~

MAY 20, 1923

Xy



The Paragon of the Cinema

An Espousal of Standardization
While playing eavesdropper down 4t' NEWELL BEBOUT "society. A true emotinbecomes
the Union the other night, 1 over- i warped and. invariably turns sour.
heard five men discussing the -art of Secondly, the conventional ending im-
motion pictures. All of the fellows This conception of standardization have never experienced those rare presses upon the minds of the audi-
were good-looking; they seemed to of ideas seems to be a thorn in the treats ourselves. ence the necessity ofsimilarity and
be endowed with at least average side of some-pople; but it should In the movies we have "actualism" repetition which is the .very essence
Univdrsity-studeit intelligence and not be. The old idea of. man as the in place of "realism" We give the of efficiency. The movie is a great
they made remarks about as follows: center of the universe has passed pictures the weight of actual occur-i soral benefactor because it helps to
The movies are bad, because they are : into oblivion, and the new Ideal is rences. We imbibe their habits and mould men to fit this new world.
not artistic; they are commercial mankind. "The individual is always customs unconsciously; and as Amiel I have mentioned aboe the fact
rather than aesthetic; they depict the mistaken;" only society is right. In-. points out: "In the conduct of life that powerful emotion is inimical to
most awful sentimentalism and sel- stead of each of us working out his habits count for more than maxims, modern life and is therefore not found
dom if ever show real emotion. Their own salvation, we all work together; because habit is a living maxim be- in the movie; but :I might suggest
main interest is plot, and thus they and this means that tle race alone come flesh and instinct." The ac- another reason for the lack of it in
fail to edify us with sound philos- matters. Society lives and that is cusation, therefore, that the movies I pictures. Emotions in all forms of
ophy. They are nearly all alike, as sufficient. It is a great fallacy to require only passive appreciation and creation are concentrated and puri-
though they were machine-made. And think that the intelligent and thinking are consequently ineffectual in doing fied, so that a very little bit tends to
finally, they never tell the truth, and man is always nearer the Truth; con- good is unsound. overwhelm us. It has often been re-
are as a rule downright immoral. sequently all men should think. All In, keeping with the "machine-made marked that were "Hamlet" presented
Now these ideas are outrageous! it that intelligence implies is that one ideal" of the modern world, motion to us directly rather than indirectly
it were not for their astonishing pre- is aware of his ignorance. The wise pictures have-and should have-con- as it is through Shakespeare, few o
valence on the campus, they could man knows what Truth is not but he ventional endings. However thrilling us could bear the pain and sorrow
be quickly dismissed; but really they does not know what Truth is. The the fights are in the story, there must which it entails. In poetry and in
are becoihing intellectual pests. "The; movies, then, by standardleing ideas always be a happy ending ( e. an: other arts emotion - is counteracted
Bad Art of the Movie" seems to be are by - no means the enemies of j embrace); This is good for two rea- by aesthetic .delight Emotion tends
a favorite topic of conversation-but progress; but are rather votaries of sons: First, 'it drives shallow senti- to overwheu the self. But aesthetic
why doesn't someone come out andi progress since they further homo ment home by constant repetitions; delight is nothing more nor less than
say that they are not art at all? When geneous co-operation . and shallow sentiment is the only pur egotism. We like a rhyme or a
the word "art" is used in its orthodox i The essential characteristic of the thing which succeeds in a mechanical (Continued on Page Seven).
sense, the phrase "artistic movie" is new art of the movie is that it is so-
almost a contradiction in terms. Mov- cial rather than individual. That is..
ies are not art; they are movies. Ito say, we look at movies with the
The trouble with such discussions consciousness of people around us,
is that no definite viewpoint for criti- whereas we used to appreciate Leon. SpingearS
cism is taken. We -judge movies by ardo by ourselves, or at least only
the standards of fifty years ago, and in the company of a friend or so. The*L ht Lu he
it is no wonder that they do not fit. significance of this is that we re- LighteLi cchfs
Who knows but that our greatest fal- rceive pictures of human life in the -
lacy is in believing that art is uni- very midst of human life, not as de- Dainty salads
versal and eternal? There is only tached images. Thus we tend to'ab-
beauty when there is appreciation and sorb movies instead of contemplating Cooling drinks
value. But suppose values change, as them. We regard them as additional,
they have done right under our noses: incidents in a day's experience and
what then? Is art still art? No, it ! forget them accordingly. The arti-
is not. -Ificiality of' the movies becomes part
We are not the same men the an- of our own artificiality, and seldom i'
dents were, nor do we think along ever take the shape of philosophical
the same lines as the people of the ideas. We cannot name the theme Tuttles lunch Room
middle ages. What was of import- nor tell the story of the movie we . ..
ance to them is not now important, saw last night; but we can describe 338 .Mayuard St. South of Majestic
How can we, then, appreciate their the most fashionable embrace or tell
art which was an expression of their how to crack a safe even though we
ideas? Only by ceasing to be our-
selves and by assu'mitg an "artistic Ilill ll illlltt lllf111 ifII I t if It11111l 11[l 111111:1i 111l 111i111 filliltill 1i11t1ll lillltl111111111 it
attitude." We appreciate' ancient art
x hen we case to be m deRns. Rather
than change our art to suit our new
life, we translate ourselves into term
of -art and sthink wecontemplate-
the truth. As a matter of fact we see M h- fso
s The real art of tie tw - Jason and the Golden Fleece
tieth century isbmachine-mad ecause
this is the machinery age. It is rigid _
and standardized, because human na
ture has become so. Human natureo
changes along with ideas. When 1 Old Greek mythology tells us the story of Jason and his band of Argonauts,
say human nature I mean the direc- who ,after countless trials and hardships, at last won the Golden Fleece-the
tion which our thoughts and feelin s goal of their endeavors
and actions take, and this is directl -
involved in the tendencies of our s0 cToday there are thousands.of modern Jasons who are seeking the Golden
expresses de923 human atu Fleece of Success. They struggle along, fighting bravely against overwhelm-°
-To be sure itis consderedHeresy ing odds. When- Jason was in the midst of his difficulties he was often aided by
t tel the truth about one's feelighishardy crew or by the powers that were favorable to him. These modern
for tradition.'is still a ball and chain
around our leg, but how many of us in Jasons would do well to remember that any legal means that would help them
our inner-most thoughts do not join in their quest should be employed.
with Remy de Gourmont in his opin';a -
ion of Leonardo's masterpiese? "IrThe modern bank is of prime importance to the young man of today who
confess," he says, "that when I first ses to get ahead in the world. By judicious loans, by competent advice,-
looked at Leonardo's 'Mona Lisa' I
was astonished. I had never seen and by inculcating in them the habit of consistent thriftiness this bank is attempt-
any woman. with such a silly expres- ing to do its share in the assistance of its clients.
Sion. " Leonardo would probably have -
said to same of Mary Pickford or An ever-increasing number of satisfied depositors is indicative of the actual
Lila Lee. value of such banking service.
"The movies are artistic when they
approach mechanical perfection; when
they give way to the minimum of
human personality and when they
amuse us in the same way thatdanc- -
ling dolls 'and toy air-planes amuse -
the children. It is then that they most
nearly express the world as we know o al
At, and thus mcome nearest -to or rea
- -s. "The Bank of Friend y Service".
It is the } olicl. of this piagazi Te to
putblish oj'rticies 'of opniUf3 ' ,both -.RESOURCES $5,6 X,O{ r w FIE
uits eannREdUCS 6000Two OFFCES
s udents and fufl v embersif a
tIheJ~un efltof fhe editor, ;tflese szP .
C's ore of j r',si c value and inter ....
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THE STORY OF can be answered by one question: I=1111I tIIIIIIlhIIIIIIIlIIIII I IiltInu iI ufl 111IfilIIIIUIII ii iIIIhIf
A PEOPLE'S SOUL "Who know> what is true and moral?"
What would a "true" picture be like?-
SIX0ON OF CYRENEE, By Tborna Hail ;1It wohlcd be ike nearly every other'' =a
SdHaStid. George 'Walr, Ainit Arbor-' motion 'picture, a close reproduction In et- oo p e r
of an individual's actual experience
Reviewed by Edwin C. Mack He who would discover universal
A fewdays ago I should have com- truthsis chasing chimeras. Or again, eepg your clothes well cleaned and pressed is an
fessed, had I been questioned, that I will some excellent professor give us good appearance. Tou are repaid in dividends of pe
would never again be able to enjoy a a sound moral philosophy? What is - ood impressions. Invest your Clothes Maintenance fui
story of the "development of a race." a moral picture? A moral picture
After the series of startling short stor-; is one which has no immediate, 01)- .w
tes and swift-moving novels that I viows, and extreme ill effects. Need-
have read in the last few months, I less to say, practically every picture - iT
believed no such lengthy tale; howev- cTmplies. D .G
er romantic, or unscientific, might ever _
again hold joys for me. But in "Siion'.. We have acquired the habit of liv- '"The Faultless Tailor"
of Cyrene" Thomas Hall Shastid has ing yesterday rather than today. A
steered such an unswerving course good thing is that which was good
between the dangerous shoals of ro~tOr our fathers, and we guess it will
manc andsciece tat te 'vyag=be good for us. Maybe it will; maybe'
could be nothing abut interesting it will not. At any rate, indecency.
When I first saw the title of this book is losing its importance and is be- t llI1iIIlllhIIIIl lll tIIfIIIIIII1t:Il1111IIllII ll1111111111111111
I could not identify just who Simon coming a common and quite insig-
of Cyrene Was, though I was just as nificant fact. As Nietzsche says in
sure that I should know. The follow- his "Genealogy of Morals". "As i.
ing quotation on the title page cleared grows more powerful, the community
the question up: ; tends to take the offences of the in-
"S. Mark: 15:21: 'And they compel ± dividua0l less seriously, because they
one passing by, Simon of Cyrene con- are now regarded as being less revo-
ing from the country, theyfather of i lutioiary and dangerous to the cor
Alexander 'andRufus; to go with them. porate existence " We may, in truth,
that he might bear His cross.' t regard the growing "indecency" of
As the title 'would suggest it is pri- the movie as a sign. of. social soli-
marily the story of one man--one darity rather than of decay. The
man's soul. As unfortunately is not movie has caught the spirit of the
the case with most allegories, this times and therefore is the new modern
story has sufficient interest in itself art. In one sense it is the only twen-
to justify reading the book. But it is tieth century art, for many of the
the story not only 'of a man's sulI other mediums are still trying to free
but also of a nation's soul. In the of themselves from tradition. Poetry isrffWthrav
pxctxng of the soul- life of a people still tinged' with the idealS of 1850; C rih a
the actual historical external eventb painting for all its revolutions has not
have been skillfully evaded whenever approached the present; and sculp- Electric Iron
they have been unnecessary to the un- ture--it probably never will get free
derstanding of their psychological re- ; from Michael Angelo and the Greeks.
action of the Jews. The first part of The movie is the new industrial art, easier, quicker
the honkd c .eibp the ptoinn of the d bnr htrv the PCn'of the -P_

e s nes t e yea n oLyan, eras eessenceot e ae
Jewish nature to Egyptian idolatry,
dithe Petran portion, and, in the part "THE LIFE OF .CHRIST"
describing the exposure of the Jew (Continued from Page Two)i
to Palestinian civilization, the reacon The aworld has accorded Papini's
to the Syrian Baal worship, and oen. narrative almost unanimous aplaafse
Through all these eras of soul evand unt naturally hesitated before pro-
opment one single person standsi fr nouncing so adverse an opinion al-
the soul of an entire nation. Shastid thog fully sensible of the fact that
conveys the inner feelings and cang-n ty judgment would not affect greatly
es of this one man in a way so masr- the sum of solar energies. was es-
terful that we experience and unde- peaoally perturbed to learnthat Bur-
sTtand the feelings of his entire racee toi Rascoe for whose critical saac-
Thomas Hall Shastid, who received ty entertain a profound respect,
the degrees of Master of Arts and Pc considers this best life of the Prince
of Law at Michigan Unfiversity in '02 of Peace ever written. This ay o n
and 03, has been for some years an may hotesignificant; for Papini hia
honorary professor of the Aerican had no rivalt or predecessors inghis
Medical College of St. Louis. H e has method of attachk. Whil rereading
written a number of books, mostly on portions of the book vainly endeavor-
medical subjects, and translated a few ing to concur in Mr. Rascoe's opinion.

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others. I confess that I was surprised
to discover that one so studied in the
history of the Jewitdm race and belief1
be not 'a JO himself. Doctor Shastid
is a "Methodist, a republican, and a
Mason," as Who's Who is wont to say.
The entire work is written in a
style vich might almost fit into the
bibleiRself. The.selection of N-ords
and( peculiarities of construction show
remarkable similarities. As for the
arrangement of the material, the in-
terest increases as the reader pro-
gresses until a climax is reached
which would justify many pages of
uninteresting reading were they ne-
eessary for; its attainment. My ad
ce to those who seek a .book for the
mind and heart is to read "Simon of
Cyrene": first for the sheer interest of
the story itself, for its gallery of hu-
man portraits, (and best of all) for its
allegorical interest
CINEMA AND ART
(Continued from Page Four)
rhythm because it satisfies our van-
ity. Thus when emotion is expressed
in a poem, the poetic -technique calls
attention to the self thus checking
the flood, and the effect is tempered.
In the movie however, the pictures
are so near to the actual, their ap-
peal is so 'direct that the egotistic
check is largely eliminated, so we get
almost the full- amount of nervous,
energy transferred. A simple senti
ment will make us weep as for exam-
ple in "Over the Hill;" or it . will
scare us to -death as in "Safety
Last." What would happen though
if real emotion were portrayed? Well,
Nazinmova's "Revelation'' overwel--
ed us, and "Broken Blossomis"- "was-
-horrific.
After all, the greatest conden na-
t~ion which can be biought agaiist
fhe motion pictures is that they are
untruthful and immoral. But this

I came uipon the following woi-ds in
an advertisement: "It is such book'_ _
k-ts this of Panin that open the prison _______________-______ ___
duo:r and let Jesus out into is \Vo1ld.'
Upon ascertaizling that the words were lIfHlull 11~M~nl1i 1 1FII iI1 lIUIU13rl1lfl11t1
from the facile nen of Dr. Franl:
Crane. all doubts of the correctness _
of my judgment vanished inelic-Itably
iiito thin air. In the future, it is like-
ly,- that thinking men wxill continue t(.
call in question the ilstoricity of the .
Gospels. I, however, they must
choose between Papini and Holy Writ,
I feel sure they will join the c:hoirus
led by Mr. Bryan, shouting, "The Bible
ik; still good enough for me!"
HUMORESQUE
(Continued from Page'One)
appears in almost every transcription
possible. As referred to before, it may
be heard on violin solo with piano ac-
companiment. Also arranged for other
+ instruments it can be correspondingly
heard as flute, oboe, clarinet, and even
trumpet solo. It is done repeatedly by
theatre orchestras a4id it may even be e
h eard in church on heargan Oe '
transcriptionI have heard of its being .E x ct g Ii ab da
arranged for is the string quartette.
But as the well known "Drink to me F -
Only with Thine Eyes" is often accord- 'inealrs
ed splendid performances by no less
t body than the Flonzaley Quartette3 Foulard and Bow Ties
it would not be at all surprising to
hear shortly of the Dvorak piece being New Crush Hats
similarly' performed. -' 3'u h at
Theatre orchestras, particularly '
those in motion picture houses, re ___________..._.
cently had ample opportunity to give -t-i---
the miniature in question notable pci
formancs. It appears the id'Ea o
"I'Iinosu& is Fnt one confn' -nr h r r. N r u
solelv to music. Fannie Hlurst used=.
the theme as the basis for a shore-
-story The" treatment accorded was 6o8'L Libertt
of the more sentimental fashion. Th
motion nicture iudustr- was not slo - '
(Continued on Page Eight) =13ltll-t.lliliilll3fllllllu 13:illllfl llI1JI1Il