TWO-REEL COMEDIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17346, 10 May 1924, Page 20

TWO-REEL COMEDIES.

MOST DIFFICULT FILMS TO MAKE.

Here's an angle to the motion picture business few people realize, according to Carl Laemmle. the president of Universal. “ Most people are impressed with a million-dollar picture, but as a matter of fact any one can make a milliondollar picture if he has million or can raise it. Dozens of directors are capable of making splendid drama, but the rare bird in the motion picture business is the man who can make a good short, comedy. “ In the first place, there is a limit to the expense that can be put into a short comedy. Short pictures, no matter how good,, never have and probably never will yield the returns that a five-reel picture of even poorer quality will bring. Therefore, instead of figuring in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it is necessary to figure in only a few thousands in making short comedies. *“ Long comedies are much easier to make than short ones. In the long ones the exjsense limit is not so narrow and there is greater latitude of every sort. “ In the second place, the number of persons who know how to make a short comedy really funny is extremely limited. It seems to be a peculiar knack, possessed by a bare handful of men. Scores of men who have been considered funny on the stage have fallen flat in attempting screen humour. Dozens of men who have been highly successful as authors of funny stories have been a monumental frost in trying to be funny for the camera. I’ve had more trouble over comedies than over any other class of pictures. I don’t doubt that this has been the experience of every producer who has tried both kinds. It’s a sad business making comedies. It’s twice as sad as making million-dollar pictures. “ Without intending to detract in the least from the glory of directors who have made successful million-dollar pictures, I must say in justice to numberless other directors that almost any of them could make a corking good picture if he had a million to spend. That's a lot of money. It covers a lot of mistakes. It gives the director a great deal of elbow room and plenty of room for experimenting with all sorts of effects and stunts. I believe I could direct a good picture myself if I want ed to spend 1,000,000 dollars trying it, and yet I never actually directed any kind of a picture in my life. “ But I couldn’t make a short comedy to save my life. If I ever tried to make one I’d hate to be compelled to look at it. I know of no more difficult job in the business. Thousands of them have been made, but the jjencentage of genuinely funny ones is so low as to be almost negligible. Next time that you see a one or two reel comedy which actually gives you a few laughs 1 remember that the sweat of somebody's brow—maybe many a brow—u’orked overtime to make you smile aloud. “ Making drainas or even tragedies is not so hard. But making comedies is a tragedy. I don't suppose there is a sadder task in the world.”