LOOKING AHEAD.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19971, 4 July 1930, Page 13

LOOKING AHEAD.

FUTURE OF THE TALKIES.

MR JOHN FULLER PROPHETIC.

That m twenty years' time there will be no theatres or picture bliows and no newspapers is the prophecy made by Mr John Fuller, who returned to Christchurch last night after making an[ inspection of the theatres on the West Coast. Their place, be says, will b© taken by television, and people will be able to see and hear in their own homes not only all the current events of the day but also the greatest artists of the world.

"I have spent tho evening listening to the talkie production of 'The Last of Mrs Cheyney," he said, "and I have come away from it convinced that the day of the legitimate theatre is gone forever. In sport, art, and music there are no international boundaries. To-day you can see the greatest artists of the world in any town you happen to be in. It is no good anyone commg back from London and saying: 'I saw "So and So" in "Such and Such" and making a boast about it, because the people here have seen them also, and the beauty of the talkies is that they can show so much more than is possible within the limits of tho four walls of the theatre "A preat deal has been said about so much money going to America, but it must be remembered that while the money goes there in the first place a great deal of it is being used to pay big salaries to English actors who are imported to that country to take parts in the plays being produced as talkies. There is no danger of a shortage of plays, because there are sufficient written now to last another ten years, and by that time conditions will , have changed. No More Theatres. "Although 1 am interested in theatres and with my brother own many of them, jL am strongly of opinion tnat wjthm twenty years there will be »« more theatres in existence. They wiihave gone to make way lor television. Then people will sit in their own homes and hear and see not only the current events of the day (which will also mean there will be no newspapers) but they will also be able to see and hear tho greatest artists in the world. There wiH be no more effort in it than there is in turning on the radio in the homes of to-day. The day of the flesh and blood actor on the legitimate stage has gone for good and all. At the present time, there is nothing doing any good in Australia, and, according to a statement I saw dealing with theatrical matters in. London, thero are only five shows running thero. In stead of having to put up with mediocrities, the people of to-day are getting the greatest artists, and thero is no restriction of placo. The man in the small country town can see them jnst the same as the man in the big cities of the world. "The day of musicians in orchestras has gone also. Th e 7 n°t come back for reasons similar to that governing the pictures. As I said, there is no boundary for music and the best artists are available to the people of the world, whereas in the past they only been heard by the favoured few in the great cities.

Reduction in Prices. "As you know, the name of Fuller's has aiways stood for family entertainment at the cheapest prices that would allow us to carry on our business. Since we have made the change over to the pictures, we have kept our old (iolicy in sight, but it was ueeeshury lor us to settle down into the new system and to find but how things were going before we could make any definite plana.

"I believe that the American producers will realise that the present high prices that are being charged will debar a certain number of people from attending the pictures, and that they will make a reduction accordingly on the policy that it is better for everyone to come and see the pictures than for onlv a few. The prices that are being charged to-day have made people selective. What 1 should like to see is such a level of orices that the mass of the people would get the habit ,of attending the show regularly every week, not worrying so much about what f particular picture was on, but knowing that thev would be getting good entertainment. "I hope to be in the position shortly to mnke the announcement that prices in all controlled by - Fullers will be reduced.

Smoking la Theatres. "Another of the matters that I am taking up and one, I hope, the Government will adopt, is for permission for smoking in certain parts of the theatres. | 'lt is curious, when you come to think of it, that you can go to London and hear grand opera at Drury Lane and sit there and smoke in comfort and yet here, in modern fireproof theatres and with forced ventilation systems, a man is debarred from smoking in any part of the building. lam hoping the Government will give us permisnon, because I am sure it is a thing that would be greatly appreciated by large numbers of people." Commenting on the big attractions that are coming to Cbristchurch, Mr Fnller said that the greatest of them that would be screened in the near future was "The Green Goddess," in which George Arliss is featured. Asked as to what had happened to the host of actors and actresses who thronged the legitimate stages, he said they had disappeared. "Some of the men are keeping fish shops," he added. "and some of the girls have got jobs as barmaids. They have drifted into all sorts of things and the only thing certain is that they will never be back on the stage again, for that is a thing of the past."