STORIES FOR THE SILVER SCREEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 150, 27 June 1931, Page 6 (Supplement)

STORIES FOR THE SILVER SCREEN

WHERE DOES THE SUPPLY COME FROM ? PICTURE DIRECTOR AS WRITER (Written exclusively iur the “Chronicle* by Robert White) With the major producing companies in Hollywood making approxi mately three hundred motion pictures each year, the problem of obtaining sufficient literary background for these celuloid stories becomes, indeed, While the world’s bookshelves provide a very helpful source of suitable literature, yet popular books alone supply less than half the required number of scripts each year. Original stories, written directly for the screen, have always been in the majority, as subjects for production, although, since the advent of talking pictures, plays and novels have steadily increased in importance as literary sources.

For the silent screen it was neces sary to select stories that could be told pictorially. Many great books would not make great pictures because action was the first requisite. But the advent of sound has changed this situation considerably, making possible the telling of any story, whether it be mainly action, dialogue, or a witty combination of both with equal success. It is interesting to note that, of eighteen pictures in production or newly completed at the Paramount studios, six are adapted from popular novels, six are original ideas engendered within the studios by salaried writers, and four arc based on successful stage plays. Of the first group are 4 4 The Conquering Horde” by Emerson Hough; “Finn and Hettie 7 ’ from Donald Ogden Stewart’s “Haddock” stories; “Dude Ranch” by Milton Krims; ‘‘Man of the World,” based on Michael Arlen’s “Cavelier of the Streets;” “Ladies’ Man,” by Rupert Hughes, and “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser. The group of original stores includes “City Streets,” “Dishonoured,” “Skippy,” “Tarnished Lady,” “The Vice Squad,” “Scarlet Hours,” and “The Smiling Lieutenant.” The play adaptations are “June Moon,” “Kick In,” “Up Pops the Devil” and “Unfaithful.” Of particular interest also is it to note that two of the original screen productions, “Dishonoured” and “Scarlet Hours” are the works of the directors, Josef von Sternberg and Edmund Goulding, respectively. While the latter has been credited with the story and direction of several recent pictures, including “The Devil’s Holiday” and “The Trespasser,” von Sternberg is a newcomer in the writing field. This enlarging of his production scope, however, is perhaps a significant move, being a forerunner to the time when the author of a motion picture play will follow its production throughout every stage and up to the final snip of the cutting scissors. Von Sternberg offers no explanation for his sudden turn to writing, leaving us to surmise that in the desire to obtain suitable material for ? Marlene Dietrich’s second Paramount picture, he came to the conclusion that his own ideas were as good as anyone else’s. Better perhaps, for his use, since one has less difficult and can be more convincing when arguing with one’s selfGoulding’s current production “Scarlet Hours,” is his second for Paramount, and incidentally, his second for Nancy Carroll. He is probably the oldest advocate of the writer-director method of production. “If every director wrote his own stories it is highly probable that his finished product would be more satisfactory, at least to him,” maintains Goulding. “It is a comparatively simple matter for a man to carry out his own ideas with camera and puppets, whereas it often becomes difficult to grasp

what an author expects of one of his scenes. “Of course, the system is not practical in most cases to-day. Only a few directors can write, and almost no authors can direct. But it’s certain to prove its superiority, at least in the production of big pictures, before many years have passed,” he concludes with a smile. Theodore Dreiser’s epic Pulitzer novel, “An American Tragedy,” will serve as an extremely interesting demonstration of the possibilities ot the talking film as a medium of dramatic expression. Ever since the publication of Dreiser’s novel, the question has been constantly raised as to whether this work could be transposed to the screen. Naturally, there is a vast difference! in popular appeal between the novel j on one hand and the silent screen onj the other. Notwithstanding the large sum of money paid for the picture rights of this story by Paramount a few years ago, company executives recognised the difficulties of producing the play under the restrictions of pantomime in the silent screen. It was then decided that it would be better to forego this investment than to produce the picture in a form that either would lack the necessary dramatic power, or violate accepted community standards. But now that the talking picture has replaced the silent film, the production of this great story has become an actuality. Retrieved from the filing cabinets of the Paramount story department, where it has rested among unused synopses from plays, short stories, novels, and half-finished ideas, “An American Tragedy” was once again brought into light. Production is now under way at Hollywood studios under the direction of the genius, Josef von Sternberg, and with such prominent young players as Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee and Irving Pichel in the cast. It is a matter of demonstration, not debate, whether a story of this typo can be produced in a satisfactory manner. But the actual production will, at least, prove these possibilities of the screen. The task is admitted a difficult one, when it is known that the talking picture of “An American Tragedy” will select and transpose into approximately ninety minutes of screen time the dramatic values of a book of 840 pages. The final production, whether successful, partly so, or not at all so, will demonstrate as never before the horizon and general scope of the talking screen. Paramount executives believe it will prove a sensational triumph for the screen. They are so sure of its success that they back their belief with their reputations as producers. If “An American Tragedy” succeeds as a film, one more source of literature will have been developed, for just as this unique tale has defied picturisation in the past, so are there other stories equally great awaiting the call of “Camera.”