INSPIRATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 261, 3 November 1928, Page 5 (Supplement)

INSPIRATION.

IDEAS FOR THE SCREEN.

FAIRBANKS AND CHAPUN.

THEIR DIFFERENT METHODS.

(Copyright to the "Auckland Star.")

"The method of work I have described is the only one that suite me," says Douglas Fairbanks, continuing his talk of last week. "Everyone, has his own ideas in these matters. Chaplin's way is quite different. He see 9 a chair, for instance. 'Oh, what a beautiful chair,* he says, 'I must have that chair.' And so he builds up hie chair, nd then he says, 'Now I must have a room for the chair.' And eo he goes on and builds a room for the chair and then a house, and finally a human life around it, and finally he gets his film. Chaplin 6ees a chair, and all the 'trouble' comes from that. A single detail. With me, it is the whole that counts. I have a feeling and then I try to find the right expression for it.. First the skeleton and then the flesh and blood. "But ideas are give, me throagh details and impressions which, therefore, have their own importance. Two years ago I pa ; & a visit to Russia, followed by one to the Holy Land. Then I crossed Europe and went to Lourdes, that wonderful place of pilgrimage. When I returned to America the two highlights in my mind were Russia and Lourdes; simple faith with ?. mystical mixture of chivalry. Then I went to Mexico, where I found similar types. Apart from that I have long 6ince wanted to play the role of a Mexican cowboy—and 'The Gaucho' was the result. "AH for the FiW "Adventure, adventure, adventure! That's what keep 9 me living, and it is -Iso what keeps me at Hollywood— that strange place where films are born. Hollywood is the one and only place for making films. Everything at Hollywood exist* for the films. If you see a man in. a broad-brimmed sombrero sitting at the table with a glass of lemonade and adding up big columns-of figures, you may be sure that he is planning or preparing a film. Why does the sun shine at Hollywood? For the film makers. Why does the sea make waves? For .he film makers. Why are children born? Why do plants grow in abundance? All "or the film. And even lovers sitting in the moonlight don't talk about love, but films. Thousands of clever men, ambitious people, American, English, German, French and Hungarian, Spanish, Chinese and negroes, all converge on Hollywood to make films. Monotony Inevitable. "This union of force, of course, makes for efficiency, but'it also has its drawbacks. As all hum*n beings at Hollywooa have very much the same ideas in their minds—the same impulses, desires and thoughts—it is impossible to escape monotony altogether. The mind becomes tired through continually seeing the same kind of thing, and the supply of new ideas and impulses seems to dry up. Whenever I feel myself falling a victim to this kind, of fatigue I rush off to Europe fo< new impressions. In America we live in a state of perpetual tension about the morrow; in Europe, people have time to look back to what has happei ed already. It is a complete change of atmosphere, which I find very valuable. "I have no taste for systematic research. I prefer to leave things to chance and keep my eyes and ears wide open to seize it when it comes. I like the society of clever theatrical artists such as Reinhardt, in whose entourage I often find young people with ideas These, however, should not be too new from my point of view. I am rather afraid of revolutionary ideas .in art. They contain too much theory and generally turn out wrong in practice, but technical innovations are always welcome because they help to counteract the impression of 'out-of-dateness.' "Neglect of this rule is perhaps one reason why some excellent directors do not always do themselves justice Thus, for instance, Griffith's genius seems to have slumbered of late. But everybody has lapses. Chaplin has, Mary has, and so have I. But when my brain is fagged. I plunge into sports; I fence, swim, ride, drive cars, fly and travel, all to become fit again in mind and body, and all to resume the lifelong chase after the single dream of my existence—the great adventure.