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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1923)
RED CLOUD. NEBRASKA, CHIEF "''"'''"""'"'.iM R r-Sy I VJ0 V oenatio - icjrariA.Jfowlancl, rifafc Natiorcil Pictures. v Ol m m rri r " . 7 rm Yaui c ww y j t 1 m v ottu io.k r w " - B -w... r-v n it ji i, . - o Y.WM I n &3 f H II lustrations by a i . r ' i s i - - m i - rvrp- life; a bookkeeper tries to sell me jm 'J' H , &.. I I I MaOBmaMM The salesgirl sends me a scenario of society a talc of adventure in foreign lands OMKONK has said Unit the United States l.s ii nation of story writers. I won't go quite so fur as to nlllrm Mint, but I do believe tlint of nil the people you meet, one out of three has cither tried to "wrlto for the movies" or lias contemplated doing so. And that, for the whole of the country, makes it vast total, writes Hlchnnl A. Rowland. First National Pictures, In the New York Trillium. The promising thins ahout It nil Is that whnt nil these thousands of Individuals arc trying to do Is not to pour water Into the ocean, hut to meet n need that really does exist. There Is. unquestion ably, a dearth of sultahle material for screen use. The professional writers cannot keep pace with the dem-'inl, nor can they go on writing forever. Nov els, some of them later successful and others that nre not, are bought up for the screen while still In proof-sheet form. Magazine stories are con tracted for before they appear In print. It Is said that such, at first sight, unlikely material ns Wells' "The Outline of History" Is to he used for tho screen, and It has even, somewhat Jocularly, been suggested that either the telephone directory or "Who's Who" Is next In line for plcturlzntlon. Cer tain It Is that the first basic need of every motion picture producer Is good stories. Without that It la foolhardy to go ahead. Stories replete with lriiniatlc situations and human nppenl arc whnt the movie producers are hunting for, high, low and nil the time The situation is unique. On the one hand a vast number of people engerly trying to wrlto for the screen, and on the other band scores of pro ducers falling over each other In their nnxlety to find good material. Yet for. one nmateur writer who succeeds, n thousand fall. Wherein lies tho trouble? Whnt Is the remedy? Of the multitude of people nltnlng nt screen fltury success it big percentage have the desire, but lack tho proper mental equipment to further It. Still, there must be thousands of others who have Hint equipment Imagination, educntlnn nnd lei sure, and some others of tho necessary qualifica tions. Of these, some are early discouraged by the dl(Ilcul(Ies of the task, and so fall by the way. tvh'le others persevere and yet full to sell their scripts. Tliis failure may be laid to one of two mnln cnuse. Hither behind that persevornnco lies In sufficient talent, or perseverance Is not accom panied by such adaptability to art as eventunlly to ferry tho author ncross the lino which divides the nmatour from tho skilled writer. For nfter nil, ns ono producer points out, whnt reason Is there why the raw amateur should succeed ns nn nmn tour? Except for nn occnslonnl Instunco of natlvo genius, It Is only nfter the nmnteur hns prnctlced and practiced and actually progressed beyond tho amateur stago that success can come, which Is true of prnctlcally all lines of endeavor, not mere ly of screen writing. Rupert Hughes, highly suc cessful author and now prominent In screen writ ing, Is reported to hnvo collected hundreds of print ed rejection slips before he succeeded In selling a story to an editor. Hud bo been possessed of less perseverance tho world might never huvo heard of lilm as n writer. F.xcept In an occasional case, tho dnys when off moments of leisure could bring quick success nro gone by. Scenario writing Is n business requir ing as much nttentlon ns any other business If you nro to achieve success. Hut da not misunderstand me. If you cannot sell stories wrought out In side line time, that does not mean you cannot practice In that time. Hut don't expect to sell until practice and study hnvo finally equipped you to cross the tmuteur line. Ono great shortcoming, ns I seo It, In amateur writers for tho screen Is n genentl tendency to overlook the necessity for constant nctlon of it di rect or symbolic nature. They 3end their chnrnc ters on long Journeys while they describe minute details of propnratinn and Incidents en mute which do nothing to further tho movement or help hulld toward tho climax. Tho result of such material in picture form would bo extremely drnggy and uninteresting. Frequently, ngaln. they havo hut n single situa tion, hut wlze upon It to build what Is Intended to form flvo or six reels of picture mntorlnl. Thnt filtuntlon Is perhnps unusual, or It may at least possess somo slight element of novelty: Hut that Is not enough. In the great mnjorlty of scripts by amateurs tho cluirncters nro overdrawn, nnd consequently nro grotesque or Inconsistent with tho typically human Instincts nnd with tho things thnt motlvnto nnd nrtuato tho nverage person. In other words, they full of being Ilffttlke, und so fall of conviction. Hi) ' -rfk Maybe your trouble has been thatkyou have tried to sell comedies Guy Hates Tost, who, In turning from a long nnd highly successful stngo career to motion pictures, hns rend scores of manuscripts, says: "Tho main trouble with amateurs Is that they persist In trying to wrlto nhout things they do not know. Tho sales girl sends mo a scennrlo of 'society' life; n bookkeeper tries to sell mo n talo of adventure in foreign lands I And so It goes. We seek for romance even In our writings. Wo ourselves may Hnd It thus, but we cannot bring It to others In this fashion. To be interesting ono must bo convincing, nnd wo cannot bo that unless wo renlly know tho life of which we write. But thero Is a trend both on stngo nnd screen for inti mate stories, and there Is the Held for tho amateur scennrlo writer of average experience. "Another great fault with would-bo writers Is thnt their Imagination Is extensive rather than In tensive, with the result thnt the action Is scattered from polo to polo or even to n locality ns unfamil iar as Mars. Many nn nmnteur's story would take two years to plcturlze." Richard Barthclmcss finds thnt In his experience nlno out of every twelvo stories he rends nro wholly lacking In ono real Idea, ono original theme. It Is said thnt there Is nothing new under tho sun, therefore the greater Is tho necessity to glvo somo novel twist to an old theme. Without thnt your story Is pretty suro to be "returned with tho scenario editor's regrets." Mr. Burthelmess de clares thnt so much spaco Is taken up with unnec essary and wnsteful side Issues, not to say dialogue, that In most cases any real "meat" a story might hnvo Is burled under useless encumbrances nnd so out of Juxtnposltlon to tho central story that no editor will wado through It, nnd your manuscript "comes back." "I do not believe," says this star, "that nny nmn teur's story requires more than 1,000 words to set It forth and tell Its plot. Leave tho working out to tho continuity man nnd tho director. Tho Idea Is what counts." I hnvo heard writers complnln that after their story has come bock they havo recognized In n later picture Just tho sort of action, or scone they originally submitted, and these writers bnve been angry to tho point of suggesting, nny, even of ac cusing, tho studio peopio of tho theft of their Idens. As a mner of fact, the explnnutlon is that what the nuthor Imnglncd orlglnnl with himself or her self wns nothing of the k';id. Unconsciously nnd unwittingly, It may be, there hns remained In their minds tho unrecognized memory of somo scene they hnvo seen In n since forgotten picture and uncon sciously It Is reproduced In tho 'scennrlo. Thus the plagiarism attributed to tho studio lay rather with tho would-bo nuthor. "Plagiarism, uncon scious or otherwise, sticks out nil over them:" snya Colonel J. K. Hrndy, editor of Metro Pictures cor poration, who declnrcs thnt tho 'number of good stories does not begin to meet the demand for them. "Tho troublo is thnt 00 per cent of the scripts re ceived hnven't n grnln of orlginnllty In theTn." Joseph M. Schenck Is another producer of noto Even accusing the studio people of the thett or their ideas Willi folia flm en inn wi tt clwiptnmi f npnnnf nlil ...,, ..v t'HIIIV. IIIIU !, nill'l tlll, Wfc V.VMWi". mntorlnl. Of late he has gone mostly to the big novels for mntorlnl for Norma Tiilnindge. I.est you bo appalled by tho seeming hopeless ness of your ense, right here let me cheer you up somewhat. If, as the so-called scenario textbooks tend to make you suppose, you bad to turn out the finished product to get your story accepted, you might well feel ready to quit. Hut the opposite Is the case. In fact, tho amateur need not, nnd should not, concern himself with anything beyond n reul story, simply and directly told. You need not and should not worry about entrances, exits, fadeouts and other technicalities. Leave that to the specialist the man or woman whoso business It Is to put the accepted sto-y Into practical screen form. The nmateur Is not expected to write "con tinuity" thnt Is n Job separate nnd npnrt nnd Is the task of tho studio expert. "It Is true that only n small percentage of the stories submitted to motion picture producers by amateur authors Is accepted," says Marshall Nellan, ono of this country's most notable produc ers. "Yet the reason for this seems rather obvious. If n man advertises for original plans for n country homo nnd n hundred different plans are received, 00 per cent being submitted by nmateurs and 1( per cent by professional homo builders, there Is little doubt that tho accepted plans would be from one of the 10 per cent." "While among the plnns submitted by the amateurs there doubtlessly would be found mnny exceptional Idens, yet the Individual plans on the whole could hardly be exported to measuro up to those submitted by the professionals. Turning for a moment from tho producer's point of view, let us see whut Is the newspaper critic's angle on desirabilities In screen stories. If what I quoto may seem to smack more of production than of writing, there is, too, n lesson for tho author whose business, nfter nil, It Is, rather than the di rector's, to supply the situations. "Mnny of Uio scenes have been made meaningful ns motion pictures." (I quoto tho critic of a leading New York newspnper on n recent film.) "For In stance, there Is one In which Henry Gnrnctt, know Ing thnt bo must die soon, sits listening to nn Inex oruble clock. It ticks nnd ticks, counting off the seconds of his life. Flnnlly, In futile despcrntlon. he seizes the pendulum and stops It, but ns he holdt tho metni bar, n phantom pendulum behind It swings on. Hero Is cinematography. Hero Is com plete expressiveness within n picture 1" Thero It Is In n nutshell. A real Idea, logicallj nnd simply worked out without needless discussion, directly nnd clearly, to an inevltablo conclusion. Therein lies one wny where your story won't come back. Hopo Hampton, whoso latest starring vehicle la "Light In tho Dark," tells mo that tho reason so mnny scenario writers full Is hecnuso they cannot or do not put themselves In tho placo of the audi ence. In other words, they cannot properly visual Izo their work. "It should nlwnys bo homo In mind," snys this star, "that thought nnd Impression can ho effected only by nctlon. Perhaps tho Ideal dim would bo ono In which there were no subtitles nt nil. I do not know whether thnt could be, hut tho next best thing Is where tho action Is so clear, so convincing, and tho conclusion so Inevltnblo thnt only a mini mum number of subtitles Is necessary." After nil, you can't blnmo tho producer, even though ho may err In sending your story bnck. It's different with, say, n mngazlno editor, and even ho sends stuff back lots of It. Tho mngazlno editor may, with not very disastrous results, use a medi ocre' or even a poor story, provided ho makes suro his mngazlno contains nt tho same tlmu two or threo good tales. The strong stories will carry tho weak. Hut with tho photoplay producer It Is very different. All his eggs, so to spenk, nro In one Ihib ket. In accepting n story, or rather In making n picture from It, bo risks tho possibility of losing something like 5100,000. It mnkes him more than careful of his choice. You enn, however, ho prnctlcally sure of ono thing. If your story has real and full screen merit nnd you keep It going visiting long enough It will stop coming back nt last. In Its placo will come it check. Moro writers than one, by sticking eternnlly at It nnd refusing to quit, hnvo ultimately sold their product, for It Is tho very net of writing nnd re writing that ultimately makes a professional out of an amateur. ' Xjfte AMERICAN LEGION (Copy for Tills DupnrllMKtit Hupiill? bt lha Amtrlcan I.lnn New Sarvlca.) URGES BUDDIES TO PAY DUES ACTIVE IN LEGION AFFAIRS. ilt .?. f 1 L?ma j Major Genoral Tyndall, National Treasurer, Advocates Financial Independence. Credit of tho American Legion's Miami llmmclal standing Is given by Legionnaires to MaJ. Clou. Robert Tyndall of Indian apolis, recently re appointed national treasurer of the y "W ''Wfr ,.x.(crvlce men'a i .I ' organization. At nil national conventions and Legion gatherings .f I'.it-lfinu t 1 tlllu. k General Tyndall "PklrW has Insisted upon Ufc the ndotitlon of a Robert H. Tyndall nnanciul policy whereby nntlonul headquarters shall be able to stum! upon Its own feet without Incurring any outside obligation forcing the Le gion to lose u bit or Its Independence, and freedom of action. Cienoral TyndaU's message to Lo glonnulres this year Is a reiteration of his advocacy of financial Independence with a request that Legion members pay their dues early In order thut tho poMs may Und themselves free to carry out the program of relief for disabled, Americanism and other Im portant measures, liencral Tyndall believes that too much energy Is ex pended In the collection of dues which should be paid to the post Unanco olllcer upon notification of tho mem ber. The military career of General Tyn dall dates back to 1S07, when he en listed us a private. He served In Porto Rico during the Spanish-American war. on the Mexican border us commanding olllcer of the One Hun dred and Fiftieth artillery of tho I''orty-second (Rainbow) division In the World, war, participating In till major offensives. lie, now com mands the Thirty-eighth National Uuard division. , Jfcf"tf 1S Tq J E. Erie Cocke. National Vlc Commander Cocke of Qeorgla Qett Rpaulta With Hla Financial Policies. Rehabilitation of disabled cx-scrrlce men and the establishment of sound Umtticin! policies hnv been tho hob bles of K. Knrlo Coeko of Dawson, On., nnUonnl vlco commander of the Amorlcac Legion. Mr. " cko was one of tin' founders of the (leorgla de partment of the Legion und h a s been uctlvo In Le gion uffnlrs ever since. Serving ns a member of tho state exectitlvo committee, ho advocated n financial policy which was largely responsible for Georgia's obtaining tho largest membership Increase of any depart ment during 11)21!. Mr. Cocke Is al ternate national executive committee man from Georgia and represented his state on the committee nt tho Le gion convention In New Orleans. Mr. Cocke was graduated from the University of Georgia, where be was manager of the football team and was prominent In college activities. Ho was professor of mathematics and ath letic director nt the Klevonth District Agricultural college and' later at Gor don Mllltnry college. During the war, the LeIon officer served as a second lieutenant with tho Sixteenth Machine Gun buttnllon In the Gerardmer sector of tho Vosges mountains, n defensive sector nnd In tho Meiibo-Argonno offensive. Slnco discharge he has been state editor of the Macon (Gu.) News und muuaglng editor of the Athens Runner. He Is now u farmer and real estate man. HONORS FOR TWO AMERICANS Louisiana Men Are Named ns Honor. ary Members of the Delglan Veterans' Legion. The signal honor of lifting mnde hon orary member of tho Helglun Vet eruns' Legion came to Clarence J. Hourg, Louisiana American Legion nn tlonul executive committeeman, and Mayor Robert Mouton of Lafayette, La., during the Interallied Veterans' association convention In New Or leans. There uro only Uvo honorary HELPED WIN THE WORLD WAR National Vice Commander, of Wyoming, Typifies Spirit of the Wcot In Great Conflict. Chiles P. Plummor of Casper, Wyo., national vice commander of the Ameri can Legion, typltles the spirit of the West In the World war. Although lie w a s thirty-eight years old at Its out break, he couldn't stay out of the scrup. So be throw away his four-gal Ion chapeau a n ( donned a campalgi lint, spending twen ty-two months Ii the service. Mr. PI u tn m or Chllos served as captain of artillery hi the Ono Hundred Sixteenth ammunition train, composed of two battalions of the old Third Wyoming Infuntryi remulnlng fifteen months in France, where his organization wus u putt of the Forty-first division. An organizer of the George Vro mitu post of tho Legion at Casper, Mr. Plummer served us Its first com mander. He was active In outfitting clubrooms for. that post and in its general development. A lighter for the rights of dlsubled ex-service men, Mr. Pluminer's activity In their bohuif obtained nutlonnl recognition, result ing In his election as national execu tive committeeman, und later us na tlonal vice commander. Ho is a law yer, was educated ut tho University of Illinois and Is proud of tho fact thut ho Is a fraternity brother of Alvin M. Owsley, Legion nutlonnl commander. ..iiiiWTii , . I Plummer i i i Clarence J. Bourg and Mayor Robert Mouton. members of tho Helglnn ex-scrvlco men's organization. Tho Louisiana ilicn acted ns hosts to the Helglan delegation at tho Novr Orleans gathering. Presentation was formally made by M. Joseph Jnnuc, ns slstnnt minister of lubor for Belgium, a vice president of the association nnd commnndcr of the Helglnn Legion. The diploma nnd budge will bo pre sented to tho Americans by ICIng Al bert ut tho next ussoclutlon gathering at Hrussels In 1023. WELL RECEIVED IN HAVANA NOT TO ASK RED CROSS AID American Legion Posts Will Not Re quest Funds in the Hands of the Local Chapters. Funds In the hands of local chap ters of tho Amerlcun Red Cross will i not be nuked for by American Legion posts, according to Lemuel Holies, Le gion national adjutant. "The American Red Cross Is co-oper-nting with tho American Legion In ev ery way In tho furnishing of funds for service to tho sick mid disabled, and in many localities Is furnishing direct relief to service men and their fam ilies," Mr. Holies said. "Funds In tho hands of local chapters of the Amer ican Red Cross should not bo confused with tho residue funds of the war chest, or other emergency war organi zations which, during the war raised money for work among soldiers and sailor's, but which ceased to function at the conclusion of hostilities." Hnsed on court decisions at Athens, 0 nnd Vcvny, Ind tho Legion has di rected Us posts to obtain all funds in tho treasuries of emergency organiza tions which aro no longer concerned with relief of World war flghter. American Legion Men Report Marked Hospitality While on Recent Visit to Cuba. Tales of excellent hospitality from American Legion members In Havana havo been brought to this country by Leglonnnlres who Journeyed to Cuba following tho recent national conven tion In New Orlenns. Tho program held by tho Hnvunu buddies Included a visit to Legion hendqunrters, n trip to tho Jal olnl gnmo at the Havnna-Mudrld Fronton, which provided front boxes for the vis itors nnd visits to Morro castle, Ca banas fortress and other Interesting points. Hotels and restaurants wel comed tho Leglonnnlres with elabor ate decorations and special rates In addition to providing Information booths nnd other conveniences, Huvnnn has one of the largest for eign posts of the Legion. It Is com posed of veterans from nearly every branch of the service. Tho reception arrangements were conducted by Cupt. George T. Street, post coinmnnder, and John HInvkn. Hear Radio Address. When a representative of the United States Veterans' bureau broadcast a radio tnlk on tho "Possibilities of a Rehabilitated Kx-Servlco Man" nt At lanta, under the direction of Joo Sparks, tho now chnlrmnn of tho Amor Ican Legion's nutlonnl rehabilitation committee, his remarks were Uctened to with Interest by 200 veterans in a training school at Cookvlllo, Teun., 800 nlles away.