DECLINE OF ACTING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 102, 1 May 1936, Page 10

DECLINE OF ACTING

SIR CEDRIC HARDWICKE AND THE STAGE. (JI AN - L IN A< TOK'S VOICE. Surveying the theatre as it now i>. *ir Cedr:.- Hardwicke, the actor, said recently:— ••We see a theatre which is damned and darkened by many forces making for its extinction. For the time being the theatre docs not appear to be fulfilling the purely andiih dural and domestic function of ‘wings’ to the great world entertainment stage which the cinema has now become, and we, who haunt them are but servants of shadows. Sir Cedric observed that strange new words had found their way into the actor’s technical vocabulary, and often he had a strange new way of saying them, so that one trembled a little for the future of the English tongue. In the last 4'* year* life and the drama had changed places. •‘Actors have rut their hair, taken to patronising the best tailors, and gone into society, and they have not gained in intellectuality what, ticy have lost in picturesqueness. “The actor's voire has dropped from the declamatory to the almost confiding coo of the crooner, and hi' gestures are restricted to lighting a ner of a handkerchief dLcredly into its correct place in hi- jacket pocket, and tends to become inarticulate. Theatre ‘‘Academic” “ 1 he stage has found it hard to survive in a world increasingly hostile to any institution not furthering the cause of realism in all its grimmest and most shattering manifestalions. The theatre was now thought to be almost academic entertainment when compared with the frankly commercial appeal of the cinema. ‘‘The theatre of to-morrow will be an oasis on a planet of mechanised pleasure. .Spectacle and realism will go cn Ung delivered to the people in tin boxes from Elstre ami Hollywood. The theatre —that will be tor beauty. 1: will, lie a retreat for those w.ic delight in hearing the human voice at its bos’, who appreciate the charm and distinction of good manners ami notable deportment. ami who are responsive to the appeal of all that is implicit in the term -good taste.’ ’’ Miss Marie Tempe>t, the well-known actress, when asked tcomment on Sir Cedric's criti-isms, said: “I think the stage to-day is in a very healthy condition. Bur. Sir Cedric, up to a poim, is right when he talks about actors’ have not been able to hear "tie word of the ends of sentences in certain actors’ and actresses’ speeches. Merle Oberon. Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea take the leading roles in “These Three.” Th picture is attracting widespread attention and is the subject of much discussion. Ihe story was written by Lilian Helman, and is being produced by Samuel Goldwyn.