DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 93, 11 July 1927, Page 7

DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

THE MORAL OF THE MOVIES (Copyright. 1927.) /-\N the first night: A hero comes treading upon the clouds to the dwelling o£ his betrothed. At the gate he stops. Upon the window-blind he has seen two shadows locked in fond embrace. One shadow belongs to the heroine, the other to an unknown male. Does he go in and find out who the mysterious stranger is? Not he. Instead he plunges into the darkness, drinking from a large bottle and telling the world that frailty’s name is woman. Came dawn —some reels later—and he discovers that the male shadow belonged to the heroine’s long-lost brother. And all Is well. On the second night: The athletic star’s father forbids him to play football. The co-ed heroine the star loves asks him why he is not out for the team. He hangs his head and just says he isn’t playing that year. Complications for several reels. Then the simple fact comes out and all is cleared up. ~ On the third night, the heroine has just said “yes” to the hero. The discomfited villain steals a letter from the heroine to a girl friend. He shows the signature; “Lovingly, Helen,” to the hero, telling him the letter is one sent to himself. What happens? Does the hero examine the letter, or go to the girl for an explanation? Not that huckleberry. He sails at dawn for Hong Kong or the Argentine. Then finding out the villain’s perfidy, he rushes home to hear the explanation he should have sought back several thousand feet of film.

If every character in every movie gave the others a chance to explain, there would be few mix-ups and few movies. It is the tongue-tied that thicken the plot. . When we see a movie we are not satisfied unless there is a mix-up ot some sort. In our lives, we are just as well satisfied if they are left out. So the moral of the movies is: get the facts, give others a chance to explain, go to the person himself for an explanation. Most lovers' quarrels come because they do not wait for a full explanation. Most hurt feelings arise from jumping at conclusions about what others think of us. Most insulted people, most unhappy young people and uncomfortable old people owe their wounded feelings to similar causes. Having a “slow brain” when it comes to arriving at conclusions that others are unfaithful, deceptive, two-faced, is a great aid to peace of mind. An ear that is too-well attuned to catching hidden meanings and subtle slights misses, much of the real music of life.