the
impossible?
Are law
professors
the
slag
of the
legal
profession?
Rome and Walter Krulevitch know
what radio
production
is all about. I
dare
say they,
too,
have been horrified
at the textbooks
they
have found in
some radio
schools;
maybe
that
helped
prompt
them to
prepare
their hand-
book. It would
appear
to me that this
manual,
diligently
studied
and com-
bined with sorme native talent and im-
agination,
should
provide
the student
with a set of tools which he can
apply
when
opportunity
is
outwaited,
discov-
ered,
or created.
The Krulevitches are to be
congratu-
99 99
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
is
possible
to write
scripts
without the
inevitable
boy-meets-girl
treacle
that
sparks
the action of most of our films.
When we
point
with
despair
to the
per-
petrations
of
daytime
radio,
we can
quickly
turn with
hope
and
pride
to
radio's
potentialities,
the skillful writ-
ing
and the mature outlook that have
been so
ably
foreshadowed
by
these two
men.
HELENE MAXWELL HOOKER
THE RADIO DIRECTOR
AS MAGICIAN
Radio Drama Production.
By
Rome
and Walter Krulevitch. Rinehart
Radio Series. New York: Rinehart.
1946
THE ADVENT of
FM,
the recent lib-
erality
of the Federal Communications
Commission in
granting
new AM and
FM
licenses,
and the
"get-in-there-
Jackson-and-make-your-stake" promises
of the
purported
lush
industry
have
combined to blanket and reblanket the
nation with radio waves.
(We
have
yet
to hear the first
community
boast that
it is located in the
only
extant radio
"dead
spot.")
If all these stations are to
operate,
it follows that
personnel
will
be
required
to man them.
Thus,
there
may yet
be some
justification
for the
"radio
training" supplied
to thousands
of
applicants
and
hopefuls by
hundreds
of
private
and
public
schools. I some-
times
wonder, however,
if the
country
isn't
evolving
toward an ultimate cen-
sus of a hundred and
fifty
million radio
announcers, actors,
and directors.
The error which too
many colleges,
universities,
and
private
schools have
made in all branches of
learning,
from
English
literature to electrical
engi-
neering, applies
to radio instruction:
too
frequently they
have failed to
pre-
is
possible
to write
scripts
without the
inevitable
boy-meets-girl
treacle
that
sparks
the action of most of our films.
When we
point
with
despair
to the
per-
petrations
of
daytime
radio,
we can
quickly
turn with
hope
and
pride
to
radio's
potentialities,
the skillful writ-
ing
and the mature outlook that have
been so
ably
foreshadowed
by
these two
men.
HELENE MAXWELL HOOKER
THE RADIO DIRECTOR
AS MAGICIAN
Radio Drama Production.
By
Rome
and Walter Krulevitch. Rinehart
Radio Series. New York: Rinehart.
1946
THE ADVENT of
FM,
the recent lib-
erality
of the Federal Communications
Commission in
granting
new AM and
FM
licenses,
and the
"get-in-there-
Jackson-and-make-your-stake" promises
of the
purported
lush
industry
have
combined to blanket and reblanket the
nation with radio waves.
(We
have
yet
to hear the first
community
boast that
it is located in the
only
extant radio
"dead
spot.")
If all these stations are to
operate,
it follows that
personnel
will
be
required
to man them.
Thus,
there
may yet
be some
justification
for the
"radio
training" supplied
to thousands
of
applicants
and
hopefuls by
hundreds
of
private
and
public
schools. I some-
times
wonder, however,
if the
country
isn't
evolving
toward an ultimate cen-
sus of a hundred and
fifty
million radio
announcers, actors,
and directors.
The error which too
many colleges,
universities,
and
private
schools have
made in all branches of
learning,
from
English
literature to electrical
engi-
neering, applies
to radio instruction:
too
frequently they
have failed to
pre-
pare
the student for the shock of
ultimately being
forced to start sans
glamour,
sans
authority,
sans
upper
financial
bracket,
and sans name on an
office door.
I wish Rome and Walter Krulevitch
had led off with a bit of that sort of in-
doctrination in an otherwise first-rate
manual, Radio Drama Production. I
cannot
help wondering
how
many years
of
hoping
and
trying,
defeat and en-
couragement,
will
intervene,
for most
of the students who
employ
this hand-
book,
between the
reading
of it and
their first
assignment.
The handbook will
go
far in
adding
some luster to the hitherto drab
quality
of radio instruction. Too often the in-
structors or
faculty
of the radio school
are those who have existed on the
fringe
or in the
imagined glamour
of the in-
dustry.
The
expert,
the
authority
in
radio
art,
has had neither time nor in-
clination to undertake the task of im-
parting
his "know-how" to others.
Somehow,
I cannot
quite imagine
that
combination of
expertness
and
just
plain
love of
teaching
in a radio in-
structor;
or am I
asking
the
impossible?
Are law
professors
the
slag
of the
legal
profession?
Rome and Walter Krulevitch know
what radio
production
is all about. I
dare
say they,
too,
have been horrified
at the textbooks
they
have found in
some radio
schools;
maybe
that
helped
prompt
them to
prepare
their hand-
book. It would
appear
to me that this
manual,
diligently
studied
and com-
bined with sorme native talent and im-
agination,
should
provide
the student
with a set of tools which he can
apply
when
opportunity
is
outwaited,
discov-
ered,
or created.
The Krulevitches are to be
congratu-
pare
the student for the shock of
ultimately being
forced to start sans
glamour,
sans
authority,
sans
upper
financial
bracket,
and sans name on an
office door.
I wish Rome and Walter Krulevitch
had led off with a bit of that sort of in-
doctrination in an otherwise first-rate
manual, Radio Drama Production. I
cannot
help wondering
how
many years
of
hoping
and
trying,
defeat and en-
couragement,
will
intervene,
for most
of the students who
employ
this hand-
book,
between the
reading
of it and
their first
assignment.
The handbook will
go
far in
adding
some luster to the hitherto drab
quality
of radio instruction. Too often the in-
structors or
faculty
of the radio school
are those who have existed on the
fringe
or in the
imagined glamour
of the in-
dustry.
The
expert,
the
authority
in
radio
art,
has had neither time nor in-
clination to undertake the task of im-
parting
his "know-how" to others.
Somehow,
I cannot
quite imagine
that
combination of
expertness
and
just
plain
love of
teaching
in a radio in-
structor;
or am I
asking
the
impossible?
Are law
professors
the
slag
of the
legal
profession?
Rome and Walter Krulevitch know
what radio
production
is all about. I
dare
say they,
too,
have been horrified
at the textbooks
they
have found in
some radio
schools;
maybe
that
helped
prompt
them to
prepare
their hand-
book. It would
appear
to me that this
manual,
diligently
studied
and com-
bined with sorme native talent and im-
agination,
should
provide
the student
with a set of tools which he can
apply
when
opportunity
is
outwaited,
discov-
ered,
or created.
The Krulevitches are to be
congratu-
99 99
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
lated for their realization that their
handbook is not
going
to be
applied
in
physical surroundings duplicating
lab-
oratories and
workshops.
But
they
do
not
recognize any
limitations to the
art
of radio drama. Rome and Walter and
I are all convinced that there are
some,
but we are
unbigoted
and do not
dis-
countenance the
possibility
that
some-
one,
some
day, may
find the
method
of
communicating
the subtle
nuance
which we dismiss with a board fade or
write in the narrator's next
speech.
The handbook is a valuable addition
to radio literature. It is
intelligently
contrived. It
plants
the idea that
the
director,
even after
digesting
Radio
Drama Production
by
Rome and
Wal-
ter
Krulevitch,
will find himself on
his
own, feeling his
way
toward
creative
achievement wherein the subtle
sense
of sound must take command of all
the
others. The
Krulevitchs,
I
believe, are
aware that the radio director is like the
magician.
Practice, work,
and
diligent
study
will
polish
the
performance;
but
after
all,
before the
magician
can
pull
a rabbit from the
hat,
he has to
put
a
rabbit in the hat.
CHET HUNTLEY
OUR SWEDISH
CONTEMPORARY
Biografbladet,
a Swedish
journal
de-
voted to the motion
pictures,
was
founded in
1920
and is now in its 28th
volume. The
magazine
is
published
four times a
year
and costs ten Swed-
ish crowns
(about $2.50)
for a
year's
subscription.
The editor is Gosta
Werner,
D6belnsgatan
i,
Stockholm.
THE ARTICLES are written in Swedish
and
Dano-Norwegian
and
are,
for the
most
part, by
Swedish authors. In its
subject
matter, however,
the
journal
in
lated for their realization that their
handbook is not
going
to be
applied
in
physical surroundings duplicating
lab-
oratories and
workshops.
But
they
do
not
recognize any
limitations to the
art
of radio drama. Rome and Walter and
I are all convinced that there are
some,
but we are
unbigoted
and do not
dis-
countenance the
possibility
that
some-
one,
some
day, may
find the
method
of
communicating
the subtle
nuance
which we dismiss with a board fade or
write in the narrator's next
speech.
The handbook is a valuable addition
to radio literature. It is
intelligently
contrived. It
plants
the idea that
the
director,
even after
digesting
Radio
Drama Production
by
Rome and
Wal-
ter
Krulevitch,
will find himself on
his
own, feeling his
way
toward
creative
achievement wherein the subtle
sense
of sound must take command of all
the
others. The
Krulevitchs,
I
believe, are
aware that the radio director is like the
magician.
Practice, work,
and
diligent
study
will
polish
the
performance;
but
after
all,
before the
magician
can
pull
a rabbit from the
hat,
he has to
put
a
rabbit in the hat.
CHET HUNTLEY
OUR SWEDISH
CONTEMPORARY
Biografbladet,
a Swedish
journal
de-
voted to the motion
pictures,
was
founded in
1920
and is now in its 28th
volume. The
magazine
is
published
four times a
year
and costs ten Swed-
ish crowns
(about $2.50)
for a
year's
subscription.
The editor is Gosta
Werner,
D6belnsgatan
i,
Stockholm.
THE ARTICLES are written in Swedish
and
Dano-Norwegian
and
are,
for the
most
part, by
Swedish authors. In its
subject
matter, however,
the
journal
in
no sense confines itself to matters of
local interest.
Thus,
for
example,
the
spring
number for
1947 (Vol.
28,
No.
1)
contains two articles on the French di-
rector,
Julian Duvivier;
one each on
Danish
films,
possible policy changes
as
a result of Eric
Johnston's
directorship
of the
"Hays
Office,"
and recent devel-
opments
in the Polish film
industry;
a
study
of
style
in Soviet motion
pictures
("From
Revolutionary Expressionism
to Modern
Realism");
and a
statement
by James
Cain on the
plight
of the au-
thor and the
proposed
American Au-
thors'
Authority.
This
variety
of
subject
matter is not
unique
to this issue. A
register
of arti-
cles for
1945-1947,
found on the back
pages
(unnumbered)
of Volume
28,
No.
i, reveals a
similarly
broad
dispersion.
Fifty-six
articles are listed as
essays,
film
analyses,
and film
critiques.
These in-
clude Lars
Almquist's
Esthetics and
Social
Tendencies
(1945,
III:
26),' Stig
Almquist's
Modern
Russian
Films: A
Study of
Russian Film
Style (1946,
II:
62),
Per
Gunvall's The
Cowboy
Tradi-
tion in
American and
Swedish Films
(1946,
III:
157), Bengt
Idestam-Alm-
quist's
Classicism and
Romance-New
Ways (1946,
II:
83),
Gert
Landin's
Where Are Film
Manuscripts
to Be
Found?
Economic
and Social
Aspects
(1946,
IV:
260),
Emanuel
Lillieroth's
Where Are American
Films
Going?
(1945,
I:
3),
Andre
Malraux's An At-
tempt
at a Film
Psychology (1946,
I:
3),
Bjorn
Schildknecht's
Chaplin's
Music
in "The Dictator"
(1946,
I:
58),
Rune
Waldekranz's
Chaplin
as a Social Satir-
ist
(1946,
I:
55),
Rune
Waldekranz's Is
There a Swedish Film
Style? (1945,
III:
1The roman numerals indicate the number
of the
journal;
the
arabic,
the number of the
first
page
of the article.
no sense confines itself to matters of
local interest.
Thus,
for
example,
the
spring
number for
1947 (Vol.
28,
No.
1)
contains two articles on the French di-
rector,
Julian Duvivier;
one each on
Danish
films,
possible policy changes
as
a result of Eric
Johnston's
directorship
of the
"Hays
Office,"
and recent devel-
opments
in the Polish film
industry;
a
study
of
style
in Soviet motion
pictures
("From
Revolutionary Expressionism
to Modern
Realism");
and a
statement
by James
Cain on the
plight
of the au-
thor and the
proposed
American Au-
thors'
Authority.
This
variety
of
subject
matter is not
unique
to this issue. A
register
of arti-
cles for
1945-1947,
found on the back
pages
(unnumbered)
of Volume
28,
No.
i, reveals a
similarly
broad
dispersion.
Fifty-six
articles are listed as
essays,
film
analyses,
and film
critiques.
These in-
clude Lars
Almquist's
Esthetics and
Social
Tendencies
(1945,
III:
26),' Stig
Almquist's
Modern
Russian
Films: A
Study of
Russian Film
Style (1946,
II:
62),
Per
Gunvall's The
Cowboy
Tradi-
tion in
American and
Swedish Films
(1946,
III:
157), Bengt
Idestam-Alm-
quist's
Classicism and
Romance-New
Ways (1946,
II:
83),
Gert
Landin's
Where Are Film
Manuscripts
to Be
Found?
Economic
and Social
Aspects
(1946,
IV:
260),
Emanuel
Lillieroth's
Where Are American
Films
Going?
(1945,
I:
3),
Andre
Malraux's An At-
tempt
at a Film
Psychology (1946,
I:
3),
Bjorn
Schildknecht's
Chaplin's
Music
in "The Dictator"
(1946,
I:
58),
Rune
Waldekranz's
Chaplin
as a Social Satir-
ist
(1946,
I:
55),
Rune
Waldekranz's Is
There a Swedish Film
Style? (1945,
III:
1The roman numerals indicate the number
of the
journal;
the
arabic,
the number of the
first
page
of the article.
100 100
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
lated for their realization that their
handbook is not
going
to be
applied
in
physical surroundings duplicating
lab-
oratories and
workshops.
But
they
do
not
recognize any
limitations to the
art
of radio drama. Rome and Walter and
I are all convinced that there are
some,
but we are
unbigoted
and do not
dis-
countenance the
possibility
that
some-
one,
some
day, may
find the
method
of
communicating
the subtle
nuance
which we dismiss with a board fade or
write in the narrator's next
speech.
The handbook is a valuable addition
to radio literature. It is
intelligently
contrived. It
plants
the idea that
the
director,
even after
digesting
Radio
Drama Production
by
Rome and
Wal-
ter
Krulevitch,
will find himself on
his
own, feeling his
way
toward
creative
achievement wherein the subtle
sense
of sound must take command of all
the
others. The
Krulevitchs,
I
believe, are
aware that the radio director is like the
magician.
Practice, work,
and
diligent
study
will
polish
the
performance;
but
after
all,
before the
magician
can
pull
a rabbit from the
hat,
he has to
put
a
rabbit in the hat.
CHET HUNTLEY
OUR SWEDISH
CONTEMPORARY
Biografbladet,
a Swedish
journal
de-
voted to the motion
pictures,
was
founded in
1920
and is now in its 28th
volume. The
magazine
is
published
four times a
year
and costs ten Swed-
ish crowns
(about $2.50)
for a
year's
subscription.
The editor is Gosta
Werner,
D6belnsgatan
i,
Stockholm.
THE ARTICLES are written in Swedish
and
Dano-Norwegian
and
are,
for the
most
part, by
Swedish authors. In its
subject
matter, however,
the
journal
in
lated for their realization that their
handbook is not
going
to be
applied
in
physical surroundings duplicating
lab-
oratories and
workshops.
But
they
do
not
recognize any
limitations to the
art
of radio drama. Rome and Walter and
I are all convinced that there are
some,
but we are
unbigoted
and do not
dis-
countenance the
possibility
that
some-
one,
some
day, may
find the
method
of
communicating
the subtle
nuance
which we dismiss with a board fade or
write in the narrator's next
speech.
The handbook is a valuable addition
to radio literature. It is
intelligently
contrived. It
plants
the idea that
the
director,
even after
digesting
Radio
Drama Production
by
Rome and
Wal-
ter
Krulevitch,
will find himself on
his
own, feeling his
way
toward
creative
achievement wherein the subtle
sense
of sound must take command of all
the
others. The
Krulevitchs,
I
believe, are
aware that the radio director is like the
magician.
Practice, work,
and
diligent
study
will
polish
the
performance;
but
after
all,
before the
magician
can
pull
a rabbit from the
hat,
he has to
put
a
rabbit in the hat.
CHET HUNTLEY
OUR SWEDISH
CONTEMPORARY
Biografbladet,
a Swedish
journal
de-
voted to the motion
pictures,
was
founded in
1920
and is now in its 28th
volume. The
magazine
is
published
four times a
year
and costs ten Swed-
ish crowns
(about $2.50)
for a
year's
subscription.
The editor is Gosta
Werner,
D6belnsgatan
i,
Stockholm.
THE ARTICLES are written in Swedish
and
Dano-Norwegian
and
are,
for the
most
part, by
Swedish authors. In its
subject
matter, however,
the
journal
in
no sense confines itself to matters of
local interest.
Thus,
for
example,
the
spring
number for
1947 (Vol.
28,
No.
1)
contains two articles on the French di-
rector,
Julian Duvivier;
one each on
Danish
films,
possible policy changes
as
a result of Eric
Johnston's
directorship
of the
"Hays
Office,"
and recent devel-
opments
in the Polish film
industry;
a
study
of
style
in Soviet motion
pictures
("From
Revolutionary Expressionism
to Modern
Realism");
and a
statement
by James
Cain on the
plight
of the au-
thor and the
proposed
American Au-
thors'
Authority.
This
variety
of
subject
matter is not
unique
to this issue. A
register
of arti-
cles for
1945-1947,
found on the back
pages
(unnumbered)
of Volume
28,
No.
i, reveals a
similarly
broad
dispersion.
Fifty-six
articles are listed as
essays,
film
analyses,
and film
critiques.
These in-
clude Lars
Almquist's
Esthetics and
Social
Tendencies
(1945,
III:
26),' Stig
Almquist's
Modern
Russian
Films: A
Study of
Russian Film
Style (1946,
II:
62),
Per
Gunvall's The
Cowboy
Tradi-
tion in
American and
Swedish Films
(1946,
III:
157), Bengt
Idestam-Alm-
quist's
Classicism and
Romance-New
Ways (1946,
II:
83),
Gert
Landin's
Where Are Film
Manuscripts
to Be
Found?
Economic
and Social
Aspects
(1946,
IV:
260),
Emanuel
Lillieroth's
Where Are American
Films
Going?
(1945,
I:
3),
Andre
Malraux's An At-
tempt
at a Film
Psychology (1946,
I:
3),
Bjorn
Schildknecht's
Chaplin's
Music
in "The Dictator"
(1946,
I:
58),
Rune
Waldekranz's
Chaplin
as a Social Satir-
ist
(1946,
I:
55),
Rune
Waldekranz's Is
There a Swedish Film
Style? (1945,
III:
1The roman numerals indicate the number
of the
journal;
the
arabic,
the number of the
first
page
of the article.
no sense confines itself to matters of
local interest.
Thus,
for
example,
the
spring
number for
1947 (Vol.
28,
No.
1)
contains two articles on the French di-
rector,
Julian Duvivier;
one each on
Danish
films,
possible policy changes
as
a result of Eric
Johnston's
directorship
of the
"Hays
Office,"
and recent devel-
opments
in the Polish film
industry;
a
study
of
style
in Soviet motion
pictures
("From
Revolutionary Expressionism
to Modern
Realism");
and a
statement
by James
Cain on the
plight
of the au-
thor and the
proposed
American Au-
thors'
Authority.
This
variety
of
subject
matter is not
unique
to this issue. A
register
of arti-
cles for
1945-1947,
found on the back
pages
(unnumbered)
of Volume
28,
No.
i, reveals a
similarly
broad
dispersion.
Fifty-six
articles are listed as
essays,
film
analyses,
and film
critiques.
These in-
clude Lars
Almquist's
Esthetics and
Social
Tendencies
(1945,
III:
26),' Stig
Almquist's
Modern
Russian
Films: A
Study of
Russian Film
Style (1946,
II:
62),
Per
Gunvall's The
Cowboy
Tradi-
tion in
American and
Swedish Films
(1946,
III:
157), Bengt
Idestam-Alm-
quist's
Classicism and
Romance-New
Ways (1946,
II:
83),
Gert
Landin's
Where Are Film
Manuscripts
to Be
Found?
Economic
and Social
Aspects
(1946,
IV:
260),
Emanuel
Lillieroth's
Where Are American
Films
Going?
(1945,
I:
3),
Andre
Malraux's An At-
tempt
at a Film
Psychology (1946,
I:
3),
Bjorn
Schildknecht's
Chaplin's
Music
in "The Dictator"
(1946,
I:
58),
Rune
Waldekranz's
Chaplin
as a Social Satir-
ist
(1946,
I:
55),
Rune
Waldekranz's Is
There a Swedish Film
Style? (1945,
III:
1The roman numerals indicate the number
of the
journal;
the
arabic,
the number of the
first
page
of the article.
100 100
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
35),
and
Hugo
Wortzelius' French In-
fluences
in
German, English
and A mer-
ican Films
(I-II: 57)
and Music in the
Films
(1946,
II:
124).
Another
twenty-four
articles are char-
acterized as
biographies, profiles
of
directors and
authors,
and brief his-
tories of various
aspects
of the motion
pictures.
There are
eight profiles,
some
of which are
really lengthy
and critical
reviews of such notables as Michael
Curtiz,
Edmund
Goulding,
Howard
Hawks,
Vincent
Sherman,
William A.
Wellman,
William
Wyler,
and Sam
Ash. It is
interesting
to note that none
of these are actors:
Biografbladet
is
interested
primarily
in directors and
writers. Other articles in this section are
illustrated
by
Folke Himmelstrand's
Film Scenes That Made
History:
An
Excursion into
Memory's
Film
Gallery
(1946,
III:
168),
Hans Kutter's Finnish
Films-Historically
and in
Perspective
(1945,
III:
54),
Auguste
Lumiere's How
the Films Were Born
(1945,
I-II:
8),
Elsa Brita Marcusson's
Norwegian
Films
during
the
Occupation (1946,
I:
30),
Karl Roos's The Films and the
Fight
for
Freedom
(1945,
IV:
15),
and
Rune Waldekranz's The Birth
of
Color
Films
(1946,
III:
135).
Finally,
ten articles deal with film
studios and technical
developments.
Examples
are an article
by
Ingemar
Holmstr6m
on
problems
of weather in
the
filming
of exteriors
(1945,
IV:
23),
Gunnar Lidholm's Films in
Language
Teaching (1946,
III:
193), Bjorn
Nils-
son and Hans Werthen's Modern Tele-
vision
(1946,
I:
37),
and
Jan
Thomaeus'
The
History
of
a Swedish Film Studio
for
Students
(1946,
III:
174).
In
addition,
each number of
Biograf-
bladet contains reviews of the latest
film literature
(both European
and
35),
and
Hugo
Wortzelius' French In-
fluences
in
German, English
and A mer-
ican Films
(I-II: 57)
and Music in the
Films
(1946,
II:
124).
Another
twenty-four
articles are char-
acterized as
biographies, profiles
of
directors and
authors,
and brief his-
tories of various
aspects
of the motion
pictures.
There are
eight profiles,
some
of which are
really lengthy
and critical
reviews of such notables as Michael
Curtiz,
Edmund
Goulding,
Howard
Hawks,
Vincent
Sherman,
William A.
Wellman,
William
Wyler,
and Sam
Ash. It is
interesting
to note that none
of these are actors:
Biografbladet
is
interested
primarily
in directors and
writers. Other articles in this section are
illustrated
by
Folke Himmelstrand's
Film Scenes That Made
History:
An
Excursion into
Memory's
Film
Gallery
(1946,
III:
168),
Hans Kutter's Finnish
Films-Historically
and in
Perspective
(1945,
III:
54),
Auguste
Lumiere's How
the Films Were Born
(1945,
I-II:
8),
Elsa Brita Marcusson's
Norwegian
Films
during
the
Occupation (1946,
I:
30),
Karl Roos's The Films and the
Fight
for
Freedom
(1945,
IV:
15),
and
Rune Waldekranz's The Birth
of
Color
Films
(1946,
III:
135).
Finally,
ten articles deal with film
studios and technical
developments.
Examples
are an article
by
Ingemar
Holmstr6m
on
problems
of weather in
the
filming
of exteriors
(1945,
IV:
23),
Gunnar Lidholm's Films in
Language
Teaching (1946,
III:
193), Bjorn
Nils-
son and Hans Werthen's Modern Tele-
vision
(1946,
I:
37),
and
Jan
Thomaeus'
The
History
of
a Swedish Film Studio
for
Students
(1946,
III:
174).
In
addition,
each number of
Biograf-
bladet contains reviews of the latest
film literature
(both European
and
American)
and,
beginning
in Volume
28,
No.
1,
a checklist of
films,
domestic
and
foreign,
released in Sweden.
All the articles which
analyze
and
discuss
specific
films or the work of
par-
ticular directors and studios are well
illustrated. The illustrations are scenes
from the films
themselves,
carefully
chosen and
excellently reproduced.
From this rather brief
description,
it
is evident that
Biografbladet
is a seri-
ous film
journal
which should be of
considerable interest to readers in the
United States. In the reviewer's
opin-
ion,
this interest should be the
greater
for the fact that Sweden is a small coun-
try,
not
ordinarily
considered
very
im-
portant
as a film center. Recent Swedish
films released in the United States have
done much to
dispel
this illusion. Bio-
grafbladet
does more. Where in the
United States do we find a serious film
magazine
that is
twenty-seven years
old?
Moreover,
where do we find one with
the same broad
coverage,
in terms of
the number and
quality
of the
pro-
ductions
reviewed,
analyzed,
and criti-
cized?
Biografbladet
is
certainly
far
in advance of similar
journals
in the
United States in these
respects
and de-
serves the serious attention of those
whose interest in the motion
pictures
goes beyond
the trivial.
HARRY
HOIJER
FILM MUSIC IN THE
MAINSTREAM
Composers
in America.
By
CLAIRE R.
REIS. Revised and
enlarged
edition.
New York: Macmillan.
1947
SHORTLY after World War
I,
American
music
began
such a
healthy
and
vigor-
ous
growth
that
by 1930
there was al-
ready
a need for a
summary
of the new
musical resources in terms of
composers
American)
and,
beginning
in Volume
28,
No.
1,
a checklist of
films,
domestic
and
foreign,
released in Sweden.
All the articles which
analyze
and
discuss
specific
films or the work of
par-
ticular directors and studios are well
illustrated. The illustrations are scenes
from the films
themselves,
carefully
chosen and
excellently reproduced.
From this rather brief
description,
it
is evident that
Biografbladet
is a seri-
ous film
journal
which should be of
considerable interest to readers in the
United States. In the reviewer's
opin-
ion,
this interest should be the
greater
for the fact that Sweden is a small coun-
try,
not
ordinarily
considered
very
im-
portant
as a film center. Recent Swedish
films released in the United States have
done much to
dispel
this illusion. Bio-
grafbladet
does more. Where in the
United States do we find a serious film
magazine
that is
twenty-seven years
old?
Moreover,
where do we find one with
the same broad
coverage,
in terms of
the number and
quality
of the
pro-
ductions
reviewed,
analyzed,
and criti-
cized?
Biografbladet
is
certainly
far
in advance of similar
journals
in the
United States in these
respects
and de-
serves the serious attention of those
whose interest in the motion
pictures
goes beyond
the trivial.
HARRY
HOIJER
FILM MUSIC IN THE
MAINSTREAM
Composers
in America.
By
CLAIRE R.
REIS. Revised and
enlarged
edition.
New York: Macmillan.
1947
SHORTLY after World War
I,
American
music
began
such a
healthy
and
vigor-
ous
growth
that
by 1930
there was al-
ready
a need for a
summary
of the new
musical resources in terms of
composers
101 101
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
35),
and
Hugo
Wortzelius' French In-
fluences
in
German, English
and A mer-
ican Films
(I-II: 57)
and Music in the
Films
(1946,
II:
124).
Another
twenty-four
articles are char-
acterized as
biographies, profiles
of
directors and
authors,
and brief his-
tories of various
aspects
of the motion
pictures.
There are
eight profiles,
some
of which are
really lengthy
and critical
reviews of such notables as Michael
Curtiz,
Edmund
Goulding,
Howard
Hawks,
Vincent
Sherman,
William A.
Wellman,
William
Wyler,
and Sam
Ash. It is
interesting
to note that none
of these are actors:
Biografbladet
is
interested
primarily
in directors and
writers. Other articles in this section are
illustrated
by
Folke Himmelstrand's
Film Scenes That Made
History:
An
Excursion into
Memory's
Film
Gallery
(1946,
III:
168),
Hans Kutter's Finnish
Films-Historically
and in
Perspective
(1945,
III:
54),
Auguste
Lumiere's How
the Films Were Born
(1945,
I-II:
8),
Elsa Brita Marcusson's
Norwegian
Films
during
the
Occupation (1946,
I:
30),
Karl Roos's The Films and the
Fight
for
Freedom
(1945,
IV:
15),
and
Rune Waldekranz's The Birth
of
Color
Films
(1946,
III:
135).
Finally,
ten articles deal with film
studios and technical
developments.
Examples
are an article
by
Ingemar
Holmstr6m
on
problems
of weather in
the
filming
of exteriors
(1945,
IV:
23),
Gunnar Lidholm's Films in
Language
Teaching (1946,
III:
193), Bjorn
Nils-
son and Hans Werthen's Modern Tele-
vision
(1946,
I:
37),
and
Jan
Thomaeus'
The
History
of
a Swedish Film Studio
for
Students
(1946,
III:
174).
In
addition,
each number of
Biograf-
bladet contains reviews of the latest
film literature
(both European
and
35),
and
Hugo
Wortzelius' French In-
fluences
in
German, English
and A mer-
ican Films
(I-II: 57)
and Music in the
Films
(1946,
II:
124).
Another
twenty-four
articles are char-
acterized as
biographies, profiles
of
directors and
authors,
and brief his-
tories of various
aspects
of the motion
pictures.
There are
eight profiles,
some
of which are
really lengthy
and critical
reviews of such notables as Michael
Curtiz,
Edmund
Goulding,
Howard
Hawks,
Vincent
Sherman,
William A.
Wellman,
William
Wyler,
and Sam
Ash. It is
interesting
to note that none
of these are actors:
Biografbladet
is
interested
primarily
in directors and
writers. Other articles in this section are
illustrated
by
Folke Himmelstrand's
Film Scenes That Made
History:
An
Excursion into
Memory's
Film
Gallery
(1946,
III:
168),
Hans Kutter's Finnish
Films-Historically
and in
Perspective
(1945,
III:
54),
Auguste
Lumiere's How
the Films Were Born
(1945,
I-II:
8),
Elsa Brita Marcusson's
Norwegian
Films
during
the
Occupation (1946,
I:
30),
Karl Roos's The Films and the
Fight
for
Freedom
(1945,
IV:
15),
and
Rune Waldekranz's The Birth
of
Color
Films
(1946,
III:
135).
Finally,
ten articles deal with film
studios and technical
developments.
Examples
are an article
by
Ingemar
Holmstr6m
on
problems
of weather in
the
filming
of exteriors
(1945,
IV:
23),
Gunnar Lidholm's Films in
Language
Teaching (1946,
III:
193), Bjorn
Nils-
son and Hans Werthen's Modern Tele-
vision
(1946,
I:
37),
and
Jan
Thomaeus'
The
History
of
a Swedish Film Studio
for
Students
(1946,
III:
174).
In
addition,
each number of
Biograf-
bladet contains reviews of the latest
film literature
(both European
and
American)
and,
beginning
in Volume
28,
No.
1,
a checklist of
films,
domestic
and
foreign,
released in Sweden.
All the articles which
analyze
and
discuss
specific
films or the work of
par-
ticular directors and studios are well
illustrated. The illustrations are scenes
from the films
themselves,
carefully
chosen and
excellently reproduced.
From this rather brief
description,
it
is evident that
Biografbladet
is a seri-
ous film
journal
which should be of
considerable interest to readers in the
United States. In the reviewer's
opin-
ion,
this interest should be the
greater
for the fact that Sweden is a small coun-
try,
not
ordinarily
considered
very
im-
portant
as a film center. Recent Swedish
films released in the United States have
done much to
dispel
this illusion. Bio-
grafbladet
does more. Where in the
United States do we find a serious film
magazine
that is
twenty-seven years
old?
Moreover,
where do we find one with
the same broad
coverage,
in terms of
the number and
quality
of the
pro-
ductions
reviewed,
analyzed,
and criti-
cized?
Biografbladet
is
certainly
far
in advance of similar
journals
in the
United States in these
respects
and de-
serves the serious attention of those
whose interest in the motion
pictures
goes beyond
the trivial.
HARRY
HOIJER
FILM MUSIC IN THE
MAINSTREAM
Composers
in America.
By
CLAIRE R.
REIS. Revised and
enlarged
edition.
New York: Macmillan.
1947
SHORTLY after World War
I,
American
music
began
such a
healthy
and
vigor-
ous
growth
that
by 1930
there was al-
ready
a need for a
summary
of the new
musical resources in terms of
composers
American)
and,
beginning
in Volume
28,
No.
1,
a checklist of
films,
domestic
and
foreign,
released in Sweden.
All the articles which
analyze
and
discuss
specific
films or the work of
par-
ticular directors and studios are well
illustrated. The illustrations are scenes
from the films
themselves,
carefully
chosen and
excellently reproduced.
From this rather brief
description,
it
is evident that
Biografbladet
is a seri-
ous film
journal
which should be of
considerable interest to readers in the
United States. In the reviewer's
opin-
ion,
this interest should be the
greater
for the fact that Sweden is a small coun-
try,
not
ordinarily
considered
very
im-
portant
as a film center. Recent Swedish
films released in the United States have
done much to
dispel
this illusion. Bio-
grafbladet
does more. Where in the
United States do we find a serious film
magazine
that is
twenty-seven years
old?
Moreover,
where do we find one with
the same broad
coverage,
in terms of
the number and
quality
of the
pro-
ductions
reviewed,
analyzed,
and criti-
cized?
Biografbladet
is
certainly
far
in advance of similar
journals
in the
United States in these
respects
and de-
serves the serious attention of those
whose interest in the motion
pictures
goes beyond
the trivial.
HARRY
HOIJER
FILM MUSIC IN THE
MAINSTREAM
Composers
in America.
By
CLAIRE R.
REIS. Revised and
enlarged
edition.
New York: Macmillan.
1947
SHORTLY after World War
I,
American
music
began
such a
healthy
and
vigor-
ous
growth
that
by 1930
there was al-
ready
a need for a
summary
of the new
musical resources in terms of
composers
101 101
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
and their works. It was then that Mrs.
Reis
began
to
compile
the data for
Composers
in America. It
appeared
in
small editions in
1930
and
1932;
and
the
comprehensive
edition of
1938
has
been since its
publication
a standard
reference work in its field. The
newly
revised and
enlarged
edition
brings
the
material
up
to date-that
is,
to
July,
1946,
when the author delivered her
manuscript
to the
publishers.
A
comparison
of the two editions is
a
good
measure of the
extraordinary
musical creativeness in America
during
the
past
decade. In
1938
the book con-
tained brief
(1oo-
to
5oo-word) biogra-
phies
of 200
composers,
each
biography
followed
by
a
catalogue
of
works;
and
there was a
supplementary
list of
258
composers
whose achievements were
not
yet significant enough
for inclusion
in the main
body
of the text.
By 1946
the number of
biographies
had been
increased to
332,
some of
them,
like
Aaron
Copland's, lengthened
to a full
page;
and the
supplementary
list had
grown
to
424.
This is an over-all in-
crease of about
65 per
cent in the num-
ber of
professional composers.
Added now are
composers
in two
categories
not included in the earlier
edition. First are the
emigres-Bartok,
Hindemith,
Schoenberg,
and Stravin-
sky,
to name
only
the
giants-who
have
come to America since the
upheavals
of the
1930's
in
Europe
and are now
recognized
as an
integral part
of the
American scene.
The other
category,
and the one of
greatest
interest to readers of the
Holly-
wood
Quarterly,
is that of film com-
posers.
Heretofore,
film music has been
regarded
less as a
legitimate
field of
musical
activity
than as a
pasture
where
"serious"
composers occasionally graze
for
fattening.
Standard reference works
completely ignore
it. There are no arti-
cles on film music in Grove's Diction-
ary,
in the International
Cyclopedia
(new edition),
or even in the Bri-
tannica, where, however,
nearly every
other
aspect
of film
making
is discussed.
Tasker Howard's Our American Music
omits the
subject. Apel's
Harvard Dic-
tionary of
Music allots four lines to
it,
just enough
to refer the reader to a
chapter
in
Copland's
Our New Music
and to a
pair
of articles in the British
Music and Letters. But nowhere can
one find the names of even the most
prominent
and successful of the film
composers
unless
they
have also made
their mark as
composers
of
symphonies
or
Broadway
successes,
as conductors
or virtuosos-or as owners of
swimming
pools,
in which case
they may
have
merited a line from the Levants and
Heinsheimers. On the
whole,
they
are
disembodied voices even
though
their
song
is heard
by
millions
weekly.
And
their
profession
is
ignored
while
jazz,
folk
music, radio,
and the instruments
of Eastern Turkestan come in for schol-
arly
dissertations.
Mrs. Reis is thus the first
encyclope-
dist to include film music in the musi-
cal mainstream of America. In her
1938
edition,
a few film scores sneaked into
the text
by
virtue of
having
been com-
posed by
Antheil,
Janssen,
and Levant.
In
all,
23
films
by
11
composers
were
listed,
but of these
only 14 by
6 com-
posers
were commercial
Hollywood
products;
the others were
documentary
or "art"
films-9
of them
by
5
compos-
ers. In the new
edition, however,
there
are
352
films
by
75 composers;
and of
these,
261
by
42 composers
are in the
Hollywood category.
Besides,
there are
14 Hollywood composers
listed in the
102
BOOK REVIEWS
supplement
(and
there
may
be more
whose names this reviewer did not rec-
ognize).
Some of
these-Hugo
Fried-
hofer,
for
instance,
with The Best Years
of
Our Lives to his credit-should have
been in the main
body
of the
text;
one must assume that
they
were
among
those
whom,
as Mrs. Reis
says
in her
introduction,
she "could not reach for
detailed information."
Obviously,
room could not be found
for
complete
lists of
films,
not even in
a book of
400
pages.
Max
Steiner,
for
example,
whose
output approaches
200
scores,
is
represented by
a list of
only
11,
while Victor
Young
names
17,
Al-
fred Newman
11,
Adolph
Deutsch
1o,
Franz Waxman io. This
may
seem in-
adequate
in view of the
400
scores
composed annually,
but the
composers
themselves would
hardly
contend that
more than a fraction of these are worth
mentioning.
In the same
way, songs
and small instrumental
pieces
are omit-
ted from lists of concert works
by
all
composers.
The men who work
only
part
time in
films, however,
have all
their scores enumerated: Antheil
5,
Copland 3,
Eisler
5,
Herrmann
6,
Toch
8, etc.;
and the same is true of the
younger Hollywood
men,
such as David
Raksin,
who names his total
output
of
o scores. The
documentary
field is
well
represented;
the author lists
91 by
38 composers,
and the
biographies
fre-
quently
refer to
activity
here without
naming specific
works. Here
again
one
is struck
by
the
sharp
line of demarca-
tion between the
Hollywood
men and
their
colleagues.
The line is
geographi-
cal,
between east and west. "Art" is
east and fees are
west; and
only
a few
men-Applebaum, Copland,
Eisler and
Gould,
for instance-have been able to
adapt
themselves to both climates.
Radio
appears
as a
significant
activ-
ity
for creative talent on both coasts.
About
35
men have held more or less
regular jobs
as radio
composers,
al-
though
none of them admit such com-
positions
into their
catalogues
unless
they
can also
qualify
as concert
pieces.
Russell
Bennett,
for
instance,
mentions
his "Notebook" series in his
biography,
but the works written for the show are
listed under orchestral works. Bernard
Herrmann has
dropped 4
radio works
from his
1938
list,
but this
may
be the
result of a
general
revision of his official
catalogue
since he has also
dropped
sev-
eral items from
among
his orchestral
and chamber-music
compositions.
But
he does not mention his scores for the
Norman Corwin
shows,
even such a dis-
tinguished
one as On a Note
of
Tri-
umph.
In
spite
of the fierce
competition
for
paying jobs
on the
radio,
there is
still the usual
stigma
attached to com-
mercial work unless it be in the form
of the commissions and
prizes
awarded
by
the
major
networks for such com-
positions
as the radio
operas by
Cad-
man,
Gruenberg,
and
Manotti,
or
straight
orchestral
pieces by
Harris,
Kubik,
and others. Such
commissions,
by
the
way, appear
to be much less fre-
quent
now than
they
were in the late
1930's;
nevertheless the
networks,
in
their
publicity, try
to
appear
as modern
princes
of the Renaissance. But radio
has been of the
greatest importance
as
an avenue of communication. Even
without
compiling
statistics,
one
may
be certain that radio has
provided
the
contemporary composer
with more
per-
formances,
and
incalculably larger
au-
diences,
than the concert halls which
pretend
to be the
very
nerve centers of
musical culture.
Mrs. Reis's book is thus much more
103
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
than a
catalogue. Implicit throughout
its
pages
(and
explicit, though
brief,
in
her
Introduction)
is an informative ac-
'count of the
growth
of an art from
small and imitative
beginnings
to ma-
ture
creativity. Every biography
records
its own little drama of
struggle
and
achievement. In the
end,
the effect is
somewhat
saddening:
one notes that
the nation has not
yet
come to value the
creativity
that it has
engendered.
Hun-
dreds
upon
hundreds of
compositions
are still
seeking publishers
and
per-
formers,
and their creators need
jobs
and
recognition. They
are blocked
by
commercialism,
by timidity, by
the cult
of
masterpiece-worship.
Without rhet-
oric or
eloquence,
Mrs. Reis's
simple
presentation
of factual material-of
summaries and lists-is a
potent
attack
upon complacency
and reaction on the
part
of audiences and the industrialists
of music. And it is a final authoritative
answer to those foolish
people
who are
still
asking
the
too-simple question,
"What is American music?"
LAWRENCE MORTON
HINTS FOR THE RADIO
ACTOR
How to Audition
for
Radio.
By
TED
COTT. New York:
Greenberg. 1946
THE NEOPHYTE who will become a
great
radio actor after
reading
the
142
pages
which Mr. Cott has
assembled under
the
heading,
"How to Audition for
Radio," will become
great
because of
some reason other than the book.
The
author,
in his first
chapter,
re-
peats
that conflict "resolves itself into
three over-all situations:
(i)
man vs.
man;
(2)
man vs.
self;
(3)
man vs. his en-
vironment." It is difficult to determine
in which
category
Mr. Cott finds him-
than a
catalogue. Implicit throughout
its
pages
(and
explicit, though
brief,
in
her
Introduction)
is an informative ac-
'count of the
growth
of an art from
small and imitative
beginnings
to ma-
ture
creativity. Every biography
records
its own little drama of
struggle
and
achievement. In the
end,
the effect is
somewhat
saddening:
one notes that
the nation has not
yet
come to value the
creativity
that it has
engendered.
Hun-
dreds
upon
hundreds of
compositions
are still
seeking publishers
and
per-
formers,
and their creators need
jobs
and
recognition. They
are blocked
by
commercialism,
by timidity, by
the cult
of
masterpiece-worship.
Without rhet-
oric or
eloquence,
Mrs. Reis's
simple
presentation
of factual material-of
summaries and lists-is a
potent
attack
upon complacency
and reaction on the
part
of audiences and the industrialists
of music. And it is a final authoritative
answer to those foolish
people
who are
still
asking
the
too-simple question,
"What is American music?"
LAWRENCE MORTON
HINTS FOR THE RADIO
ACTOR
How to Audition
for
Radio.
By
TED
COTT. New York:
Greenberg. 1946
THE NEOPHYTE who will become a
great
radio actor after
reading
the
142
pages
which Mr. Cott has
assembled under
the
heading,
"How to Audition for
Radio," will become
great
because of
some reason other than the book.
The
author,
in his first
chapter,
re-
peats
that conflict "resolves itself into
three over-all situations:
(i)
man vs.
man;
(2)
man vs.
self;
(3)
man vs. his en-
vironment." It is difficult to determine
in which
category
Mr. Cott finds him-
self,
for the book is a conflict of direc-
tion that is never
quite
clarified.
If the book is directed at those who
are
already'proficient
in the craft of
acting
but for whom radio
acting
is a
new
thing,
then Mr. Cott has at least
a few
good
hints. If it is directed at the
young hopeful
who wants a "career" as
a radio actor without
any previous
training,
the book is
sadly inadequate.
The author has overlooked the fact
that
acting per
se is a
sensitive,
special-
ized
craft,
whether it is
acting
for the
theater,
the
screen,
or radio. Radio is
merely
a medium. To be a
good
radio
actor one must first be a
good
actor.
Mr.
Cott,
in his
approach
to the sub-
ject,
has waddled
along
both banks of
the
river,
and the water is
muddy
in-
deed.
His comments on "conflict" are not
fundamentally
an actor's
problem,
but
that of the
script
writer. His comments
on
"riding
levels,"
that
is,
control of the
speaker's
volume,
are
fundamentally
not the actor's
problem
but that of the
director or the
engineer.
The actor who is new to radio will
find that Mr. Cott's
glossary
of radio
terms,
and his list of director's visual
signals,
are
good,
as also are the
sugges-
tions of such radio-wise
experts
as Elea-
nor
Kilgallen,
Lee
Bland,
Jack Grogan,
and
Marge
Morrow.
They
have con-
tributed some solid-citizen sense.
It is unfortunate that the author's
own contribution is far too
sketchy.
And one wonders if some of the criti-
cism which has been levied at radio
itself is not
provoked by
the kind of
"writing
down" of which the author is
guilty.
As witness:
"The
power
of a radio station is
judged by
its
watts,
but its
popularity
with listeners is measured
by
its 'what-
self,
for the book is a conflict of direc-
tion that is never
quite
clarified.
If the book is directed at those who
are
already'proficient
in the craft of
acting
but for whom radio
acting
is a
new
thing,
then Mr. Cott has at least
a few
good
hints. If it is directed at the
young hopeful
who wants a "career" as
a radio actor without
any previous
training,
the book is
sadly inadequate.
The author has overlooked the fact
that
acting per
se is a
sensitive,
special-
ized
craft,
whether it is
acting
for the
theater,
the
screen,
or radio. Radio is
merely
a medium. To be a
good
radio
actor one must first be a
good
actor.
Mr.
Cott,
in his
approach
to the sub-
ject,
has waddled
along
both banks of
the
river,
and the water is
muddy
in-
deed.
His comments on "conflict" are not
fundamentally
an actor's
problem,
but
that of the
script
writer. His comments
on
"riding
levels,"
that
is,
control of the
speaker's
volume,
are
fundamentally
not the actor's
problem
but that of the
director or the
engineer.
The actor who is new to radio will
find that Mr. Cott's
glossary
of radio
terms,
and his list of director's visual
signals,
are
good,
as also are the
sugges-
tions of such radio-wise
experts
as Elea-
nor
Kilgallen,
Lee
Bland,
Jack Grogan,
and
Marge
Morrow.
They
have con-
tributed some solid-citizen sense.
It is unfortunate that the author's
own contribution is far too
sketchy.
And one wonders if some of the criti-
cism which has been levied at radio
itself is not
provoked by
the kind of
"writing
down" of which the author is
guilty.
As witness:
"The
power
of a radio station is
judged by
its
watts,
but its
popularity
with listeners is measured
by
its 'what-
104 104
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
than a
catalogue. Implicit throughout
its
pages
(and
explicit, though
brief,
in
her
Introduction)
is an informative ac-
'count of the
growth
of an art from
small and imitative
beginnings
to ma-
ture
creativity. Every biography
records
its own little drama of
struggle
and
achievement. In the
end,
the effect is
somewhat
saddening:
one notes that
the nation has not
yet
come to value the
creativity
that it has
engendered.
Hun-
dreds
upon
hundreds of
compositions
are still
seeking publishers
and
per-
formers,
and their creators need
jobs
and
recognition. They
are blocked
by
commercialism,
by timidity, by
the cult
of
masterpiece-worship.
Without rhet-
oric or
eloquence,
Mrs. Reis's
simple
presentation
of factual material-of
summaries and lists-is a
potent
attack
upon complacency
and reaction on the
part
of audiences and the industrialists
of music. And it is a final authoritative
answer to those foolish
people
who are
still
asking
the
too-simple question,
"What is American music?"
LAWRENCE MORTON
HINTS FOR THE RADIO
ACTOR
How to Audition
for
Radio.
By
TED
COTT. New York:
Greenberg. 1946
THE NEOPHYTE who will become a
great
radio actor after
reading
the
142
pages
which Mr. Cott has
assembled under
the
heading,
"How to Audition for
Radio," will become
great
because of
some reason other than the book.
The
author,
in his first
chapter,
re-
peats
that conflict "resolves itself into
three over-all situations:
(i)
man vs.
man;
(2)
man vs.
self;
(3)
man vs. his en-
vironment." It is difficult to determine
in which
category
Mr. Cott finds him-
than a
catalogue. Implicit throughout
its
pages
(and
explicit, though
brief,
in
her
Introduction)
is an informative ac-
'count of the
growth
of an art from
small and imitative
beginnings
to ma-
ture
creativity. Every biography
records
its own little drama of
struggle
and
achievement. In the
end,
the effect is
somewhat
saddening:
one notes that
the nation has not
yet
come to value the
creativity
that it has
engendered.
Hun-
dreds
upon
hundreds of
compositions
are still
seeking publishers
and
per-
formers,
and their creators need
jobs
and
recognition. They
are blocked
by
commercialism,
by timidity, by
the cult
of
masterpiece-worship.
Without rhet-
oric or
eloquence,
Mrs. Reis's
simple
presentation
of factual material-of
summaries and lists-is a
potent
attack
upon complacency
and reaction on the
part
of audiences and the industrialists
of music. And it is a final authoritative
answer to those foolish
people
who are
still
asking
the
too-simple question,
"What is American music?"
LAWRENCE MORTON
HINTS FOR THE RADIO
ACTOR
How to Audition
for
Radio.
By
TED
COTT. New York:
Greenberg. 1946
THE NEOPHYTE who will become a
great
radio actor after
reading
the
142
pages
which Mr. Cott has
assembled under
the
heading,
"How to Audition for
Radio," will become
great
because of
some reason other than the book.
The
author,
in his first
chapter,
re-
peats
that conflict "resolves itself into
three over-all situations:
(i)
man vs.
man;
(2)
man vs.
self;
(3)
man vs. his en-
vironment." It is difficult to determine
in which
category
Mr. Cott finds him-
self,
for the book is a conflict of direc-
tion that is never
quite
clarified.
If the book is directed at those who
are
already'proficient
in the craft of
acting
but for whom radio
acting
is a
new
thing,
then Mr. Cott has at least
a few
good
hints. If it is directed at the
young hopeful
who wants a "career" as
a radio actor without
any previous
training,
the book is
sadly inadequate.
The author has overlooked the fact
that
acting per
se is a
sensitive,
special-
ized
craft,
whether it is
acting
for the
theater,
the
screen,
or radio. Radio is
merely
a medium. To be a
good
radio
actor one must first be a
good
actor.
Mr.
Cott,
in his
approach
to the sub-
ject,
has waddled
along
both banks of
the
river,
and the water is
muddy
in-
deed.
His comments on "conflict" are not
fundamentally
an actor's
problem,
but
that of the
script
writer. His comments
on
"riding
levels,"
that
is,
control of the
speaker's
volume,
are
fundamentally
not the actor's
problem
but that of the
director or the
engineer.
The actor who is new to radio will
find that Mr. Cott's
glossary
of radio
terms,
and his list of director's visual
signals,
are
good,
as also are the
sugges-
tions of such radio-wise
experts
as Elea-
nor
Kilgallen,
Lee
Bland,
Jack Grogan,
and
Marge
Morrow.
They
have con-
tributed some solid-citizen sense.
It is unfortunate that the author's
own contribution is far too
sketchy.
And one wonders if some of the criti-
cism which has been levied at radio
itself is not
provoked by
the kind of
"writing
down" of which the author is
guilty.
As witness:
"The
power
of a radio station is
judged by
its
watts,
but its
popularity
with listeners is measured
by
its 'what-
self,
for the book is a conflict of direc-
tion that is never
quite
clarified.
If the book is directed at those who
are
already'proficient
in the craft of
acting
but for whom radio
acting
is a
new
thing,
then Mr. Cott has at least
a few
good
hints. If it is directed at the
young hopeful
who wants a "career" as
a radio actor without
any previous
training,
the book is
sadly inadequate.
The author has overlooked the fact
that
acting per
se is a
sensitive,
special-
ized
craft,
whether it is
acting
for the
theater,
the
screen,
or radio. Radio is
merely
a medium. To be a
good
radio
actor one must first be a
good
actor.
Mr.
Cott,
in his
approach
to the sub-
ject,
has waddled
along
both banks of
the
river,
and the water is
muddy
in-
deed.
His comments on "conflict" are not
fundamentally
an actor's
problem,
but
that of the
script
writer. His comments
on
"riding
levels,"
that
is,
control of the
speaker's
volume,
are
fundamentally
not the actor's
problem
but that of the
director or the
engineer.
The actor who is new to radio will
find that Mr. Cott's
glossary
of radio
terms,
and his list of director's visual
signals,
are
good,
as also are the
sugges-
tions of such radio-wise
experts
as Elea-
nor
Kilgallen,
Lee
Bland,
Jack Grogan,
and
Marge
Morrow.
They
have con-
tributed some solid-citizen sense.
It is unfortunate that the author's
own contribution is far too
sketchy.
And one wonders if some of the criti-
cism which has been levied at radio
itself is not
provoked by
the kind of
"writing
down" of which the author is
guilty.
As witness:
"The
power
of a radio station is
judged by
its
watts,
but its
popularity
with listeners is measured
by
its 'what-
104 104
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
105 105 105
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
105 105 105
BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
tage'-what
is said and what
gets
across
to the listener."
"Copy
with
your copy,
but don't be
a
copycat."
"You can make
your
mark in the
radio world better with a
pencil
mark."
The reviewer would add a fervent
plea
that authors do not fill out their
texts
by including copies
of radio
scripts (about eighty pages,
in this
one).
Scripts
are available to
anyone
with
enough imagination
to ask for them at
almost
any
radio station.
STUART NOVINS
FOR THE AMATEUR
Pictorial
Continuity-How
to Shoot a
Movie
Story. By
ARTHUR L. GASKILL
and DAVID A. ENGLANDER. New York:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce.
1947
THIS book has a certain limited useful-
ness to the owners of a i6-mm. movie
camera. The authors assume that the
reader knows how to load his film cam-
era and what
stops
and focus to use.
They explain
the uses of
long,
medium,
and close
shots,
angles, pan
shots,
over-
lap
and
reestablishing
shots.
Apparently
the book resembles a
course
given by
the
Signal Corps
Pho-
tographers'
Center for cameramen. The
Army photographers
needed certain
rules in order to cover and make sense
out of the
very exciting
material
they
worked with. To teach them to
lay
a
foundation for their
big
action shots
was
very necessary,
but the authors are
forced to translate this into how to
make
exciting
"little
Johnnie running
to meet Aunt Sallie." Because the au-
thors do not think in terms of the con-
tent of what
they
shoot,
but of certain
constant
rules,
they
seem naive.
For
myself,
I
prefer close-ups
of
baby
Michael to the routine
establishing
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
shots,
medium shot and
close-up,
in-
cluding
extreme
close-up
of Michael's
toy.
I rather think the field of
family
movie is more archive than art....
Anyone
who has suffered
through
2,000
feet of a friend's
trip
to Yosemite knows
that it is far more
interesting
to watch
a six-weeks-old
baby's
face as he's
given
his bath.... But this relates to content
again
and so has no
place
in the
book,
It seems rather like a cookbook that
tells how to
prepare
to cook an
egg.
I
suppose
there is a
place
for such a
book-how to
grease
a
pan,
how to boil
water,
how to heat the oven. But even
at
that,
Escoffier is more
interesting
reading.
For Escoffier deals with the
eggs
themselves and what to do with
them. I recommend a
quote
on cold
eggs:
"The
preparation
of cold
eggs
is
not limited
by rigid
rules: it rests with
the skill and artistic
imagination
of the
cook,
and since fancifulness and
origi-
nality
are
always closely
allied to ar-
tistic
imagination,
it follows that the
varieties evolved
may
be infinite." For
cold
eggs
substitute a
film,
for cook sub-
stitute creator.
C
RICHARD COLLINS
THE STORY OF RADIO
Radio's
Conquest of Space. By
DONALD
McNIcoL. New York:
Murray
Hill
Books.
1946
MR. McNIcoL has written a
"biogra-
phy"
of radio rather than the
biogra-
phies
of the makers of radio.
Wisely,
he
realized that a book
outlining
the de-
velopment
and
progress
of radio must
include
preliminary
material on the
early
discoveries
regarding electricity
and
magnetism. Consequently,
the
reader finds a
complete chronological
recapitulation
of this
important
field of
communication.
105 105 105
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
106 106 106
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
106 106 106
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
HOLLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
In
spite
of the
great
number of
engi-
neers and scientists
mentioned,
and
their contributions
noted,
there is an
essential
unity
in the author's
approach
which
places
this book
high
in its class.
Mr. McNicol's avoidance of hero-wor-
ship
for men like Marconi and Edison
emphasizes
the
importance
of the
many
whose contributions were valuable but
whose names are known to few. The
implication
is inherent that wide
and
rapid
dissemination of
knowledge
through organized
research would have
developed
this means of communica-
tion more
quickly.
To those who
may
wish to learn
how radio
developed
and how it
works, Radio's
Conquest of
Space
is
recommended. A
high
school
physics
background
without mathematics is
sufficient for
understanding.
For the
technician this volume is an excellent
thumbnail reference book and should
readily
find its
place
in
any
technical
library.
library.
LEON BECKER
WRITING FOR RADIO
Handbook
of
Radio
Writing. By
ERIK
BARNOUW.
(Revised
edition;
first edi-
tion
published
in
1939.)
Boston:
Little,
Brown &
Company. 1947
MR. BARNOUW has worked in radio
since
1931
as an
executive,
as a
director,
and as a staff and free-lance writer.
Since
1937
he has combined the
profes-
sion of radio
writing
with that of teach-
ing
radio at Columbia
University,
and
has also lectured on the
subject
at other
universities.
His book is an admirable reflection
of his dual
experience
as
practitioner
and teacher of the radio
arts,
and is
well
designed
to serve as a
practical
textbook. The amount and
variety
of
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
practical
and technical detail
exceeds,
indeed,
anything
I have ever come
across in a
comparable
work.
The
longest
section is devoted to a
description
of
existing
markets for
radio
scripts,
and
analysis
of the de-
mands and taboos of these
markets,
in-
cluding
the market for various
types
of
commercial announcements. Mr. Bar-
nouw
gives
little indication of his
per-
sonal tastes in these
matters,
just
as he
expresses
no
objection
to radio's taboos
and
censorships
and no concern for the
content of radio in
general.
The busi-
ness of this book is the business of mak-
ing
an income from radio
writing,
and
the author sticks
strictly
to business. If
it is
possible
for a book to make a writer
out of a
nonwriter,
this one has as
good
a chance as
any.
S. M.
BRIEFER MENTION
EISENSTEIN'S The Film Sense
(translated
and edited
by Jay Leyda)
has been re-
issued
by
Harcourt,
Brace as a
"new,
revised
edition,"
although
it is
scarcely
that. The earlier edition
(1942) brought
the
bibliography
of Eisenstein's writ-
ings
available in
English
down to
1942,
and the
present
edition
brings
it to
1947.
This means the addition of seven
items. The Film Sense is still one of the
most
interesting
discussions of film
making
ever written.
From Britain.-The number of
jour-
nals devoted to serious discussion of
motion
pictures
continues to increase.
One of the most recent is the Contem-
porary
Cinema,
subtitled "A
Monthly
Christian Review of the Film and a
Critical
Miscellany
of the Film World."
It is founded and edited
by
G. L.
Wheeler at Thornton le
Fylde,
Nr.
Blackpool,
in
Lancashire, England.
We
106 106 106
BOOK REVIEWS
have before us Nos. 1 to
7 (February
to
August, 1947).
It is an
independent
journal published
in association with
the Church of
England
Films Commis-
sion and the Film World and costs one
shilling
a
copy. Roger
Manvell,
Edgar
Anstey,
and Mark
Priestley
are
among
the
regular
contributors. The articles
include reviews of
films,
discussions of
nontheatrical
films,
book
reviews,
etc.
Each issue contains a number of excel-
lent illustrations.
Also from Britain comes
Stage
and
Screen
by
Frank
Shelley,
No.
1
in the
Film
Quarterly
Series
(Pendulum
Pub-
lications, Ltd.,
io Old
Square,
Lincoln's
Inn, London,
W.C.
2).
This is a book
on
acting
for both
stage
and screen. It
includes
analyses
of the work of such
actors as
Gielgud,
Olivier,
Eric Port-
men,
Sybil
Thorndike,
and Vivien
Leigh,
in
Britain,
and such Ameri-
cans as
Muni,
Bogart,
Robinson,
Bette
Davis,
and Garbo. In its
fifty-five pages
the author discusses such
topics
as "The
Theatre and the
Cinema,"
"Psychology
of the
Actor,"
"The Film vs. the
Play,"
and "A Classical Cinema?"
Filmgoers'
Review: A Pictorial Sur-
vey of
the Year's Films
i946-1947
(Albyn
Press,
42
Frederick
Street,
Edin-
burgh 2)
is
by Forsyth Hardy.
In addi-
tion to critical
analyses
of a selected list
of
British, American,
and French
films,
there are a
group
of thumbnail sketches
of
"personalities
of the
year."
These in-
clude Fred
Astaire,
Ingrid Bergman,
Marcel
Carne,
John
Ford,
Henry
Watt,
and Orson Welles. The film reviews are
well
written,
interesting,
and reflect a
high
level of critical taste. The follow-
ing
list of films selected for review is
interesting
for its omissions as well as
its inclusions: Anna and the
King of
Siam,
The Bells
of
St.
Mary's,
Beware
of
Pity,
The
Captive
Heart,
The Corn Is
Green,
Day
of Wrath,
Les
Enfants
du
Paradis,
Frenzy (Hets),
Great
Expecta-
tions,
The Green
Years,
I See a Dark
Stranger,
Ivan the
Terrible,
Lady
in
the
Lake,
The Last
Chance,
Leave Her
to
Heaven,
Love
Eternal,
Make Mine
Music,
A Matter
of Life
and
Death,
Men
of
Two
Worlds,
Mildred
Pierce,
Night
and
Day,
A
Night
in
Casablanca,
The
Overlanders,
Portrait
of Maria,
The Razor's
Edge, Saratoga
Trunk,
Scarlet
Street,
School
for Secrets,
The
Searching
Wind,
Song of
the
South,
Spectre of
the
Rose,
Spellbound,
The
Spiral
Staircase,
A Stolen
Life,
The
Strange
Love
of
Martha
Ivers,
The
Stranger,
Theirs Is the
Glory, I3
rue
Madeleine,
Tomorrow Is
Forever,
The
Virginian,
and A Woman
Disappeared.
From the same
press
also comes In-
formational
Film Year Book
I947.
This
is an authoritative
survey
of the infor-
mational film in all its branches.
Ap-
proximately
a third of the book's
175
pages
is devoted to a series of brief arti-
cles
by
such authorities as Norman Wil-
son
("The
Non-theatrical
Cinema"),
Paul Rotha
("Documentary
Is Neither
Short Nor
Long"), John
Grierson
("Re-
port
from
America"),
Basil
Wright
("Films
and
Unesco"), Forsyth Hardy
("Films
for
Children"),
and others. The
remainder contains a
buyers' guide
for
the
purchase
of
projection equipment,
a
listing
of
important
informational
films of the
year,
and a
directory
of
British
organizations,
film
societies,
cine
societies,
informational film
pro-
ducers,
studios and
cutting
rooms,
film
laboratory
services,
film libraries and
distributors,
film
periodicals,
and cine
stock lists. This should be an
extremely
valuable book for users of informa-
tional and educational films.
107
H O LLYWOOD
QUARTERLY
Bibliographies
and directories.-Sev-
eral useful
bibliographies
and film di-
rectories have
recently
come to the
Book Editor's desk. Cornelius H. Sie-
mens,
of the
Department
of
Education,
University
of
California,
has issued a
Selected List
of
Audio-Visual Cata-
logues
and Sources
of
Equipment
and
Materials
(University
of California
Press, Berkeley 4, California,
1946; 40c).
The American Educational Theatre
Association has issued a Selected Bibli-
ography
on Theatre and Social Scene.
This
bibliography
is
prepared by
a re-
search committee
consisting
of
John
H.
McDowell, chairman,
John
Gassner,
Claude L.
Shaver,
George
Kernodle,
and Richard
Ceough,
and
may
be ob-
tained from Professor William Hal-
stead,
Speech Department, University
of
Michigan,
Ann
Arbor,
Michigan.
The AETA has also issued i6-mm.
Films
for
Use in the
Teaching of
Dra-
matics. This
may
be obtained from
either. of its
compilers,
Frank Neus-
baum,
Pennsylvania
State
College,
Pa.,
or
Jacob
Foster,
Brooklyn College.
The Motion Picture Division of the
Library
of
Congress
has
compiled
a
Guide to United States Government
Motion Pictures
(Superintendent
of
Documents,
U. S. Government Print-
ing
Office,
Washington 25,
D.C.;
40c).
Under the
headings: History,
Social
Sciences,
Agricultural
Sciences,
and
Technical
Sciences,
are listed
1,330
films.
A
comprehensive
annotated
bibliog-
raphy
on radio and television has been
prepared by
Oscar Rose. It is entitled
Radio
Broadcasting
and Television
(H.
W. Wilson
Company, 950 University
Ave.,
New York
52,
N.Y.;
$1.50). Nearly
1,oo000 books, articles,
and
pamphlets
are
listed under such
subject headings
as
Publicity
and Sales
Promotion,
Careers
in
Radio,
Radio
Announcing, Writing,
and
Acting,
Radio
Law,
Radio
Plays,
etc. The
explanatory
notes for each
item are concise and useful. Mr. Rose
is
program
director for CBS and does
overseas
broadcasting
for the State De-
partment.
This is a useful
bibliography.
China Film
Enterprises
of
America,
Inc.,
35
Park
Ave.,
New York
16,
has
issued a
catalogue,
Films about China.
The films are listed under the head-
ings:
China before the
War,
China
during
the
War,
and Chinese Art and
Culture.
A conference on the use of audio-
visual materials in international un-
derstanding, sponsored jointly by
the
American Council on Education and
the Film Council of
America,
was held
in
Washington,
D.C.,
June
14-16, 1946.
The
report
of the
proceedings
and reso-
lutions of this
conference,
entitled Use
of
A udio-visual Materials toward Inter-
national
Understanding,
and edited
by
Helen Seaton
Preston,
has been issued
by
the American Council on Education
(744 Jackson
Place,
Washington
6,
D.C.).
The
report
contains a full record
of the
prepared
talks and discussions.
Also included are the recommenda-
tions formulated for submission to the
Preparatory
Commission of UNESCO.
The American Council on Education
has also
published
Foundations
for
Teacher Education in A udio-visual In-
struction, by
Elizabeth
Goudy
Noel and
J.
Paul Leonard. The intent is to
"pro-
vide a
brief,
practical,
and
easily
usable
manual and
guide
for those who are
initiating, developing,
or
revising pro-
grams designed
to
prepare
teachers
competent
in the use of audio-visual
materials." There is included a twelve-
page bibliography.
io8
BOOK RI
A
noteworthy
issue of the Annals
of
the American
Academy
of
Political and
Social Science
(3457
Walnut
St.,
Phila-
delphia 4, Pa.)
for
March,
1947,
is de-
voted to Communication and Social
Action.
Among
the
subjects
treated are
"Language
Barrier to International
Understanding" (Mortimer Graves),
"Position of the Press in a Free
Society"
(Alan Barth),
"Social
Impact
of Radio"
(Kenneth
G.
Bartlett),
"Social Uses of
;VIEWS
109
the Motion Picture"
(Arch
A.
Mercey),
and "The
Engineering
of Consent"
(Edward
L.
Bernays). Especially impor-
tant for those interested in the mass
media of communication is the authori-
tative and
interesting
article
by
Daniel
Katz,
"Psychological
Barriers to Com-
munication." A
forthcoming
issue of
the Annals is to be devoted to the eco-
nomic, social,
and
psychological aspects
of motion
pictures.
F. F.