THE LAUGH SLEUTH

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 30, 4 August 1923, Page 20

THE LAUGH SLEUTH

£ MODERN PROFESSION.

with him, but it is none th .Nation §%£=#§? film without a ] auirh is to X~Spotter No lOrrCel-Ve3a1 Orr Cel-Ve3a r^°rt from STE^ w^hifowftoX .spo nt Ste, and the thW is > -S^^S uiS^fS.lSSal 1 aWlft W¥ e day> a"d a work at night. In some cases in the Ince Studios and those of the First. National the officials of the company give a hand to the laugh-spotter. The theory of relllrnf °nlfu^ "that motion 7 picture tefneT h°atra to bo

" proving, laughs into a picture is the Row! TT ?"&" sa *a Richard A Rowland head of First National. «It 13 so. difficulty- that, even after the production has been completed, it takes an expert to tabulate laughs, as . the other persons have seen the. photoplay so many

Hal Roach who directs the Harold -Woyd comedies, has a natural bent for humorous situations, despite the fact that Ms" studlousand serious minded. He

"^Creating laughs for the screen is a m»t£ m aAf? *5- °ne o£ hi Shet> mathematics. _ After-dinner speakers know how ;comfortm K ,t i 3 to.raise a real laugh from fh« S lendIy audience. Imagine, then, the problem confronting a producer and a star who must get together and .keep an jinsympathetic audience laughine almost constantly for more than one lour. It is a very serious business " • Laughter," says H. O. Schwalbe, treaST n °1 F'rv- aU°^ " » clowly- related to tears. Violent laughter is a form of hysteria. _ The man who laughs hilariously at anything has lost control of his emotions. The man who smiles inwardly is an expert at humour, because ho retains self-control and while enjoying himself is able to observe the effect on others, lhat type of man would make an excellent laugh spotter Any one who wanTs fo study the art o£ laugh spotting is advised to attend a screening determined not to laugh but to observe the chuckles and laughs of others—to count them ant! form an opinion of tho comedy in the picture." When a trade show of a picture is hold tor exhibitors one discovers that lauriitor is suppressed. A good hearty laugh may cost the theatre owner 50 dollars more for the renting of the film. Hence ho iroes to tho show with tho idea of belittling it as much as possible. Laugh? Ho wouldn't .augli at Chiirho Chaplm.