"EVERYDAY" STORIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22166, 20 July 1935, Page 14 (Supplement)

"EVERYDAY" STORIES

MODERN SCREEN TREND RETURN TO REALITY There was a time -when screen stories of modern life fell into two extreme types. To put it rather crudely, their heroines were either poor Cinderellas or poor little rich girls. There was no real attempt to show the homeliness of life as it is lived by the majority of filmgoers themselves. One might regard 1924 as the turning joint, for that year saw the production of "Penrod and Sam," a typical American story about a typical American middle-class boy. Following that, each succeeding year had something of the sort to offer. "So Big" was 1925's contribution, and " Stella Dallas" appeared in 1926. " Sorrel 1 and Son" (1928) was perhaps the first attempt to film the unemployment problem as it affects the middle-class man of good birth and education. The following year was marked by the making of " The Crowd." King Vidor, ' who always does something different, mainly because he only films themes which sincerely interest him, created a great impression with this presentation of the joys and sorrows of an ordinary young married couple. The coming of sound seemed to give new impetus to the movement. One of the earliest talkies, " The Home Towners," was of this type, and each succeeding yeir has seen an increase in the number of stories of middle-class people. The Will Rogers series, " They Had to See Paris" and "So This is London," helped to keep the ball rolling, but these stories of a new-rich American family "doing" Europe were perhaps too American in outlook to have that charm which is universal in appeal.

" Seed" was better, though marred by a rather impossible story. " After To-morrow" was a pathetically true-to-life study of a young couple prevented by family ties from getting married. This unpretentious little film- would no doubt have attracted the attention it deserved if Janet Gaynor, and not Marian Nixon, had played opposite Charles Farrell. Then came those small-town tragicomedies. " Politics," "Reducing" and "Prosperity," which gave such splendid opportunities for the display of Marie Dressler's wonderful gift of moving us equally to laughter and tears. Recently, the trend in films dealing with the middle classes has been mainly in the direction of stories of the farming communities, the homely humour of Will Rogers and those half-farcical families, the leading lights of which are always portrayed by Guy Kibbee and Aline MacMahon.

Tho countryside cycle has produced some really fine pictures. "The Stranger's Return," "As the Earth Turns," "Golden Harvest," and, in lighter vein, "Hide-Out" are all memorable. The British screen has so far contributed nothing of importance to this great series. " Little Friend," for example, would have been far less limited in its appeal if the characters had been ordinary middle-class people. The child's dilemma would have held infinitely more pathos had it been shown up, contrast, against everyday surroundings. Perhaps British film-makers argue, with an old fallacy as the basis of their contention, that cinema audiences want to be entertained, and that entertainment is synonymous with escape. But there is a special joy in tho familiar. When tho screen finds humour and charm in what wo thought was merely humdrum, our lives take on a more vivid aspect.