TALKING MOVIES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16939, 13 January 1923, Page 6

TALKING MOVIES

1 ARE THEY WANTED P Does the public want “ talking movies?” That (says the “Christian Science Monitor ”) is a question which, strangely enough, has never before been asked. But it seems safe to assume that the public is more interested in the betterment of pictues as they are than in exjloits which will bring about a synchronised combination of human voices and actions. Every once in so often the public is told that some inventor usually in Europe, has perfected the contrivance The public is only mildly interested, and turns again to the advertisements telling of new pictures being made in It is interesting to note what Charles Chaplin has to say in his book “My Trip Abroad ” about the matter. He reports a conversation he had in England with St John Ervine, who is much interested in “ talking movies.” Chaplin explains that the voice is an unnecessary adjunct , and “ spoils the sgf, as much as painting spoils statuary. *• I would as soon, ’ lie writes, “‘rouge marble cheeks. Pictures are pantomimic art. o might as well have the stage. There would be nothing left to the imagination.” It may be argued that Chaplin, bemg a master of pantomime, is-a bit prejudiced. But we think he lias gone to the root of the matter. Pictures are made to appeal to the eye. ami through it. to the inner eve. the imagination. Cumbersome subtitles too often presuppose a lack of imagination in motion picture audiences and in nearly every case where they are abundant and unnecessarPv ex-planatoi-y the pictures which thev aie meant to adorn are wearvinz and uninteresting- How much mo-o ~, interesting would thev he ' , . , " were each action accompanied hy the human , “ spea-ing to explain pantomime o m , t,lc achievement would t J ,CIn fora t! “s' but the picn,od<; oi dramatic expresfited ° U d llot “ n permanentlv beneAs the motion picture art develops.I ? eu an . "'°mcn with a keen sense of uramatic values and a. perception of oeauty will inevitably to it. Pictures will result which will make such a powerful appeal to the imagination that the human voice will not be needed. One of the most interesting pictures oi tile year, and one that made perhaps the most wonderful appeal to the imagination. was Captain Flaherty’s- “ Xanook of the North” No substitutes were needed in this picture to explain the grim struggle for existence waged by the Eskimo. No addition of the human voice was necessary to explain the bravery, the stolid courage of the man who wrested his food and shelter from tho elements of the North. In this picture, as in few others, the old copybook maxim “Actions speak louder than words,” time-worn and frayed as it is, tells the literal truth. When Nanook faced the blizzard, seeking shelter for himself an & his family, his face showed his determination to fight and conquer tho blizzard. The fiung-back head, the gleaming eyes and the quiet courage in his walk told the story far better than if his voice, cleverly synchronised to his action, had said in Eskimo language or its English equivalent. “ T must fight this storm and conquer.” Educationally, talking pictures may be a great achievement. Dramatically speaking, they seem to have no place in the march of tho indn«frr