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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1922)
TTTE SUNDAY OREGOXTAX. PORTLANr-, JAXXTART 20, 1922 IMPRESSIONS MADE BY PHOTOPLAY PROVE INTERESTING STUDY FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS Average Person Lives Role Which Actor Essays, Suffering "and Weepinsr, or Registering Joy, as Players Juggle With Feelings and Cast Hypnotic Spell by Intensely Dramatic Renditions. my ?- 1 f i i i i i iiiiijM-- i i Mirnrrr - ir--i ii t iS A;..fcij-ty;'W i - --.i.iwiirfi..jrjrtt'ivg' Gilliam Service. N. T. A bo vr Richard Barthelmesa U, able Make apectatara ahara fcla frclinsa. Lawn left Jackie Coo Kan la a la ytotarca araaara la aa aaaavatlaaa o( the Mrrtw we aiisat experleace aaeald we be left to face' tae world alone. Lower rls't la tata aeeae wa watca Noma Talatadaje la aer atraaale (or the redemption of a drunkard with breathleaa armpathy. BT EyiLT BURR. Consulting Paycholoslat. Bellejus Hospital. DONT be ashamed to wipe your eye openly on viewing a motion picture when the troublea and tribulations of the hero cr heroine play havoo with your sympathies. You are not "making; a fool of yourself" weeping- over the fictitious sorrows of Norma Talmadge, Dick Barthelmesa or other motion picture star, who Is Juggling- your emotions In return for $1000 or so per week. No, indeed. You are really overcome with self pity. If you doubt this, consider tha sto ical manner In which you regard the difficulties o your dearest friends. Indeed, there is at times, deep down, an Involuntary feeling of satisfaction and pleasure which not infrequently astonishes you. You are not a cnld-blooded brute, nor are you a hypocrite when you console them. This feeling of Joy Is caused by a reflex reaction and you are simply putting yourself In your friend's place for the moment and then rejoicing that you are not in the came predicament. The reason for this is that you are. psychologically speaking, living the rolo which the player enacts. It Is sot the play, but the player, there fore, that is responsible for your larhrinal condition. Hence the fact that many touching stories leave you dry-eyed, while others, really absurdly metodramatlo unreal though they be, cause you to long for a tear bottle Instead of an Inadequate handker chief. Did you see "Way Down KasfT The situations were as threadbare as a fourth-rate boarding house carpet, yet Miss Glsh held her fiudlence under' such a hypnotic spell that they them selves suffered these pangs of a re lentlessly pursued and misguided mortal. And that is. the secret. You r.re hypnotized by s.uch Intensely dra matic renditions. ' "It Is only fiction." you assure your self, yet frequently weep all the harder. Cold reason Is not strong enough to overcome the enthrall ment of 'the player who la leading you throuph labyrinths of woe Just s Irresistibly as the Pled Piper of llamltn led the children from home and parents by the charmed tune of his lute. e Just why one player can excite an audience in this marvelous " manner, while another equally attractive and apparently equally magnetlo leaves them cold. Is an inexplicable problem. It has been said that an actor must really feel the part he plays In order to "get it across to the audiences" aa the critics put it. There are many proofs thru this Is not so. Kor In stance. Jackie Coogan. that wonderful baby genius, has been watched over and protected all his life by an, ador ing father and mother. Yet In his latest picture be plays the part of a homeless waif of the streets so con vincingly tlmt the muela of the or chestra was almost drowned by the volume of sobby srfiffg. In another -picture I saw recently a remarkable dog named Strongheart played a leading part. In a scene where Ptrongheart comes back to his cunningly constructed little home which the aBdlence had seen him build with such loving care and finds that an enemy has destroyed it and killed his mate and little ones, not a sound was hesrd but the sobbing tones of the orchestra. As the dog lay down and emotion shook Its body and tears were seen to start in its yes, the audience, spellbound, grieved with him. e Now, Just how the director of this picture managed this effect I do" not know. Certainly the dog was not living this part. However, the people in the audience were. It was real grief that the dog expressed and so awakened real grief In others. In some way, the director had hurt that dors feelings mortally, and It was grieving Just as poignantly as you would grieve If your home and family had been destroyed. The reason that the oldest of dra matic situations are used so fre-, quently with merely some unexpected twist at the end. Is that the audience really enjoys witnessing the struggle of Just such human beings as them I selves. A costume play is beautiful but It cannot evoke the great response awakened by a drama of everyday life as lived by folks surrounded by the same temptations and difficulties aa we ourselves. The same reason will explain the failure of many Intensely interesting historical plays and pictures. Customs of. other days were so different and motives which governed the action of those by-gone generations seem to modern eyes so foreign, that it is with difficulty that the Interest of the audience is secured early In the play. - St course -there are exceptions. For Instance, in "All for a Woman." a pic ture of the French revolution, Kmil Jannlngs, that marvelous French tragedian wno plays the part of Dan ton, weaves his spell during the first scenes. His hypnotic smile envelops you In his personality and you re gard his unconventionallty with an Indulgent tolerance. Later, when the masses whom he had saved through his stupendous courage, desert him at the moment when he needs them, their ingratitude strikes home and the hours preceding his summons to the guillotine, when he sees one after one disappear into the sinister cham ber. The emotial strain of such a pic ture is very great and the general effect would be depressing If it were not for the final title. "Upon such sacrifices wss founded the glorious Republic oOFrance." you read. Thereupon you feel that all the suffering that has .gone before has not been wasted. a .Frequently I have prescribed a visit to a highly emotional play to neu-rasthe-nic patients suffering from melancholy. aHere they are masfe to realize the universality of sorrow, and how much more others have suf fered than they themselves. When, through the magic of the star, they are made to live and triumph through ; almost insurmountable difficulties, ) they come out imbued with a salutary j resolution to tackle their difficulties In the same way. This is the secret of the popularity of the happy ending. The happy end ing is a healthy ending. It fills the audience with courage. When they leave they feel that everything wlil come out all right If they do their part with courage and determination, no matter how black the clouds may be that are then obscuring the sun of their fortunes. In real life you seldom weep over your troubles. No matter how poig nant they may be, there are many rifts In the clouds, and you plan in various ways to lift the load which oppresses you. On the contrary. In the play or pic ture, there is an accumulation of woes, and the gloom is piled up. sit uation upon situation, until it reaches a regular mountain of misery. You. suffering with the hero or heroine, sea no way out of your difficulties. The tyranny of the author gives to the vallatn opportunities for getting the better of you time and time again. Another picture which I viewed in order to prepare this analysis was "Love's Redemption." In this play Norma Talmadge plays the part of a young girl who saves a young Eng lishman of good antecedents from a life of dissipation, in spite of the scurrillous gossip which her guard ianship arouses. Although he later marries her and takes her to his home In England, he does not realize that he loves her until after she has suf fered a series of hardships and humil iations which almost destroys her life. In viewing such a picture you think to yourself: "I am really that heroine, and Z can overcome and triumph over circum stances as sh does." a a ' a When In your own workaday world life someone does you a "bad turn" you take some satisfaction in plan ning a revenge, fn 99 cases out of 100 the feeling of revenge passes away long before you have had an opportunity to put your scheme Into effect. However, your feeling of re sentment has had an outlet In the mental excitement of picturing your enemy's dismay when your machina tions overwhelm him. In viewing a picture you don't even have this out let and hence your feelings are bruised and you dissolve Into tears. Don't repress your tears when view ing the movies.. A good cry relieves emotions, giving an outlet to your suppressed feelings, and removes an unhealthy tension under which you may have been straining. The picture with the thrill is a splendid means of rousing a patient who has plunged Into apathy caused by a wearily monotonous life. It is like a blow, on the back or an icy plunge. It refreshes and stimulates. Another proof that it is the star and not tha play that awakens re sponse In the audience is shown in the laughter which .greets a melodra matic effort when the actor or actress fails to register genuine feeling. The dramatic situationa are there and the audience recognlsea them. But it also recognizes that the player is failing in his attempt to put over a certain piece of work. This is really a kind of calamity Joke because you are laughing at his failure. New Joke Are "Old Stuff" Cleverly Camouflaged. Coaaedta Saya Movie Audleacea Hate Too Much Flubdub. E COULD make some striking tures If the public wouldn't cling so tenaciously to Its love for the old stuff." recently said a director. With something of the same thought, Harry Myers, star of "The Connecticut Yankee," who, according to rumor. Is to be featured in a series of similar stories, spoke of comedy the other day. Mr. Myers began to appear In comedy ten years ago for the pioneer Lubin company. "One can't depart from the rules too radically," said the comedian, "for the public likes to laugh at the old Jokes. What we seek to do Is to vary the manner of using them a little and by pleasant surprises make the public accept the liberties we take. There Is tradition in comedy in every country. That's why an American thinks the Englishman's sense of humor Is peculiar, and the Jokes that will send a Frenchman Into a fit seem quite absured to an Anglo-Saxon. "After all there are only a few Jokes, fundamentally," said Myers, "Just as there are few plots. What the comedian and the novelist must strive for is new ways of using the old stuff. For us the Important thing Is to know when to stop. Even In farce, with all its latitudes, that holds good. An audience hates to have a joke rubbed In; it prefers to think It cleverly saw more fun in a situation even than the comedian. "That is what. I try to do If you know what I mean keep a step be hind my audience. Suggest a humor ous situation, rather than slam It at them. Beware of affronting people's sense of humor by Implying that they haven't much of it and need your help. The rule is good subjectively for the comedian; it will prevent that apparent striving for effect that spoils the work of so many. It makes audiences pity them rather than like them." a ' Mary Miles Mlnter's role in "The Heart Specialist," her current picture, is decidedly removed from the In genue, "sweet 16" type in which she has been seen in the past. She has been given a fine opportunity to show her emotional sbility In this picture. , TODAY! Y V'.'. Vf - Van Loan's V'f " i Version of ' ' V jf "The Three jf "v V . Musketeers" ! liked ' -:,! "The V - ; Three V ; ; Musketeers" V v ' V you surely V ' - :" can't miss on V-" paosaaame-a .aaaasoaeMoa...aaj rJ rt I SPECIAL NOTICE I Because we were unable to accommodate several hundred who wanted to get in last Monday, we will repeat the De Luxe Piano Recital by Francis Richter and - Salvatore Santaella Tomorrow Evening at 9 P. M. exactly as given last Monday Also the usual ORCHESTRA CONCERT TODAY at 12:30 P. M. jb,r:::in . ""- ' SOUTH PORTLAND TENEMENTS DECLARED . TO HAVE SOME REDEEMING FEATURES i Vision of Hills Gives Dwellers Some Relief From Squalid Surroundings Many of Inmates Aliens Newly Arrived in United States, With Ambition to -Learn Ways of Democracy. . r'( .i si ii Tm ' j "ii t-w irTi ni -i i w . r - i fJW"!? fin ' 'fl h' M.- -Tr- J 4 . ... V. -- XhIa -w -tl - PORTLAND is a cosmopolitan city, as those who love her will aver. Though not as predominant as in many other cities of the same size there Is a section of slums and yet another that well may be called a "ghetto." The sketch this week was made In South Portland near where Marquam gulch completes its gash through that end of the city. It gives a most excellent idea of the class of tenement structures there are in Portland, a none too beautiful sight in some ways, but with redeeming features. , As a true artist put it. "there is beauty in, ugliness," and in this case it is so, for the appeal of this sketch Is the picturesque. It had been the intention this week to show the altar of one o the well-known churches, but'wlth the community chest drive due It was thouarht better to give an class of homes of the wacking illustration of are the lot of population. Perched high on stilts and tower ing several stories, these frame rookeries do not Impress one aa homelike, but they mean home to man families. Children reared In such a neighborhood, with all its plc turesqueness, cannot hope to enjoy much of what Is beautiful. You who have ni'-e detached homes with lawns and garden plots and flowers pause a moment and contrast your lot with the dwellers of the tenements near ; the mills and old shipyards near the ; river in South Portland. One redeem ing feature is that the h'lls are not too far away and that those who , live here can get away easily for a look at something else than their own drab surroundings. In any setting the scene shown here would be worth more than a passing glance. The massed buldingi Infested with humans packed as close as the law will allow present an ele ment In city life worthy of comment. It is not the fault of the people them selves, possibly they do not know better, and are as comfortable here and possibly even more so than at other periods In their lives. r It Is not unusual to see. In the foreground, female f'gurea garbed in folk dress of Kuropean countries, im migrants of but a few months to America. .These recruits to the melt-tng-pot are trying to adjust them selves to their new home and are content to live In such places as this while they carve out their proper niche In their adopted land. If the sketch could have been done, In color there might have been several splotches from gay and Ornate h end dresses or billowing skirts or man tillas In the foreground. Wesley Barry to Star in Two New Productions. "From Raara to Riches' o Bo Oao of YounaT Playera Features. WESLEY BARRY will be starred In two new productions to be produced by Harry Rapf and directed by William Nigh, according to an nouncement Just made. t The two productlo 's to, be made are "From Rags to Riches," the fa mous melodrama In which Joe Santley starred for A. If. Woods, and "Little Ueroes of the Street,"written by Lem rarker, another well-known "meller." Both of these stags plays are said to have been very popular with play goers, and It Is hoped that their value aa screen productions will surpass the vogue they attained before the foot lights. Production on the first story will be started by Messrs. Rapt and Nigh on or about May 1. The popularity of the freckle-faced star and the opportuni ties he will be offered In tho two forthcoming features are calculated to i surpass the Interest and approval that have been accorded Barry's latest starring vehicle, Gus Edwards' "School Days." The Gus Edwards classic Is declared to have been booked by scores of first run theaters throughout the country. It Is said to be shattering house rec ords and during the week run at the Allen theater, Cleveland, It virtually took the eity's newspaper critics m, motion-picture enthusiasts by stovj It Is said. Such first-run theaters ' the Metropolitan, Washington, D. the Beacon, Park and Modern theati Boston: Shea's Hippodromo, Buffni Balaban & Katz, Chicago; in additil to scores of others, are now runnlil or have planned to ahow "Si'liv) Days." LAST TIMES TODAY JUST AROUND THE CORNER From a story by Fannie Hurst, the author of "Humoresque." You will laugh and enj'oy"Just Around the Corner" as you laughed and en joyed that other great East Side play, "Humoresque." KNOWLES' PICTURE PLAYERS i . ' kfei - f ft P r? I Featurin g Betty i i i l sev O A issawlllirilisilsi t STARTING MONDAY i RETURN ENGAGEMENT OF -SIR JAMES M. BARRIE'S lEili,ITTLE INI ST E R Compson and George Haqkathorne Popular request has brought back this splendid feature for a few days' showing. The story ' closely . follows Maude Adams' stage version. Programme same as originally presented at the Columbia. A Paramount Picture n u u m H n n n n n K m Save 6Vzco on your movie money ask the cashier. M a a a a
