Short Subjects May Return To Screen

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 86, 2 July 1927, Page 23

Short Subjects May Return To Screen

Vital Role in Future STARS ORIGINAL SUCCESS Will the “short subject” again dominate the screen woi'ld?

In an address on “The Photoplay From the Point of View of the Needs of the E x h i b itor ” at the Writers’ Club, Columbia University, S. L. Rothafel predicted that it would play a vital role in tl

gress of the motion picture. Mr. Rothafel said: “Most of our stars to-day—Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, and no end of others —came into their own through the medium of the short subject, which of late years has been relegated to the background, but with the dearth of adequate material and the increasing needs of the exhibitor the day of the short subject is returning. “By this I do not mean scenics and travelogues, but the actual production of dramatic stories, in which our stars, the best of them, will play the leading parts. These pictures will play the same part in the scheme of things as the short story does in the world of literature. The stars themselves feel the need of this form of dramatic expression.' Only too often a story which cannot sustain lengthy subjects in its development can be made into a little gem in two or three thousand feet. “The feature picture, productions of the highest order, will always be in vogue, but the O. Henrys and the Balzacs of our world have yet to be developed. Their day has arrived. Can you not imagine the exquisite and artistic work that will result? And exhibitors will be eager to pay big money for these additions to their programmes. “They are paying big money now for dancers and singers, and are more than eager to develop the celluloid portion of their programme.

“These photo-plays will, of course, be made with the utmost care and intelligence, and in the developments of the immediate future you will find that producers realise this, and that among the most artistic photo-plays in our theatres will be this abbreviated form of photo-play.”