Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Sept. 30, 1921, edition 1 / Page 9
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0 : V 7 Why Screen Heroes Remove-Tkeir 'oh fglways Rise tlie Presence . of Is Explsunedby 1X1 a 4 Mar i v ; fSfe n .CP rts-ix --r-i vvv.-:;-:-: 4Cl-K . ii- ,iliKv t': S ' - jS:-"rW-V &titafear?i NirrWirmnri rr-;fe'tMB-(i1ll,,Wil(,, tm,iMfrw1fnfWm-..,(ff,-,1ml i t.iiM -r--imTT-sMi,n ii mi in in innnif.nTiiir friiiiin j mnwj j Here Are James Kirkwood, in Man, Woman and Marfiagei" Seated, and a Cast Supporter, Hat on, Calmly Puffing a Cigar in the Presence of Dorothy Phillips, Who Doesn't Seem to See the Faux Pas. v HAVE you ever seen a man--in the movies precede a woman out of a room; or stand, with hat on, in her presence; or otherwise display lad manners? If you have, did you think it was caused by stupidity on the pari or a S3G00-a-week director? Or did you at tribute it to the actor himself? Well, in either case you were wrong, if Marguerite' Clark, film star, is right. For she says: " - J'hai it is not the fault of the director. Neither is it the fault of the actor. In fact, she says it is the fault of no one and, in truth, is not a fault. Because, so she' says, it is done deliberately think of it urith malice aforethought! It is done because it is necessary, declares this dainty little actress, who is two inches tk'ort of having five feet of stature. She explains why it is done deliberately. And she blames it all or. what might be termed the finesse of the pic tures. So confident is she that , the movies can be iaught good manners that she has started a school of etiquette for movie actors and actress es. She declares she will eliminate all evidences of bad breeding and will produce plays calcu lated to meet the approval of a Lord Chesterfield. Av.d the first pupils will be those in the cast of the yiays she is now beginning to produce. By Marguerite Clark MANNERS of motion pictures! Who ever heard of - such a thing? Mark you, though, I am not referring to the manners of the actors and actresses who ap- The Distinguished Lionel Barrymore in WSw y3i y&fhts i:e fpzw J&fS'jy 'ApiT' CPf) Iff ,wwV r:, f a f4 p1 Jsh. Whoop for Convention in This Scene, Appearing in fcntrtsieeves ana Unbuttoned Collar Before Man and Woman Visitors. t oirw f the ct&j. in motion yicvuics. , - o" v-"""t banners of the productions themselves. The ac in of many motion pictures violate, all the rules etiquette wid politeness. Bad manners are so rencral in .pictures that theyare tolerated. public does not seem to expect personaon the screen to conduct themsveswitk less they would dexnand-of lfhosewithJwjom they issociate, or even from : the ytame actors and ac1 :rcsses of the screen. " ' ' - v ' ' !. '.,"' .; .y ' ; : . Motion picture folk have longirecpgnized' the ', irr.i foothold which bad manners have found in ici: work, but as most of them are due to tech J reasons, they have persistea through years 'nd years. For instance, who ever would expect n escort of a lady in 'real -life .to pass through , i doo - first? Yet it happens ajmost, every time a exit or an entrance occurs in motion pictures, y ind the reason is simple. The method of Bianu- acturing motion pictures demands that the star Mall make the last exit- and usually v in product ions where this situation would 1 occur, the star - 1 1 Weil.. '5 5 a f 1 , "The Great Adventure" Doesn't Give a is a woman. Therefore, the man goes out first to give the star a chance to make a smiling exit on an unblocked screen. ' That is one of the commonest bad manners of the screen which could 'be easily corrected. Another one, however, that is not so simple is caused by the difference in stature between men and women. You know the camera emphasizes con trast jpf any kind, a,nd in a banquet or any other scenes where men and women nter to sit down, the women in taking their places first so empha size the height of the men "that the effect Is that the men are bound to Shoot. right out of the top of the picture. That is the reason why you see so many scenes where a , man will come in and ' sink into Vchair while the woman remains stand ing' until after he "is seated." Bad manners again, but not so easily corrected as the kind first men tioned. ,' - - ' k , v' ' ' Directors Are Waking Up Innumerable other instances will occur to those who will ake the trouble' to remember the detsiis of the scenes. Some are caused by easily A,'s.ni il:aunmjl Proposes ? to .1 ay tne Dchooima aiiiv m a iew ; Sckodl of Stage Etiquett' " ' One of the Rules in Miss Clark's School of Etiquette Is:- Gentlemen Will Kindly Remove Their Hats While Conversing. . Indoors with a Woman. corrected .customs while a. number of others are " ; caused by technical obstacles which are not o ' easily' overcome. They can bevovercome, however, by thoughtful changing of the story or careful position of the camera and other technical ;ar rangements. However, directors are beginning to pay more attention to this ptiase of produc tion, and the time is coming when the screen willv teach good manners. : ' . ". I have just completed my first independent production, "Scrambled Wives," and am releas- ;: ing it through Associated First National Pic tures, Inc. "Scrambled Wives" is "the best lhah-i nered picture" in which I have ever appeared. ' Now that I am an independent producer I. am going to do all that I can to reform the manners 'of motion pictures, and "Scrambled Wives" .of- "! f ered me my first opportunity, along these lines. - ' A Well-Mannered Movie In "Scrambled Wives I simply .insisted, de- ' spite the fact that it is a farce comedy, that the manners all the way through should be good. Mr. Griffith (Arthur, not D. W.), who directed the production, agreed with me about that, and 'some of the things which I thought were insurmount able he got away from in the easiest possible way. I know other directors and stars are thinking the same thing, and in the future children will be able to acquire good manner by imitating their favorite actors and actresses on the screen. . " - .. The foregoing explanation by Miss .Clark, however, was not that volunteered by men in the business of producing films. They, had a wholly different conception of it, a conception they did not wish to announce publicly for obvious rea sons. As one put , it the explanation ran some thing like this: "The real cause of the bad manners in the movies is the utter ignorance and illiteracy of some of the directors. These men, who get sala ries running around $3000 a week, are alone re sponsible for the ; various 'bulls. . The movies , never will be free of evidences of bad jnannera until they engage men who know something about good manners. It is a fact that many of the most brilliant minds neither know nor appreciate eti-; quette. They are too busy to.bother.? about sflch things. , And as far as . the desire to centre,' the star on the screen is concerned that is not so be-' cause in many cases the star is not selected 'until . after the picture has been shown. ; Often an -ob-. ecure actor or actress is thus brought to the cen-' ' tre'iof the stage out of 'obscurity. . "In some instances, however, there are. direc tors who; have so much, on-their minds that the -breaches of etiquette slip into their pictures. To makd this clear to the public one should bear in . Newapaper Fetare Service, 1931. V"r' v': - V ' " !. ..... X fa r f . FX inn! - jp . - Jfei r ::,J... j r$-:jte;?. It Seems Quite Impolite, for. Barney; Sherry to Remain Seated While Agnes Ayres Is Standing, but the Movie . Photographer's Camera Focus Demanded.' , .; That He Either Keep His Seat or "Lose His Head." r , mind just what the director's Job is; When most folk see a movie they believe that the film is-wonderful -because of the actors and actresses that appear in it. This is no the .truth ;4by a long shot." If they noted the name of the director they would have the name they should repeat for ' praise or blame at the end. , For the director more than the actor or actress appearing in the star role in the play, is responsible. . "Actors and actresses are nothing but auto mata in the hands of the motion picture director. They not only act as he indicates, they musi think ' ..aS he indicates. For instance, if a mantis seated at his desk in the" course of. the making of a pic- ture and a woman enters and the man instinctive ly arises without specific orders to da so from the director he would probably be called down. This seems ' harsh. ' At the' $amfi.time i jshows : bow that act of bad manners is of ten-' committed. The cameraman may be in the rear of the seated -actor. There may be any number of reasons why 4 " Marguerltt Clarlc-Who J S S. ! k.x - Wants to Play Schoolma'am in the New Theatrical Etiquette School. the actor at the desk should not rise. And if he does he may spoil the picture. "From this you see the director really must look from without within and from within with out. He is the public looking in and the director looking out. His mind exercises' a double func tion. So, it is not surprising that quite often he commits a breach of etiquette which he would npt commit if he were instinctively and inherently a gentleman of breeding. . J ' "Actors as a rule go through scenes and do things the significance of which they do not real ize until they have done them. - They are trained to assume -instantly this or that expression or body pose and it is this instantaneous action that produces the excellence of the acting. You see, -if a man were told, for instance, that he were to wear an expression of , hatred, the chances are -that the look would be studied 'and ineffective. But, coming without preconception the look is as , real as it could be and thus it is snapped." ' The, writer has noted these errors from time " to time, particularly anachronisms. , He once saw a motion picture of mediaeval scenes. One o( . the actxesses wore a wrist watch. Otherwise her cdstume was perfect. In another instance in a 'picture based on revolutionary times in thiseoun- ' try the hero, garbed in a -uniform of the Conti nental army and a cocked ha$ and carrying a : r flintlock took a bag of smoking tobacco from his v pocket and rolled a cigarette.' Having-done this he replaced the bag - and ? left 'the well known s round tag hanging" out ' - - 1 , " In ''The Jucklins," a. recent play.: well ected and beautifully photographed, the hero, arrested r . for murder, appears for trial after "weary wait ing" in the same shirt he wore when he sur rendered to the sheriff. , - , , t V ". v' 4 V-firX 1. hi lP:'
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Sept. 30, 1921, edition 1
9
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