,transcriber's ,notes ,italic text is denoted by underscores4 ,misspelled words have been corrected4 ,these are identified by symbols in the text and are shown immediately below the paragraph in which they appear4 ,details and other notes may be found at the end of this e,book4 ,,the ,,soul ,,of ,,the ,,moving ,,picture ,illustration3 ,scene from ,the ,nibelungs4 ,see p4 #ic ,,the ,,soul ,,of ,,the ,,moving ,,picture ,,by ,,walter ,s4 ,,bloem ,,authorized ,,translation ,,from ,,the ,,german ,,by ,,allen ,w4 ,,porterfield ,,new ,,york ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton ,,company #fha ,fifth ,avenue ,copyright1 #aibd ,by ,e4 ,p4 ,dutton ,company ,all ,rights ,reserved ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,contents ,introduction ix ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,tools of the ,trade #a ,,ii4 ,texts #ai ,,iii4 ,tricks #cb ,,iv4 ,the ,scene #dj ,v4 ,the ,setting #gb ,,vi4 ,the ,poet #ie ,,vii4 ,the ,compass of ,poetry #aaj ,,viii4 ,film ,adaptation #add ,,ix4 ,the ,path to ,art #aec ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,scene ,,from ,the ,nibelungs ,frontispiece ,,figure ,,facing ,,page #a ,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari #f #b ,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari #ad #c ,the ,stone ,rider #bj #d ,the ,stone ,rider #bh #e ,the ,nibelungs #cd #f ,destiny #db #g ,the ,children of ,darkness #dh #h ,algol #fj #i ,dr4 ,mabuse3 ,the ,great ,unknown #fd #aj ,golem #gj #aa ,golem #gh #ab ,destiny #hd #ac ,sumurun #ajj #ad ,madame ,dubarry #ajh #ae ,anne ,boleyn #aad #af ,dr4 ,mabuse3 ,the ,great ,unknown #abb #ag ,a ,doll's ,house #acj #ah ,vgeld ,castle #ach #ai ,destiny #adf #bj ,the ,nibelungs #aeb #ba ,the ,nibelungs #afj ,,introduction ,the influence of the moving picture on the souls of the various peoples of the earth has become so great that an attitude of indifference toward this marvelous invention is no longer permissible4 ,we see ourselves forced to take a definite stand for it or against it2 we are obliged to line up as friend or foe of the film4 ,it is1 however1 no longer sufficient to oppose the moving picture in a spirit of indulgent contempt or fanatic hostility4 ,all the world knows that there are more bad moving pictures than good ones1 and that the moral and aesthetic tendency of a great many films is of a quite negligible nature4 ,but if the moving picture were in reality the offspring of the ,devil1 as many theologians and academic demi-gods the world over contend1 thinking people would be at once confronted with this insoluble problem3 ,how does it come that thousands upon thousands of human beings scattered over the earth are laboring1 with intense resignation and passionate zeal1 to the end that the film may be made more perfect artistically and cleaner from a purely moral point of view8 ,the striving after money has naturally something to do with their efforts4 ,to offer this1 however1 as a final explanation of this unusual situation would be an idle method of reasoning4 ,you cannot explain the joy these men are taking in their creative efforts in this way1 for their souls are in their work4 ,to many thinking people1 the real nature of the moving picture is wrapped in mystery2 it is a brilliant and enigmatic riddle to them4 ,they recognize1 though they fail to comprehend1 the fact that the moving picture1 despised without restraint and condemned on general principles only the other day1 has won an incomparable victory over the hearts of men--a victory1 too1 that will be all the greater and more beautiful once the psychic and moral perfection of the moving picture has been accomplished4 ,the cultured man has an instinctive hatred of forces the significance of which lie beyond his grasp2 he makes every conceivable effort to defend himself against them1 to ward them off4 ,but the people1 the masses1 throw themselves into the arms of such forces blindly and without question4 ,the number of cultured men1 however1 who are going over to the camp of the moving picture--without thereby becoming disloyal to the other arts--is growing daily4 ,even those sworn and confirmed skeptics who still look down upon the film from the heights of their intellectual superiority with superciliousness and contempt are bound to admit that there is something between the pictures which has a magic power to draw1 which exercises an ineluctable influence in the gaining of recruits4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the moving picture is an art based on feeling1 and not on thought4 ,it has to do with the emotions rather than with the intellect4 ,the man who goes to the moving picture wants to experience certain incidents1 not by thinking about them1 but by feeling them4 ,just as music arouses the feelings through tones1 just so does the moving picture attempt to solve1 not the riddle of the human brain1 but of the human soul4 ,a moving picture is a feeling expressed through gestures4 ,there is still much about this youthful art that is altogether misunderstood4 ,its real sources1 the fountains of its life1 are suspected1 foreboded by only a few2 nor are they recognized1 when seen1 by all4 ,nearly every visit to a motion picture theatre is a disappointment2 the must of the grape is still carrying-on in a really absurd fashion4 ,the motion picture1 however1 is marching straight ahead in a course of unmistakable and wonderful development toward the heights of victory4 ,and this development1 this evolution1 has to do not merely with the perfecting of the art itself1 but with the enjoyment that is derivable and derived from the art4 ,our eyes are becoming keener in the detection of gestures and mimicry2 our imaginations are growing sharper1 even clairvoyant2 they are rapidly becoming able to read the language of pictures and movement4 ,when the motion picture was still in its infancy1 its actors assumed and employed the shrill and tinny pathos of the pantomime4 ,at that time1 and it was not long ago1 the lovely and mutely passionate world of gesture was unknown to us4 ,we saw it1 to be sure1 in the dance1 but we were still incapable of interpreting it4 ,to-day we feel1 detect1 see some sort of inner vibration behind the slightest movement4 ,in the other arts1 in the old and tried arts1 those that have already been developed to a high stage of perfection1 if not actually over-developed1 progress1 if made at all1 must be made with the expenditure of tremendous effort2 it must be wrung from the depths1 as it were4 ,in the moving picture1 on the other hand1 a thousand possibilities still lie quite on the surface1 ready1 indeed longing1 for fulfilment4 ,the great creator can think1 feel1 and dream new and novel features without falling into despair at the thought of what has already been done4 ,becoming mindful of the past is not a painful occupation for him4 ,indeed1 the motion picture may be compared to a starry heaven that stretches out before our upturned eyes1 awaiting the creative ken of the celestial investigator4 99 99 99 99 99 ,every attempt1 however1 of the exuberant creator1 filled with the urge for deeds1 to perform aesthetic experiments on the motion picture avenges itself2 such experiments cannot be carried out with impunity4 ,for the applause of a small circle of the elect is not going to prevent bankruptcy on the part of the film company that supports these experiments4 ,film art without economic success is quite unthinkable4 ,germany1 the land of theory1 experienced a short while ago a veritable flood of aesthetic experiments in the domain of the moving picture4 ,of these1 there was but one1 ,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari1 which provided its creators with the satisfaction that comes from a pronounced success in foreign countries4 ,and even in this case the success was due to the peculiarity of certain means that had heretofore never been seen on the screen4 ,the ,american has too much appreciation of this world1 and too little sense for the world beyond1 to grow enthusiastic about phantoms or nebulous adventures4 ,nor is he weighed down with the traditions that reach back through centuries of time and constitute so much impedimenta on the part of ,european artists4 ,and the ,swede is too intimately associated with the mother-earth of his home ever to undertake a flight to the clouds through the medium of the motion picture4 ,but the ,swede and the ,german reached the point where they saw that you have got to speak a language1 in the film1 which can be understood by men wherever they chance to live4 ,a work1 let it be ever so artistic and valuable in itself1 which brings economic distress to the film company that produces it1 harms indirectly the entire film business as an art4 ,that film artist attains to the complete realization of his desires whose creations put money into the purse of the company2 the one who does not do this fails in the end4 ,the task of the film artist is always and ever3 ,to effect a happy union between art and business4 ,moreover1 this union must be brought about in such a way that both--art and business--flourish4 ,the man who cannot do this merely drives the film companies on to the production of cheap and cheapening pictures which draw the masses and pay a reasonable dividend1 but nothing more4 ,for the film companies of this earth are and remain1 first of all1 business concerns that must pay4 ,film art is expensive1 and no gratuitous distributor of private funds is going to give one penny which will not bear him interest4 ,if there be anyone so blind as not to be able to grasp this simple principle1 he is unable to grasp the underlying principle of the motion picture as an art4 ,to fail to recognize commercial success as the basic condition on which film art rests is to call down upon one's head the irritation that ensues from ineffectual grumbling4 ,consequently1 the much lauded redeemer of the film will be he1 and he only1 who can create what is at once of enduring artistic value and financial potentiality4 ,and every film will have this artistic and commercial success which glows with real passion because it has been wrung from powerful feeling4 ,the art1 the very soul of the motion picture1 cherishes no desire for subtle1 intellectual form or forms4 ,it longs1 indeed1 for a soul form of elementary force4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this is true1 for the unique though inexhaustible domain of the motion picture is the eternal feelings of man1 the initial and primeval feelings that rise from out of the senses and mount to the soul4 ,love or hate1 and the joy1 sorrow1 grief1 hope1 lamentation and good fortune that emanate from these two--it is with these that the film has to do4 ,it has to do with nothing that comes rigidly from the intellect--or exclusively from the soul itself4 ,in the moving picture everything becomes pale and colorless which is not born of the sensual emotions4 ,every art seeks its way to the soul4 ,sensuality#a and soul1 that is the moving picture4 ,there is only one eternal1 immutable1 and never-failing material for the film3 it is the passion of the soul4 #a ,there is no word that occurs more frequently in this book than sinnlich1 or the noun derived from it1 ,sinnlichkeit4 ,throughout1 the former is rendered by 8sensual10 the latter by 8sensuality40 ,neither of these words has here the connotation that is ordinarily attached to it3 8,sensual0 means nothing more than relating to the senses2 and 8,sensuality0 is the noun form and means nothing more than the composite result of our being 8sensual40 ,we have1 as a matter of fact1 five 8senses40 ,the ,german for 8sense0 is ,sinn4 ,consequently1 sinnlich has reference to our capacity for sensations1 our sensibility4 ,the words might have been translated in a variety of ways4 ,i might have commandeered such terms as 8sentient10 8sensory10 8susceptible to sense experiences10 and so on4 ,such variety would have been1 probably1 in the interest of seeming erudition1 which leaves me cold1 or in the interest of pedagogy which1 so long as ,i remain normal1 no man can ever persuade me to study4 --,translator4 ,thought and intellect are given an intelligent welcome by but very few people4 ,were it not for the herd and hypocrisy1 poetry would be unread and the stage would be a temple of the lonely and isolated4 ,is ,shakespeare or ,goethe really understood by the masses8 ,the senescent stage is the counterpart of the goal of our civilization1 which is the thought that can be felt1 the idea that can be filled with soul4 ,it is for this reason that we have to-day1 more than ever1 the spiritual stage4 ,art based on emotions is art for the masses4 ,the youthful motion picture is the counterpart of the origin of our nature1 which is the sensuality that can be felt and filled with soul4 ,it is for this reason that we have to-day the sensual1 the sensuous1 moving picture4 ,there are limits to feelings4 ,for we live in an age that demands crystal clarity and coy niceness4 ,the limp1 flabby and effeminate we dislike4 ,no age was less nave than ours1 and yet none was less sentimental4 ,the motion picture is art for the masses2 it is mass art4 ,sectarianism1 chilly aestheticism1 attempts at escape from inadequate culture--these are not known to the motion picture4 ,art for the masses1 art for the money4 ,that is the entire story4 ,but does art for the masses mean art such as the masses themselves would create8 ,rabble art8 ,the film in which the plebeian soul alone takes interest and from which it derives pleasure is not a good film4 ,nor is that a good film which is understood only by the aesthetic soul4 ,to be good1 satisfactory1 excellent1 a film must carry along with it and enrapture all1 those whose hearts are simple and those whose hearts are intricate1 complex1 full of intertwined sensations4 ,to do this is hard4 ,if and when done1 it is done through the medium of great art4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this book was written by a man who writes scenarios4 ,it is not beyond reason to believe that such a book could have been written only in ,germany1 where one1 in matters of art1 not infrequently forgets the action out of an all-absorbing interest in meditation4 ,it arose from an inner desire1 from an inner exertion3 ,i wished to become clear1 for the benefit of my own manuscripts and using them as a basis1 as to how a film should be constructed so that art and profit1 which are inseparable in this field1 might get along with each other2 might endure mutual juxtaposition4 ,and ,i wished to give other people the benefit of my views4 ,i have devoted my attention mainly to those motion pictures that have been most readily accessible to my fellow-countrymen and1 to me4 ,in other words1 ,i have discussed ,german films4 ,the time at which my wounded and bleeding country will again take its place among the happy and prosperous nations of the earth is still remote4 ,moreover1 it is only in rare instances that the best films of foreign lands are shown in our theaters4 ,the taste1 however1 in the matter of the moving picture is virtually the same among white people the world over1 and we are all striving1 even competing1 for the identical goal--to please4 ,i am quite mindful of the fact that a purely theoretical discussion has its limitations in value4 ,every personal opinion is one-sided1 and no sooner has the connoisseur found his way than he throws the views of others overboard and proceeds on his course just as if he had never heard of them4 ,nevertheless1 the motion film of all lands1 whether it be ,american or ,european1 makes its appeal to human beings every one of whom has two eyes in his head and a heart in his breast4 ,nor is this all4 ,every individual man1 wherever he may chance to live or whatever his origin may be1 has one fundamental ambition1 one basic goal3 joy1 beauty1 adventure4 ,perhaps ,i have succeeded in saying a few things regarding the general nature of the motion picture which may be helpful by way of showing how a successful picture is built up and produced4 ,if ,i may be permitted to do so1 ,i should like to express the hope that ,i have made a few suggestions of enduring value1 even and also to those across the ,atlantic4 ,nor is it judicious to overlook the fact that an idea is by no means worthless when it incites to contradiction or refutal4 ,the smallest creation is more valuable than the most beautiful book of discussion4 ,it is always permissible1 however1 to form certain ideas regarding one's own creations1 and to discuss these ideas in a theoretical way4 ,the one point to be kept in mind in this connection is1 that we must never regard such discussion as the formulation of definitive and irrefutable opinions2 a treatise of this kind dare not lay down an inelastic law for the film of the future4 ,limitations dare not be placed on the free creative ability of the mind and the soul4 ,a real creator can break the chains of theory easily and without notice4 ,for him there is but one rule that always holds3 ,do your work well1 and then you need not pay the slightest attention to the law as this is handed down4 ,w4 ,s4 ,b4 ,burg ,rienick4 ,in the ,summer of #aibc4 ,,the ,,soul ,,of ,,the ,,moving ,,picture ,,chapter ,i ,,tools ,,of ,,the ,,trade ,the special characteristic of a fool is that he always tries to do the thing for which he is not qualified4 ,art likewise commits a grievous folly when it attempts something for which it is not fitted2 when it fails to undertake what it alone can accomplish4 ,for this specific accomplishment on its part is1 as a matter of necessity1 expected of it4 ,whether this expectation be entertained consciously or instinctively is beside the point4--,walter ,harlan4 ,the moving picture is scarcely twenty-five years old4 ,born of a matchless technical invention1 it demands to-day1 with the unrelieved arrogance of the proverbial upstart1 complete recognition in the society of the arts ,there1 in the company of the established arts1 it finds illustrious companions each of whom looks back upon a proud tradition of hundreds and hundreds of years4 ,the old arts1 however1 are reluctant about admitting the moving picture to their family4 ,and1 truth to tell1 the film is bound to admit that its nursery was not as it should have been2 for filthy hands taught it to walk4 ,no man of intelligence refused to pay due honor1 indeed to express his vigorous admiration for1 the invention of the moving picture and the talking machine4 ,the moment1 however1 that these two creations of technical science asked to be regarded as means to a new and real art1 this honor and this admiration were at once driven from the field by a frigid rejection4 ,the masses1 to be sure1 sicklied over in no way with a pale cast of thought1 conducted themselves differently3 they forsook ,olympus then and there and rushed with jubilant hearts into the temples of the new 8art40 ,the film had arrived4 ,the scholar refused to recognize it2 he closed his doors against it4 ,it was impossible1 however1 for him to prevent its spread over the entire earth4 ,owing to the very fact1 that intellect could at first not be persuaded to take a sympathetic interest in the film1 the film went on its way and became1 quite naturally1 the tool of ignorance if not of imbecility4 ,to its initial champions any such concept as cultured civilization was unknown4 ,their sole objective was to transform the novel device into jingling guineas1 and to do it as quickly as possible4 ,it was not long1 however1 until the public that frequented the music halls and variety shows grew tired of the 8cinematographic0 disrobings and their attendant indecencies4 ,what was to be done8 ,writers immediately set about creating backstairs tales of the worst conceivable type4 ,there was but one slogan3 ,money6 ,and the money was forthcoming4 ,technical science1 which has really never1 of relatively recent years1 been without a keen nose for good business1 came to the aid of the scenario 8authors40 ,as a result of this1 the presentation of the pictures soon acquired a stage of perfection which the most enthusiastic dreamer had never once anticipated4 ,but of art1 of culture1 of an exquisitely visualized civilization--not a trace not even a premonition4 8attendent0 replaced with 8attendant0 ,then came the moving picture actor1 that living embodiment in one person of idealism and materialism1 in whose acting people began to have a sort of pre-conception of an entirely new method of giving visible and tangible expression to human feelings4 ,the belief that a new art was in the making was still vague2 one's idea of it was still dim2 but it was there4 ,the 8scholarly0 world1 whose unique privilege it always has been1 is1 and will be to denounce1 decry1 and damn the new so long as it has not been perfected and despite such evidences of unquestioned greatness as it may reveal1 at once shrieked as from a single throat3 8,surrogate60 ,it was in ,italy that a certain poet with a world-wide reputation permitted his work to be placed on the screen4 ,at this some began to be skittish1 skeptical4 ,and from afar off1 as it were1 came the first trumpet tones announcing a new art4 ,and thus the moving picture1 attacked by the entire 8cultured0 world1 went on its way1 unimpeded by the objections that were raised against it1 to the heights on which it at present rests4 ,the scholar proved that there is one thing at least which he is not3 a prophet1 a seer1 a herald of the new4 ,to be a pioneer does not mean that one must cast slurs on that which has not yet found itself2 it means much rather the ability to catch1 by fair means and fanciful1 the first distinct notes of remote clarity4 ,no one will be able to have great faith in the motion picture who is not at the same time able to seal his heart against the veritable flood of artistic disappointments--and who is not ready to pay his homage to the few great scattered events and episodes that have gone toward the effecting of the clarity of which we have spoken8 ,if you say to me1 8,nine-tenths of all moving pictures are bad10 ,i shall reply by saying that 8,one-tenth of all moving pictures is good40 ,if this repartee on our part is possible from the point of view of hard fact1 then it certainly must be possible to squeeze out all the faulty fruit from this budding garden of the screen4 ,it is1 in truth1 ridiculous to try to prove the worthlessness of the moving picture as a whole by selecting1 with much conscientious care1 the worst pictures and holding them up as typical--and abominable--8illustrations40 ,these 8worst pictures0 merely make us realize the not exactly crushing truth that the moving picture1 like any other artistic tool or instrument1 may be misused4 ,if we wish to prove the enduring value of poetry1 we do not cite ,kotzebue or ,conan ,doyle4 ,we can appreciate the value of the motion picture only by studying its best works4 ,it is easy to criticise2 to nag is a sport in which all may indulge4 ,but mistakes are necessary3 they return without ceasing and lay in our lap first the foreboding1 and then the real knowledge of those inner laws that go to make up the truth4 ,and they do this however deeply buried the laws may be4 ,technique stands at the service of civilization2 it is the product of cold1 calculating1 judicial intellect4 ,art serves culture2 it is the product of the warm1 seeking soul4 ,the moving picture wants to serve culture2 it wants to speak to the soul1 sprung though it itself is from cold technique4 ,when1 at the close of the preceding century1 its inventors projected the first 8living0 pictures on the canvas1 they did not even faintly suspect the measure of development that was in store for the child of their mind4 ,the film was not created for the benefit of culture4 ,if in the meantime the visualization of human feelings has come to occupy the lion's share of attention1 it is merely a proof of the fact that the human soul has taken possession of the film in order1 through it1 to acquire new forms of expression for its feelings4 ,who would have the audacity to contend that the number of arts was definitely decided upon centuries ago1 and that new ones cannot be added to the already existing list8 ,who will deny that every art has sprung from some technical invention or other8 ,even music1 the most beautiful flower of human culture1 was impossible and unthinkable until men had invented sounding boards1 vibrating strings1 and similar devices4 ,whether the technical apparatus associated with a species of art1 and making that art possible1 be elaborate or simple1 concerns art itself in no way4 ,for it is entirely and altogether a question as to how large the space is which it offers the soul4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4 ,scene from ,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,see p4 #gi ,long before the moving picture was a reality1 there was an art of dumb1 mute1 moving bodies which achieved its ends through crude and1 viewed from the present point of view1 distinctly laughable method of procedure4 ,i have reference to the pantomime4 ,we see that such forms as the ,pantomime has thus far employed1 such devices as it has thus far called to its aid1 have by no means exhausted its artistic possibilities4 ,the mimic action1 or incident1 was laid at such a great distance from the spectator that the finer values of the enterprise failed of their real significance2 they could not1 in truth1 be applied4 ,the pantomimic actor--even much more so than is the case with the actor on the stage of the spoken drama when he is obliged to depend upon gestures for his effects--saw himself forced into an excess of pathos with which it was quite impossible for his soul to keep pace4 ,we felt such acting was affected2 we dubbed it 8hollow1 theatrical pathos40 ,in order to make its mimic expression more refined1 which means more artistic1 pantomime called music to its aid1 and music is an art of feeling4 ,it thereby ceased to be real pantomime 7that is1 a pan or an 8all0 affair71 especially in connection with the accompanying song1 the canticum4 ,in other words1 the hitherto existing forms of pantomime have proved to be inadequate and unsatisfactory as agents of transmission between the contents of the art they are supposed to represent and the spectators who are supposed to enjoy the representation4 ,then came the film4 ,anything that had previously been lost in the distance1 anything in the way of tender emotions and delicate feelings that the spacious room of the theatre had swallowed up1 is now caught up by the lens of the film4 ,a symphony of humanity can be made to vibrate in the play of a nervous hand1 a chaos of opposing forces can be visualized with an equally small display of effort4 ,what art had ever before been able to do justice to the animated and 8living0 hand8 ,what other phase of art had been able to catch1 hold1 and delineate the twitching corners of the mouth8 ,it was not until the film had been brought to its present state of perfection that there came forth from the pantomime this new and exalted art1 the art of expressing feelings through gesticulation4 ,the inexpressible1 the unspeakable1 that regarding which even poetry itself can do no more than merely touch or indicate1 has been taken up by the film and made a reality in the sphere of art4 ,even years ago1 the great ,german actor ,bassermann played1 in the moving picture1 a scene in which the transition from unmarred joy to unrelieved grief was expressed in his well-nigh immovable face4 ,where was such an accomplishment possible before the invention of the film8 ,on the legitimate stage8 ,in the pantomime8 ,the exploitation of the much-abused ,grossaufnahme 7enlarged photograph or close-up7 is1 of course1 perfectly justified when it is a question of portraying intensified feelings1 provided the exposure be taken with becoming caution4 ,but it has meaning--that is1 it is to be applied then and only then when feelings are to be expressed which1 in actual life1 are revealed gently4 ,the close-up is out of place in caricatures and facial distortions2 it is intended solely for the more tender emotions2 gruff or even indifferent feelings cannot be reproduced with its aid4 ,it is a matter of congratulation that the tendency in recent years1 not merely in ,europe but also in ,america1 has been away from the old method of breaking up each individual scene into a half dozen close-ups4 ,there is1 moreover1 a certain definite standard with regard to this kind of pictures beyond which it is impossible to go with impunity4 ,when1 for example1 a single head or face is detached from its pictural connection and made to fill the entire surface of the canvas1 the effect is disagreeable1 the impression unsympathetic4 ,thus we see that the pantomimic possibilities are fulfilled1 through the aid of the motion picture1 up to that very point beyond which these possibilities no longer exist4 ,the significance of this is manifest3 it is only with the aid of the motion picture that the very possibilities in the way of the animated1 or moving1 body can be visualized and exhausted4 ,this in turn proves that the film was necessary--that as a novel and perfect form of expression of the human soul it is to be reckoned as an art of the arts1 and among the other arts1 without hesitation or mental reservation4 ,the gramophone is also a technical invention2 but we shall never be able to list it among the arts because it was not necessary as an aid to music4 ,all that it does is to carry what it receives farther along and in an unchanged condition1 just like the waves of the radio station4 ,the gramophone does not bestow a deeper possibility of expression on the sound it reproduces4 ,the motion picture is a qualitative gain for art2 the gramophone is merely a quantitative gain4 ,but1 the people say1 the film has its weak points3 ,it is colorless2 it shows a flat surface and not a well-rounded fullness2 it is mute4 ,i detect at once two disadvantages and one advantage4 ,i am aware of the weakness that arises from the fact that the film reproduces flat surfaces4 ,life itself is rich and round1 bodies move about in pliable fullness1 there are such things as propinquity and remoteness2 some things are near1 others afar off4 ,the film brings out all of this only in an imperfect way2 indeed to a certain degree these concepts and realities are distorted by the film4 ,there was a desire to transform this defect into an advantage1 and the shadow picture1 as well as the etched and colored film1 was the result4 ,each was rather attractive1 neat1 even winsome2 but in the framework of our art they were altogether without real significance4 ,for the strongest impression of the motion picture is and remains the play of real human beings2 and we cannot expand or contract our moving picture people just before they begin to play1 and just so that they may have the right 8size40 ,let us rather be content with longing for the inventor who will present us with the plastic film4 ,i appreciate the weakness that arises from the colorlessness of the film4 ,life itself is rich and variegated2 it shines forth in colors of a thousand hues4 ,the flowers are beautiful2 the blush on the cheek of a lovely young woman is filled with magic charm4 ,we can indeed at this stage only seriously regret that this diverting play of colors has thus far not been a gift out after which the film may reach4 ,the film as we know it is without color4 ,but ,heaven forbid that we should become unmindful of the austere fact that all arts have their weak points alongside of their strong ones4 ,how we should like to hear the angels on the ,altar of ,ghent sing6 ,how we should like to see the aurora of ,michael ,angelo broaden out the glorious body6 ,the truth is1 however1 that the motion picture1 even in its present imperfect state1 gives us an abundance1 indeed enough1 of pleasurable sensations4 ,for does it not depict the play of beautiful bodies1 the wonders of the storm-tossed sea1 of the wind-swept plain8 ,does it not show us the flying clouds and foaming waves8 ,it does2 and we can consequently endure1 for the time being1 its colorlessness and its imperfections with regard to space1 especially since there is well-founded reason to believe that sooner or later the inventor will come forth and eliminate both of these defects4 ,i am aware of one advantage4 ,the film is mute where life itself is rich and resounding4 ,one would fancy then at first blush that this were a disgraceful weakness on the part of the film1 one that must be removed at once if the film is to survive4 ,we1 however1 detect a distinct advantage in the muteness of the film4 ,every art must have a basic and fundamental soil1 so to speak1 in which its particular species of flowers flourish4 ,poetry has the spoken word1 painting has color1 music has sounds1 the plastic arts the rigid body4 ,it is in these that each seeks and enjoys its originality--and originality is the sole ground on which art of any sort justifies its continued existence4 ,therefore1 grant to the motion picture its mute play of moving bodies1 for if you are unwilling to do this1 you will doom the film to become merely a hackneyed1 parrot-like imitation of the regular stage4 ,but man is so constituted that he makes those inventions which he can make and not others1 regardless always as to whether these inventions are beneficial to human kind or not2 regardless as to whether they are of a beneficent or a malevolent nature4 ,this proposition must be accepted1 or it is impossible to account for the invention of the cannon4 ,and so1 in all probability quite soon1 the speaking and resounding film will challenge the mute film to the arena4 ,the outcome of the ensuing struggle is hard to predict4 ,it is altogether probable that the film public will suddenly be brought to realize that the silent1 speechless motion picture gives it more stimulation and more pleasure than the speaking film1 for the latter will have nothing original about it4 ,and it remains a solemn fact that the public always wants to see something original2 it wants to be conducted straight to the visionary land of a colorful fancy where such adventures as men have never seen literally grow on the trees before them4 ,let us wait then and see how the world receives the speaking film4 ,if it accepts it1 one of the most beautiful1 and one of the most recent1 messengers of peace known to the human family will have been lost4 ,for the film speaks to-day the silent language of the emotions1 that language which is understood by all peoples and races wherever they may live2 it speaks the reconciliatory language of the human heart4 ,we have all seen and felt ,americans1 ,germans1 ,frenchmen1 ,jews1 ,chinese1 and even ,negroes play in the motion picture4 ,they all spoke with the voice of brotherhood1 and no one hated them4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4 ,scene from ,the ,cabinet of ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,see p4 #gg ,the speechless silence of the film1 however1 is not altogether tolerable4 ,the most taciturn of men speak a word at times1 and the film dare not create the impression of total unnaturalness4 ,the film is not pure pantomime4 ,misguided and obsessed theorists try every now and then to project a pantomime film on the screen1 and every now and then these creations enjoy a measure of approbation on the part of the critical public4 ,the characters of these scenarios are doomed men and women whose lips have been sealed4 ,their playing is often ungraceful and tortured1 for there are not a few instances in human fate1 as this is delineated on the screen1 in which something must be said which cannot be said through the exclusive means of gestures4 ,the subject matter of these pantomimic films has1 without exception1 been exceedingly primitive thus far4 ,a marked case of such a film was the ,german picture entitled ,scherben which1 nota-bene1 has also been shown in ,america4 ,there is nothing left for the spectator to do other than to long in vain for at least a scrap of text which may serve to transform the unnaturalness of it all into a true picture4 ,it has been felt1 indeed1 everywhere that the film dare not be wholly speechless4 ,words there must be4 ,there dare not1 at the same time1 be anything even approaching a perfect lack of consideration for the art that is being indulged in3 we dare not forget that the prime feature of the film is its silence4 ,we are willing to put up with colorlessness and an altogether inadequate depiction of space and perspective1 but we become indignant when living and life-sized human beings converse with each other for a long while and in absolute silence4 ,again and again1 and even in the best of motion pictures1 we see the 8soundless conversation40 ,it is a mad conception that was unknown until the moving picture was invented4 ,people speak with each other1 often in regular word duels1 and we have only the vaguest idea as to what they are saying4 ,to be a spectator at such a performance is to receive instruction that leads on to the hazy suspension of reason and to the merciless softening of the mind4 ,with art1 or with the 8participation of the creative fancy of the spectator0 it has nothing whatever to do4 ,no text1 and be it endless1 can remove the impression that such a procedure is an anomaly4 ,it is still more dangerous to have people sing in the film4 ,to see such a sweet flower of the human family as ,mary ,pickford1 dressed in white and sitting at a concert piano1 is to be sure a rare pleasure2 at the sight of her1 the eye gladly forgets the impatience of the ear4 ,but there are films in which a tenor sings a wordy song that1 in itself1 is 8linked sweetness long drawn out40 ,his breast heaves1 his mouth opens like a barn door1 all in the silence of the tomb6 ,in such instances many a tried and valiant actor has played an involuntary ,chapliniad4 ,strangely enough1 instrumental music often has a quite pleasing effect in the motion picture4 ,the reason for this is not far to seek3 the accompanying music and the picture are blended into a unity2 between them there is perfect harmony4 ,that this harmony exists1 however1 is a matter of pure accident4 ,fearful1 on the other hand1 is the result when a living singer takes his place in the orchestra and accompanies the picture with a song4 ,when the hero up in the film opens his mouth1 the artist down among the musicians opens his too1 and song comes forth4 ,all of these are trifles which a skilful producer can easily avoid4 ,between silence and loquaciousness lies a spacious domain which offers the capable film artist abundant room for an easy and agreeable portrayal of his subject matter4 ,this having been accomplished1 no one feels that there is anything anomalous about the picture1 or the art that makes its production possible4 ,no one will feel a desire for a speaking film1 for the silence that is in the main obligatory has been interrupted and toned down by the interjection of occasional lines of text4 ,all in all1 the film as it has been developed thus far1 is a new revelation of the artistic world-soul3 it delineates feelings through gestures2 emotions are set forth with the aid of gesticulation4 ,for this reason alone1 the film in its present form is a new art4 ,is the photograph which makes the film possible also an art8 ,no1 it is not2 and will not be an art4 ,but the operator is an artist4 ,his tool is the lifeless material1 just as marble is the tool of the sculptor4 ,and he animates his picture1 he gives it life1 by means of the most delicate lights and shades1 through the introduction and application of the tenderest of moods4 ,let us rejoice that the human mind has been enabled1 thanks to the motion picture1 to hew out a way for itself into lands that have hitherto been unknown--a way that leads us off the beaten track on which the glare and hardness of everyday life become at times unendurable1 a way that leads us into the dreamy twilight of poetry1 into the realm of romance4 ,how necessary the film1 as an art1 has become if we are to escape with judicious frequency the drab dullness of the workaday world is known to everyone who is sufficiently familiar with it to feel that its loss would be lamentable4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,texts ,man as a mute8 ,in the old pantomime1 man was deaf and dumb4 ,his acting consisted of a ridiculous1 bombastic1 and excited whipping about with all manner of gestures1 a convulsive attempt to make clear1 through the exclusive agency of gesticulation1 a number of things1 indeed everything1 that cannot be said through gestures alone4 ,pantomime is tin-horn and big-drum solo4 ,this is not the way of the moving picture4 ,for it followed as a matter of self-evident fact that the inaudible words could be inserted in writing between the pictures4 ,many people1 however1 have succumbed to the delusion that the moving picture actor has regained his speech1 and that without limit4 ,there is no phase of the film in which it is still groping about more in the dark1 none in which its essential conditions have been so little fulfilled as in the matter of interpolated texts4 ,one begins to have a feeling that the shorter the speech the better4 ,but even a battle of words consisting of short1 even abbreviated1 lines can have an undesirable effect so far as the artistic impression is concerned4 ,laws are always first felt and then recognized in error4 ,it is even so with the texts that accompany the pictures of the film3 they are conditioned by a state of concealed necessity which the artist is in duty bound to recognize if he would impart to his text the psychic impressiveness without which it is a failure1 and the artistic importance without which it cannot survive4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4 ,scene from ,the ,stone ,rider4 ,see p4 #ha ,the contrasts between the picture and the text exist2 they even stand out4 ,but they have never prevented plastic art from attaching written explanations to the works that sail under its banner--that is to say1 the creations of the artist are named4 ,if such a designation1 or naming1 were not employed1 it is within reason to believe that many a work of art would never enjoy a correct or adequate interpretation4 ,it will probably always be a mystery as to precisely what ,titian meant by his so-called1 his inadequately designated1 8,celestial and ,earthly ,love40 ,these terms or names are superfluous1 if not annoying1 only when they convey an idea which is perfectly patent in the very nature of the work itself4 ,why ascribe set titles to such works as 8,trumerei10 or 8,the ,water ,carrier10 or 8,a ,happy ,home08 ,truth to tell1 the interweaving of picture and text had been elevated to the rank of a unique art form by a great artist long before the moving picture began its ascendent course4 ,i mean1 ,wilhelm ,busch1 with his pictures and verses4 ,in our soul1 ,busch's contrasts are dissolved and intertwined2 they constitute an organic unity2 they are a spiritual entity4 sthetic categorizing has consequently been secured1 in turn1 and that to the salvation of art4 ,the discovery of the practical1 artistic relations that picture and text should bear to each other have1 unfortunately1 not been made essentially easier thereby4 ,there can be no doubt but that different peoples feel quite differently on this point4 ,the ,italian--,gabriel d',annunzio1 for example1 in his ,cabiria--inserts sentences of a length1 effusiveness1 and fustian which are just as intolerable to the art-sense of a ,german as are the swollen and pathetic stage notes of his regular dramas4 ,are we to conclude from this that we ,germans are cooler1 calmer1 soberer1 and less buoyant than the children of sunny ,italy8 ,or are we to conclude that our feelings are safer guides in matters of art than those of the ,italians because we believe that the true significance of the moving picture is to be sought in the picture and not in the text8 ,for it seems to us like an artistic contradiction1 like utter nonsense1 when the film1 intended to create its effects through moving bodies1 supererogates unto itself art forms for which better means have been provided1 more appropriate ways found4 ,the book was made for poetry1 and if it is to be spoken1 its place is manifestly on the stage4 ,the task of the motion picture1 let us repeat1 is to express feelings by gestures4 ,in this proposition there lies hidden a great deal of knowledge4 ,feeling does not belong to the text2 the written text is not its sphere2 it is not to be spoken2 it is to be given form and substance through the art of mimicry4 ,but there are motion pictures staged by men who at the very thought of an ,i love you 7the warmest and tenderest possibility of this art7 cannot resist the temptation to have these three words roared forth through so much accompanying text4 ,but never mind6 ,i love you--that would be an almost classically sober wording4 ,the actors could play this concept so perfectly that such a sentence1 however superfluous it might be1 would scarcely be noticed4 ,the more1 however1 the text endeavors to create atmosphere through itself alone1 the more the film departs from real art4 ,in a certain gloriously dilettantish screen creation one reads3 8,vera1 you are so lovely and good to everybody1 couldn't you be lovely and good to me too80 ,even a sentence such as 8,you are beautiful0 brought a discordant note into the general situation4 ,we should be able to detect1 in each of our five senses1 the way in which the beauty of a woman gains utter control over a man4 ,if we are so bereft of feeling and fancy that we cannot see this and feel it1 a whole volume of emotional text would not be able to drum it into our heads and hearts4 8dilettanteish0 replaced with 8dilettantish0 ,one notices that the film authors frequently try to bring a bit of poetry into their texts3 8,it is not wise to show me how much ,i lost when ,i erased the memory of the woman from my mind10 said the ,tiger of ,eschnapur in the ,indisches ,grabmal 78,indian ,monument074 ,in a case of this kind1 words take to their heels1 so to speak1 wander out into the realm of undisciplined poetry1 and lose all feeling for and connection with mimic action4 ,but in the motion picture the word is not free2 it is bound with secret chains to the mimic action4 ,if these are broken1 the ensuing contradiction jars on our senses in that two art forms are welded together which in reality have nothing to do with each other4 ,the striving after lyric tenderness and beauty is noticeable in a great many ,german and ,american films4 ,in this regard1 the ,swede is wiser1 his feelings more commendable4 ,his texts are more objective and material2 and the effects they produce are more wholesome and artistic4 ,for wherever and whenever the text displays an excess of fire and fancy1 the spectator remains as cold as ice4 ,his feelings can be aroused only by the gestures1 by the movements of the bodies of the actors4 ,in ,dr4 ,mabuse we were regaled with this bit of declamation3 8,he--who is he8 ,no one knows him4 ,he stands over the city4 ,he is as tall as a tower4 ,he is damnation1 he is salvation--and he loved me40 ,the public was not moved one iota--but it laughed tears4 ,instead of being exalted1 it was disenchanted2 it was sobered down4 ,for the very simple reason that the laws of the motion picture text are different from and narrower than those that have to do with poetry4 ,the film texts that are written in verse prove to be pretty thin and anemic in their effect1 even when a serious and gentle poet writes them4 ,we have but to think of ,der mde ,tod 78,weary ,death074 ,they are however altogether unbearable when they come trotting across the screen in the cumbersome armor of the iambic pentameter--as the ,italians so frequently employ them4 ,that kind of inflated film text has been rejected by the entire world4 ,the film text cannot endure a revel in words2 it must fit the action as tightly and as neatly as a smooth1 stiff fleshing fits an actor of the spoken stage4 ,dress it up with the festival garments of formal poetry and these garments flop about its limbs while sthetics go begging4 ,here is a thought to be kept on our memorandum3 ,all that is said in the way of feelings in the text is not felt in the play4 ,our instinctive presentiment1 at this stage of film development1 is so deep that we are not going to admit through the threefold door of the heart any text that attempts to bend and mold this presentiment to suit its own purposes4 ,the ease with which the spectator may be inundated with a flood of textual words cajoles some into smuggling the talmy-gold of speech into the moving picture3 8,i forbid you to leave this house2 and if you dare to act contrary to my wish in this matter1 you will not receive a single penny from me60 ,this text occurs in the ,indisches ,grabmal4 ,fewer words would be more1 that is1 more effective4 ,a clear1 soulful portrayal as well as a fixed1 secure1 and successful mounting is made altogether impossible by such an unchastened and miserably affected text as this4 ,the very dignity of the film1 in this case1 has been abandoned to the caprice of the man who wrote the lines4 ,the author is in a position to do one of two things3 he may either cleanse the film to the point of high art by grasping the true significance of such text as is needed1 or he may demote the same film with all its art potentialities1 to the grade of a mere hawked pamphlet by filling his text with the heavy1 plebeian splashings of everyday and everyman conversation4 ,but never mind6 ,such texts may be regarded as a failure1 but they are by no means equivalent to the transferral of the material to the purely spiritual world 7which is closed to the sensuous moving picture because it cannot be disclosed through gestures alone74 ,but wherever we sense an attempt on the part of the text to make even a remote effort at touching on the problems of the intellect or spirit1 we notice at once the patchouly stench of botched and bungled art4 ,all those expressions of a well-meant and1 in poetry1 quite permissible brooding and grieving over the sinister incidents of life1 as well as such threadbare philosophizing as goes with this species of mental indulgence--all of these utterances taste like thin lemonade1 sweet1 flat1 and insipid4 ,in them there is not a grain of real film feeling2 the art of the great picture they know not4 ,exalted spirit1 how near ,i feel myself to thee--such is the boast of the moving picture in this instance--that is1 when it makes short shift with its fundamental right and privilege1 if indeed it does not dispense with it entirely4 ,the spirit of the film author is not shown by allowing his ,pegasus to roam uncurbed over boundless territories1 emitting wise sayings as he stamps the ground of his seemingly privileged course4 ,his spirit1 the intellect that he may have1 is revealed in its true light when he exercises an iron will in his search after the right expression1 and makes this expression just as short and just as rare as the exigencies of the occasion permit4 ,as ,alfred ,kerr has laconically put it3 8,the goal of your expression8 ,the briefer40 ,and when this law is laid down and adhered to1 the really marvelous begins to take place3 these condensed1 sober1 frigid words actually begin to ring and glow4 ,the best text that has ever been given any motion picture1 and the one that lent the scene to which it belonged the most veritable magic1 was found in ,caligari4 ,at the head of these dark and somber horrors stood the one word1 8,night40 ,this lone monosyllable1 which in the rise and swell of poetry might be passed over quite unnoticed1 cast a spell over us in the film like the glowing of greenish eyes from the dark4 ,such brevity is1 of course1 not always necessary1 nor is it at all times possible1 for it would frequently be impossible for the general public to understand it4 ,but a clear1 clean primness1 one that is just as alien to any imitation of everyday speech as it is to the striving after original1 poetic effect1 should characterize the style of the text that accompanies the picture4 ,how could we best define a really adequate motion picture text8 ,by saying that it is a lump of ice in which there is a glowing coal4 8,night--0 ,this is obviously the artistic sense of the style we are considering3 we are endeavoring to make it possible for the actor to indulge in an unhampered and unhindered mimicry that is poles removed from the gymnastics of the pantomime4 ,carl ,hauptmann said once upon a time3 8,that will always be a poor motion picture in which a violent effort is made through the overworking of gestures to express an idea which in reality can be expressed only through the medium of words4 ,that1 too1 will always be regarded as a benevolent inter-pictorial text which holds up to the mind of the spectator1 suddenly and without warning1 certain necessary words the mission of which will be to impart roundness1 fullness1 and ultimate clarity to the mental content of the pictures that have been passing before our vision40 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #d4 ,scene from ,the ,stone ,rider4 ,see p4 #hb ,the compass of the motion picture were far too limited to merit serious and universal study if the materials that are used by it were confined to such as can be fully and adequately interpreted through gestures alone1 and without the use of even the briefest of explanatory text4 ,the ,american1 who troubles himself but little about theoretical considerations1 frequently mounts1 in less important films1 individual scenes with six or more bits of text arranged in remark and reply4 ,there has been a tendency of late1 however1 to exercise greater moderation in this1 respect4 ,the whole matter can be summed up by saying that with regard to the number of interspersed words1 and the length of the explanatory sentences that are used1 one's feelings are the only safe criterion to follow2 and they set down this as an infallible guide3 ,a text is good if it is effective4 ,it can be effective only when it harmonizes with the pictures4 ,and if it is to be effective--that is1 if it is to find its way to the heart1 the very narrowest of limitations are imposed upon it4 ,the business of depicting feelings must be left to the actor4 ,any feature of the action that cannot be controlled in an unconstrained way by the art of mimicry must be cared for by the text4 ,under this heading would fall the announcement of decisions reached or resolutions made by the participating personages4 ,but when the text essays to chew1 swallow1 and regurgitate what our imagination can dispose of by virtue of its own power much better than words can tell1 failure raises its austere visage2 for imagination1 if not left alone1 slinks into the corner in disgruntled mood and proclaims from its safe but sinister seat that the entire performance is a fraud1 that what seems like splendor is nothing but cheap paint4 ,it is not the mute but the monosyllabic character that the motion picture develops4 ,we are becoming aware of the fact that there is a pronounced tendency in this modern age toward greater brevity2 we are turning away from the prolix and diffuse2 we are endeavoring more and more to say a great deal in a few words1 and to use expressions that carry comprehensive meaning4 ,the man of the motion picture is related by affinity and by his very being to the man of the first quarter of the century4 ,in the hands of a disciplined and experienced film writer the text1 as a tool of the trade1 disports itself benevolently1 and is a handmaiden of the arts4 ,in the hands of an inferior writer1 it murders art and slays the canons of art2 for the text becomes an end in itself1 and its sthetic lassitude as well as its gradual effacement1 or rather extinction1 robs in time the legitimate gestures of their specific meaning and their general significance4 ,it is remarkable1 however1 that these facts1 these bits of knowledge regarding the film1 do not apply to the comic motion picture4 ,even the ingenious ,chaplin1 who makes more out of gestures than any of his colleagues1 has never been known to object to a right good1 or juicy1 text4 ,there are1 in truth1 quite a number of film comedies in which the foils and florets of wit are swung about with marked liberality and hilarity4 ,but whatever may be said1 whatever theories may be proposed1 it remains a sober truth that the real freedom of the film artist is preserved1 for his own enjoyment and that of his spectators1 when he is allowed to make his picture effective as he sees it1 and through such gestures as he personally sees fit to employ to this end4 ,that is the thought the ,swedes kept in mind in the making of their astonishing film entitled ,erotikon1 in which they played fast and loose with all academic deductions touching on the muteness of the film4 ,and if asked1 8,when is text permissible80 we would be obliged to reply that it is permissible only when it is necessary4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,tricks ,on what planet was the man of the moving picture born8 ,did he1 and does he1 first see the light of day on some magic star where the established laws of nature fail to function8 ,where time stands still1 or runs backward8 ,where spread tables emerge from the earth8 ,where the wish suffices to enable a man to fly through the air1 or to disappear without a trace into the ground beneath him8 ,long before the ,world ,war1 when the real power of the motion picture to represent feelings was as yet unknown1 and when serious literature1 on this subject or on that1 was as yet unable to rise above the low level of the cheap pamphlet1 one of the most valiant of ,german literati--,julius ,bab--referred to the trick film1 the fairy film1 as the exclusive species of creation with which the so-called moving picture could legitimately lay claim to success1 achieved or potential4 ,the pedagogues rushed to his support2 they showered him with applause2 they demanded the fairy film2 they hated and even damned the serious motion picture4 ,but never mind6 ,let us grant that the film ,bab and his supporters had in mind enjoys substantial possibilities in the way of setting forth certain types of pictures4 ,their contention merely increased the scope of the moving picture4 ,but did the picture they had in mind add to the artistic scope of the business at hand8 ,bab wrote at that time these words3 8,for the motion picture1 and in the motion picture1 it is easy to have water run uphill1 to have a venerable costermonger of the gentler sex soar through the empyrean heights1 to have a snail overtake an express train40 ,now1 there is at least one irrefutable proof that a given thing is not art3 unlimited possibilities4 ,these make up the stock-in-trade of the trick film4 ,in such a production there is no development2 there is nothing in which the artist soul triumphs over the soul of the merest mechanic4 ,there is none of the torture or anguish that goes with the act of real creation4 ,there is nothing more than a trick played on the object in question4 ,the trick film is the work of a cold hand4 ,the inventive mind is constantly bringing out new and quite ingenious tricks--magic tricks4 ,having become experienced in this1 8it has the ,devil kidnap a railway train and make off with it through the air40 ,but this is not art2 it belongs to the variety shows2 it is in place where all that is asked for and paid for is physical cleverness1 legerdemain1 art without soul4 ,there comes a time where we really feel sorry for the motion picture artist--when he finds tricks indispensable if he is to give an adequate idea of the miraculous magic in which he is interested4 ,we will concede that in the trick film1 and particularly in the fairy film1 a certain measure of inner and intimate development is possible1 and is at times evident4 ,this 8art10 however1 always has a flaw in it that defies mending4 ,any art that forms an alliance with pure mechanisms in order to be effective1 or to bring out the intended effects1 is to be distrusted from the very beginning4 ,for art ceases when mechanismus begins to play a rle that can in any way be considered creative or important4 ,the purpose of art is clear3 it is to serve in the colorful reproduction of a scene4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #e4 ,scene from ,the ,nibelungs4 ,see p4 #hb ,this fact should be recognized1 and in the films that set forth that reality which makes the warping and twisting of natural laws impossible1 there should be just as little use made of tricks as the situation allows2 and when employed1 they should be employed with extreme caution4 ,for the spectator1 enlightened as he may become through the papers and magazines1 is all too apt to catch on to these tricks4 ,and it is never wise to grant the man whose art-sense is undeveloped1 and whose sthetic understanding is anything but mellow1 a peep behind the scenes4 ,the sole place that the artistically immature can occupy with impunity is in front of the stage4 ,many film tricks are1 indeed1 distinctly deceptive--or fraudulent4 ,if the incomparable detective is to land in an automobile that is whirring by at a fearful rate of speed1 he goes about his undertaking in a quite calm way3 four pictures a second1 and the car making sixty miles an hour4 ,what really happens8 ,twenty or thirty-second pictures1 mad speed1 foolhardy defiance of every known danger1 and so on and so on4 ,but woe to the final effect if the average spectator sees through the thing6 ,even when there is no great or real mystery about the applied tricks1 the artistic effect of them is rather weak4 ,the spectator looks at it all1 and so many technical questions arise in his mind as to how the feat is accomplished that his attention is drawn away from the picture itself4 8,how do they do that80 is one question that distracts him4 ,another is3 8,is it real80 ,indeed1 the legitimate stage not infrequently finds it hard to resist the temptation to amaze and bewilder the spectator through the use of technical appliances4 ,simple tricks1 such as the sudden appearance of a dream figure1 the unforeseen vanishing of magic people right in the middle of the picture may1 in urgent cases1 be employed4 ,they rarely radiate anything that even distantly approaches what might be called psychic power1 as did1 for example1 the unpretentious and altogether laudable tricks employed in the ,indisches ,grabmal4 ,the truth is1 we are reluctant about submitting to these mechanical devices2 we refuse to be duped4 ,be the management and mounting ever so clever1 we feel too keenly the presence of the cold mechanism4 ,more complicated and more difficult tricks1 which really deceive no one1 are the appearance of the same person twice in the same picture4 ,when such takes place1 two thoughts1 or feelings1 fight rather vigorously for dominance3 we don't like to refuse homage to the at times marvelous art of the actor 7as in the case of ,henny ,porten in ,kohlhiesels ,tchter1 or ,ossy ,oswalda in ,puppe72 and the situation can be so captivating that it is out of the question for us to witness it and remain cold4 ,but the point is eventually reached where we feel the impossibility1 indeed the very absurdity of it all3 8,just hand the old quockerwodger over to me6 ,i'll cut him in half and each part will dance on the rope just as comically as you please60 ,this is all very well1 but you cannot expect a man to be an earth-worm1 for which dual dancing of this type would be a mere trifle4 ,any pleasure that we might otherwise be enabled to draw from such a performance is vitiated by the ineluctable consciousness that we are witnessing a trick of a distinctly technical virtuosity4 ,but it is still more impossible to feel that we are in the presence of an artistic performance when--and it is common enough--the scene demanding that a man be pushed off some dangerous ledge or routed from some death-giving height1 a big stuffed doll is substituted for the mortal thus to be visualized4 ,in ,golem1 for example1 we know full well that it is not the actor1 ,lothar ,mthel1 who is swept from the tower by the raging ghost4 ,and we merely smile when the ,golem drags a stuffed doll around by the hair4 ,the presence of ,mirjam's clothing helps neither one way nor the other4 ,or take another type of situation3 ,where would it be possible to find an actor who was willing to have himself hurled high into the air on the occasion of one of the numerous and popular automobile collisions8 ,in such a scene1 where the living actor1 of course1 does not take part1 the most that even the navest of spectator experiences is a quasi-thrill just as the 8hero0 receives his bump4 ,after that there is nothing left but the disagreeable feeling on the part of the spectator that the staging of the piece was inadequate4 ,the man of the moving picture is born upon the same earth upon which all the rest of us live1 move1 and have our being4 ,the established laws of nature apply to him just as they apply to us4 ,flying through the air1 disappearing into the earth--these are the inartistic little simpletons that belong to the 8movie0 in its most desperate and degraded age4 ,it is not the degree to which we can imitate that makes art3 art is determined by the degree in which figures are fashioned that have souls in them4 ,the fairy-tale imitation on the part of the motion picture is fearful1 at least in those instances in which1 in order to carry out the trick1 the lion's share is allotted to the text4 ,the fairy film is a bit of merry nonsense1 a charming piece of roguery and skylarking1 which takes place here on this earth1 and which is not supposed to reflect the profound seriousness of the really poetic world of fairies or other supernatural creatures4 ,but we are at a loss to know what to do with the fairy film1 for the fairy world--in this hard1 sober1 material1 and at times1 brutal world of ours--has become about extinct1 depopulated1 dead4 ,for this reason alone1 the fairy film cannot hope to succeed as a business proposition4 ,within the last year1 the magic tricks that were once so common have almost completely disappeared from the screen4 ,the ,swedes--the most artistic of all film peoples--have never found the trick necessary1 not even in their fairy films1 though the ,swedes belong to a race that loves reverie1 likes to dream1 and enjoys visions4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,scene ,let thought impart fixed content to the forms ,that move across the stage in restless search4 --,gthe4 ,all that has been said thus far is supposed to serve as an ,ariadne thread through the labyrinth of the moving picture4 ,all individual forms should be bound together and be reminded in this way of their common purpose and objective4 ,for it is impossible1 if art is to flourish1 to permit each individual section of this manifold complex to scream aloud1 and that with all its might1 in an endeavor to drown out other sections by coercing them into a parrot's cage1 where the most they can do is to observe an obligatory subserviency4 ,there is no art in which the star system1 the mere existence and independent1 inconsiderate activity on the part of a few gifted persons1 is so nefarious as in the motion picture4 ,this is an art in which there must be an unreserved ensemble of effort1 a friendship of minds1 a perfect harmony of creative souls4 ,in the orchestra of productive spirits that plays in the motion picture1 no man dare be master1 no man dare be assistant4 ,the manager himself must be primus inter pares4 ,and neither the author nor the manager is the chief creator of a work3 it is created in truth with the idea of equal honor and responsibility for author1 manager1 actor1 operator1 and architect4 ,let each man in this circle of personalities be a professional in his field--and an intelligent person with regard to the fields of each of his colleagues4 ,if anyone fails to perform his full duty1 or if anyone pushes his own personality too obtrusively into the foreground1 the inherent value of the film is weakened while its eventual success is jeopardized4 ,this is true1 for art is weak and but little capable of defending itself against the fatuous doings and dealings of all that is merely dazzling1 just as truth is but little minded to take up effective warfare against the hollow phrase4 8obtrustively0 replaced with 8obtrusively0 ,the values that have been found in this way solved the problem of the material4 ,an artist soul that is certain of itself will never find any great difficulty in seizing upon the right tools to accomplish its ends2 and it will rely upon its feelings in determining what these tools shall be4 ,and yet the labyrinth in which the film artist is supposed to find himself is so ramified and many-sided that even the greatest connoisseurs not infrequently lose their way in the winding maze of paths that lie open and seem to bid for popular usage4 ,the main wheel in the machinery of film art has been found2 the technical bases which decide the limits to which the accomplishments and achievements of the motion pictures may hope to go1 these are known4 ,just as brush and colors1 or hammer and chisel1 each inartistic means in themselves1 circumscribe the arts which they aid in creating1 and set up a vigorous resistance to an alien or irrelevant aid1 just so does the moving picture mechanism become indignant at the intrusion of any and every foreign contrivance or figuration the essential being of which is beyond its natural control4 ,these technical means1 by which the manifolding of scenes is made possible and their reproduction stimulating1 aid in preserving the naturally perishable art work of the scene or act4 ,the actor-scene becomes the pivot of all art consideration4 ,it is from it that all recruiting and recreation radiate2 and the fame and glory that attach to the enterprise fall upon those people who delineate the play of the human heart in the visible presence of the spectator4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #f4 ,scene from ,destiny4 ,see p4 #hc 99 99 99 99 99 ,the actor on the legitimate stage is a person--that is1 a per-sona 7a 8sounding-through072 he is the speaking tube of the poet4 ,his conception of the rle he acts is limited1 determined1 and circumscribed1 at least by the words of the poet1 and these are1 so to speak1 anchored in the harbor of his activity4 ,if the art of the actor means 8art seen through a temperament10 there still remains the marginal latitude of the temperament1 of the personality4 ,despite this latitude1 however1 it is unlikely that an actor will be minded to1 or be able to1 make such self-imposed use of his personality as would be subversive of the ends the poet himself had in mind4 ,the contest1 the dispute1 the disagreement about the interpretation of a given rle--we have but to think of the riddle of ,hamlet or ,mephistopheles--invariably revolves about the question of what the poet himself meant by it when he created it4 ,the stage actor becomes the interpreter of the poetic purpose4 ,the most important means at the disposal of the stage actor is the words1 the lines he has to learn4 ,the world in which he acts is relatively the same as the everyday world in which he lives when off the stage and going about his usual business4 ,the northern actor makes but little use of gestures2 they mean but little to him4 ,such concepts as he wishes to transmit to the spectator he feels should and must be transmitted through the aid of speech4 ,naturally1 the stage actor does not speak in the restless1 uncertain1 and indistinct manner in which he speaks when off the stage4 ,his language--with the exception of that employed in the hyper-naturalistic drama--is filed and planed1 whether it be prose or verse4 ,but he makes himself understood by his dramaturgic colleagues1 principally through the same means that he employs when he wishes to convey an idea to them in daily life4 ,in the frame of the scenic apparatus1 the actor plays in the course of a few moments1 and in one progressive and uninterrupted action1 his rle from beginning to end4 ,in this case there is no such thing as the splitting up of the action that is to be gone through with into a hundred or more different scenes4 ,it is only rare1 to be sure1 that the artist observes the whole of his playing from the wings1 but in the scenes he has to play the character of his rle is developed in logical sequence1 and he has become familiar with the entire play through rehearsals or through previous performances4 8charcater0 replaced with 8character0 ,he is his own auditor4 ,the lines of the poet are transformed also for him into intoxicating music to which he resigns1 by which he is inspired1 and on the wings of which he is carried along4 ,in addition to all of this1 there comes that rare and invaluable reciprocal action and reaction between him and his spectator1 the force of which lends an inextinguishable and inescapable force to his receptive soul4 ,there is only one thing that tortures him1 and from which there is no possible escape3 he sees himself obliged to crawl into a new and strange rle to-morrow1 and into still another new and strange rle day after to-morrow1 and so on throughout his entire career as long as this is in the ascendancy4 ,this being the case1 even the greatest creation of the greatest poet is apt1 if the danger is not incessantly guarded against1 to rattle around in his soul with the emptiness of a hand-organ4 ,but it is right there that we note the real task of the stage actor3 he is not supposed to bellow forth scene after scene in uncontrolled eruptions of feelings4 ,on the contrary1 he is supposed to study each work of art1 rehearse it1 say it over1 look into it1 until he knows it from every angle and in its every aspect4 ,there is only one state of mind that can be sure of success when it is a question of performing a written play on the legitimate stage3 the calm1 easy1 superior assurance that comes from infinite study and practice4 8,i seize the passions as the pianist seizes the octaves--without seeing what ,i am doing60 ,this confession was made by ,salvini4 99 99 99 99 99 ,compared with his colleagues on the legitimate stage1 the film actor has in many ways a much more difficult task4 ,the ,italian and the ,frenchman1 both highly gifted in the art of mimicry1 are much better adapted to the art of gesticulation than is the stiff northerner1 or the snobbish cosmopolite whom the moving picture of all peoples takes such great delight in portraying4 ,but the feverish gestures of the ,romance people is beginning to screech and scream1 in the moving picture1 with the result1 rather astonishing in itself1 that the undemonstrative northerner is becoming the most gifted film actor4 ,now1 why have the film actors of the ,romance peoples been a failure8 ,it is easy to answer the question3 ,because the film shows life1 while the ,romance film1 and particularly that of the ,italians1 has shown theater1 and not always good theater at that4 ,the film actor is split with doubt2 he labors under a dual desire3 he is supposed to avail himself of all the means of mimic expression which he consciously neglects and oppresses in daily life--and he is supposed consciously to neglect and suppress the linguistic means of expression which he employs in everyday life4 ,the defective mimic ability of the northerner is revealed in the majority of ,german1 ,scandinavian1 and ,american films4 ,so soon as the actor becomes aware that his gestures are not putting the picture across1 he begins to speak his soundless language4 ,his gesture is supposed to embrace the content1 in the way of feeling1 of the entire scene4 ,in this striving1 the actor is supported by the peculiarity of the film mechanism1 which catches up even the gentlest and most subdued mimicry and holds it up before the spectator4 ,it would be impossible1 especially for a northerner1 to play an entire mimic action1 in all its shades and nuances1 at one time or in one concerted effort4 ,this explains why the pantomime could never rise above the level of a rather crude art form4 ,but the film dissects the action1 winnows its parts1 and allocates them to various places or dramaturgic localities4 ,everything that happens in the same place is assembled1 while the picture is being taken1 and made into a united and single play4 ,this is done1 of course1 for practical reasons associated with costumes1 decorations1 and travels4 ,this being the case1 the actor does1 and has to1 concentrate his entire attention1 for a very short time1 a time that is generally measured in seconds1 on the mimic material and means that are naturally placed at his disposal4 ,this human weakness--which makes a relatively long and at the same time inspired action impossible--has been made the basis of photographic technique by the ,american4 ,his reasoning and his technique must be commended4 ,where his ,european colleagues generally let the apparatus stand during the entire scene and then play a few close-ups later on1 the ,american takes a picture of every individual scene1 and from all conceivable angles4 ,his scenario is arranged from the beginning with this end in view4 ,the result is that each scene is wrapped in a spirited1 glimmering1 glittering unrest which lifts even the most indifferent episode quite up above the shadow of tedium4 ,i am of the opinion that the ,american film owes a good share of its charm to this distinctly advantageous and manifold dissection of the pictures1 just as ,i believe that the failure of so many ,german and ,swedish films is due to the slowness and tediousness that are familiarly associated with their photographic technique4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4 ,scene from ,the ,children of ,darkness4 ,see p4 #hc ,this splitting up of the film action1 however1 into individual scenes1 which are not photographed in their logical sequence1 brings into the artistry of the film actor that profound psychic cleft1 even physical disruption1 which fundamentally differentiates his creative activity from that of the actor on the legitimate stage4 ,the action does not carry him into his playing1 or into the inner nature of his rle1 in calm1 gradual development4 ,on the contrary1 the flood-tide of feeling springs up obviously without the proper motivation1 and ends with a suddenness that suggests that someone cut it off before it had been fully lived out4 ,there is no such thing as a gliding and swelling of mood such as is necessary1 it would seem1 to effect a mild and logical transition from scene to scene4 ,this causes the actor and the manager all manner of difficulty2 neither is able to gain a complete survey of the work to be done4 ,where the regular stage actor brings his mind into the proper equilibrium1 we might say equanimity1 slowly1 step by step1 and with a careful studying of the objective that is to be taken1 so that the climax of his effort will stand out from the subsidiary efforts that have led up to it1 the film actor scatters his entire energy over all the scenes1 and some of them are not merely preparatory to the climax1 they are in themselves of a distinctly subordinate nature4 ,when a case really arises in which there is perfect artistic gradation1 each scene receiving the emphasis it deserves and the climax rising up above all that has gone before1 we may be certain that this is due to the solemn fact that both the acting and the management have been in possession of unqualified artistic appreciation1 that each has worked in harmony with the other1 and that the eventual and final success of the achievement has been due to unusual excellence in the way of creating and producing a picture4 ,when this happens1 however1 the layman remains altogether unaware of it4 ,he takes it for granted4 ,but even he appreciates the astonishing effect of it all2 he somehow knows that the performance was perfect4 ,he feels the perfection though he is unable to explain it4 ,take the case of ,lubitsch's ,sumurun4 ,the histrionic brilliancy of it was due to the fact that it consisted of an unbroken and dazzling chain of episodes and pictures4 ,the truth is1 this disadvantage that is inherent in the technique of the film can be removed only by the author4 ,he must see to it that there is a rhythm about his scenes2 these must rise and fall naturally and smoothly4 ,an excess of magnificence is easier to endure than a total lack of ebullient ingenuity4 ,the average film is a tedious1 wooden affair that moves along with the slowness of all that is mediocre and commonplace4 ,for in the very inherent inability to get a complete survey of what is taking place lies a hazard which only the best of film actors1 and these only when urged on and inspired by the best of producers1 can take with ease or success3 the hazard lies in the fact that the entire character of a figure is tuned either to a sharp or a flat note1 in a major or a minor key1 and once set going it works like an unwelcome narcotic4 ,the actor plays on a certain day just one individual scene1 now from the first and then from the last and still again from some intervening act4 ,then on still another day he takes up another scene from another act1 and so on until the mosaic of all the scenes has been1 not composed or arranged in becoming sequence1 but heaped up in a veritable pile4 ,it is perfectly easy to see how that fine feeling that is associated with real art1 and which even the least gifted actor in the spoken drama has at his immediate disposal1 escapes the less gifted film actor1 when this method of playing is in vogue1 and especially so if he is not carried along by a colorful bit of poetry4 ,he is simply not in a position to bring new colors1 new tones1 new passions into his acting1 and therefore into his act4 ,the result of all this is that entire film actions are played by one or several actors on a single string4 ,the women of the film fraternity are frequently characterized by this very type of playing2 indeed1 it is rare that any one of them can boast of the innate possession of that choice ability which enables them to vary the chords that are struck in their souls by the actions they are supposed to depict4 ,there are a few1 however1 who have the psychic power which spells variety in the creation of character4 ,in ,germany there is first of all ,mady ,christians2 and then there is ,lil ,dagover4 ,france has only one such film actress1 and she is but little known3 ,marie-,louise ,tribe4 ,in ,sweden1 ,karin ,molander and ,tora ,teje are noted for their genius in this direction4 ,in ,america1 colorful film actresses are as numerous as the sands of the sea4 ,but in all film countries the average film actress is a tired1 tedious1 washed-out1 and worn-out character4 ,such lifeless moving pictures present us consequently with the soporific drama of a single sorrow or grief or pain1 of a conventional melancholy1 sadness1 or lament4 ,and these emotions are reiterated time out of mind1 and through the abnormal exploitation of sentimentality they become swollen and mendacious4 ,indeed1 even buoyancy and mirth can sound hard and tinny if they are made to trip along without variation or interruption4 ,it is the task of the author and the producer to work hand and hand with the actor to the end that he may be enabled to put life into his acting4 ,to do this1 flashes of light must be shed1 in the real and artistic sense1 on the action of the play2 the individual scene must be made to appear in its true light with regard to the play as a whole--that is to say1 this must be done if the complete and completed play is to give the effect of unified art1 art as an entity1 art in its totality4 ,the dissection of the action into countless inorganic parts naturally has its effect on the artistic form of the film actor1 and gives to his efforts a tone and quality that is altogether different from what we are accustomed to in the case of the actor in the spoken drama4 ,this is seen first of all in the rehearsal4 ,such a thing as the learning of a rle by heart1 or the practicing of gestures before the mirror1 is unknown to the film actor4 ,with him the rehearsal is rather an experimenting4 ,in ,america1 where the use of the negative plays no rle1 the individual parts of the scenes are turned again and again1 until it is possible to establish a 8model copy0 from which the best parts are chosen4 ,but such a 8waste10 which seems to be quite profitable in the end1 is unknown in ,europe1 which1 following the lead of its lack of reason1 feels that it is too impoverished to indulge in such lavishness4 ,in ,europe the apparatus1 literally speaking1 is turned but once1 or1 in case the result is wholly unacceptable1 it is turned twice1 but with a sigh4 ,the stage actor is a 8soul stormer40 ,but1 as contrasted with the film actor1 the stage actor can work himself into his rle gradually and by all manner of psychic cajolery4 ,the film actor is not presented with an entire work of art1 but with the merest particle of such a work1 and then he is told to put life into it4 8,inspire it60 ,that is the command to which he must be obedient4 8,that is the trial by fire of the film actor10 says the doughty ,danish director1 ,urban ,gad1 8when he can poetize himself1 so to speak1 into the rle that he is supposed to create1 when he can feel the situation in its entirety4 ,then he is the born film actor4 ,otherwise he is merely a more or less well trained circus horse40 ,the creative work of the film actor is1 consequently1 not a matter of slow and possibly even tiresome learning in solo and ensemble2 it is a matter of ingenious and spontaneous improvisation4 ,the man who has to stand up before a mirror and see whether this gesture is fitting and another permissible is no film actor4 ,and it is from his ability to rise from nothing to an exalted and passionate art-feeling that the pride and joy of the film player owe their origin2 and having originated1 they cast a beneficent atmosphere over the art that is called into being4 ,it is not enough to delude oneself regarding an essentially cold heart by the abundant use of gestures that would seem to indicate that the heart is warm4 ,there are actors on the legitimate stage who1 by the traditional use of the merest and veriest routine1 can carry their publics along with them and raise them to pinnacles of enthusiasm2 make them rage with indignation2 or petrify them into horror over the deeds done before them4 ,no film actor has ever yet succeeded in doing that4 ,the lines are creations of the mind2 they are spoken with shrewd calculation as to the effects they can evoke2 they are declaimed with real consideration4 ,the gestures1 on the other hand1 are truer than the lines2 they come direct from the soul4 ,moreover1 the lens of the familiar apparatus is sharper and less indulgent than the human eye4 ,the lens catches everything2 nothing escapes it4 ,it makes a living picture of every attempt to deceive and visualizes all that comes before it4 ,no film actor who is not passionately concerned with and about the incident he is to portray will ever bring other people to the point of passion4 ,the inert playing of comedy which infests the legitimate stage with false and idle pathos1 with the spirit of repulsive paint and powder1 is utterly out of place1 and out of the question1 in the moving picture4 ,the film actor has got to be what he plays4 ,every actor1 however1 has his own personality2 his own world4 ,there is an atmosphere about him that is his4 ,he cannot escape it2 it makes itself felt2 and it causes him to have a definite1 even unique1 disposition1 temperament1 character4 ,now if the circumference of his soul is very large1 the compass of his soul will be equally large--and he will provide us with a wonderful drama--the drama of a man who can create one character to-day1 another to-morrow1 and in so doing renew himself as a molder of personalities4 ,the moving picture1 with its spontaneous creation1 is a high grade and first-class measurer of temperament4 ,the world has a plentiful supply of actors and actresses who can depict robbers and prostitutes of the lowest as well as of the highest classes of society4 ,but the world has only a few1 a very few artists1 in whom a royal and proud1 a fine and demure1 a rich and colorful soul plays its part4 ,the suddenness with which these feelings must be conjured up demands rapidity of inspiration1 an ever-ready excitability 7the managers are well aware of this671 a pliability of mood1 an unrestrained capacity to enter into the spirit of complete renunciation1 compared with which the ability on the part of the regular stage actor to feel himself into his rle is a calm and subdued sauntering about1 a mere strolling through the mazes of the human heart4 ,the film actor is not fired on to intense passion by the words of the poet2 he has to kindle the potential flame within his heart by the fire that he himself strikes1 and with the aid of such fuel as he himself can assemble for the purpose4 ,but in doing all this1 his faithful colleague1 the manager1 stands by his side1 and his dare not be an unvibrant soul4 ,the manager is duty bound to find words that will inspire even the most lethargic of film actors4 ,the will power1 one might say the will violence1 of the best of managers is so strong that1 guided by them1 the actor plays as in a hypnotic state4 ,without inspired and intelligent direction1 the actual necessity of ensemble playing1 and the necessities imposed by the desire for such playing are easily forgotten1 with the result that lack of discipline dissipates the general effect1 and such art as might have been revealed goes the way of all weakness4 ,the reason for this safe assertion is patent3 in the motion picture1 the feelings burst forth from momentarily calm hearts4 ,unusual diligence must1 consequently1 be exercised in the working-up of emotions1 in the emphasis that is to be laid on significant scenes and on climaxes4 ,for these nervous and sensitive people1 the restraint of feelings is a distinct torture4 ,the endless waiting in the hot and noisy glass house1 the disturbing feature of the apparatus while the picture is being taken1 the garish light which hurts the eye1 the lamp which not infrequently explodes with the subsequent danger to such combustible paraphernalia as ball dress and wig1 and the director1 this disagreeable person who is always around1 watching what is going on1 interrupting here with a word of constructive criticism and there with a sentence of plain abuse--these are a few of the things that make the film actor's life a hard one4 ,and added to them must be the solemn fact that there is no public there to give wings to the actor's soul4 ,this being the case1 an actually mad desire to create a character has got to come over and settle down upon the actor if he is to come into the right frame of mind4 ,that he has got to be a man of perfect self-forgetfulness while surrounded by this hubbub of haste and confusion need not be stated4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the means at the disposal of the film actor is his body1 which admits of unmeasured and unaccounted possibilities in the way of expressing emotions4 ,it was only a few years ago that we learned that there is no condition of the soul for which the body does not have its appropriate and interpretative movement2 and to-day we hardly have an inkling of the profound depths of the soul for which bodily agitations or affections may be found1 and will be found1 once the generations that are to come shall have learned the true significance of mimicry4 ,in the future1 mimicry must develop into an intimate and familiar language4 ,in the dances of antiquity and in the pantomime of past centuries1 the soul wrestled with the body1 for it had already sensed its ability to speak through the body4 ,but the spectators sat too far away1 the ring of the gesture was drowned out by space1 and the bodies had to shriek1 as it were1 in order to be understood4 ,but a tender feeling can do nothing more than whisper1 for it is averse to all that is loud4 ,the soul gave up the struggle as hopeless2 pantomime became petrified1 or stereotyped1 into the conventional ballet which has dragged its weary course through the centuries4 ,it was not until our own day--the ancient arts of which are tired to death and foul to the very marrow of their bones--a day in which it seemed that art could take no hope1 that technique stepped in and made inventions as a result of which the gesture took on fullness and acquired sound4 ,modern technique has invented the film1 and the film is the violin of the human body4 ,before one recognized the nuances of which the film was potentially capable1 it had to wander along through the crude errors of pantomime4 ,that the imperfect films of the first decades offered only imperfect1 at times even repellent1 pictures1 is altogether natural4 ,the intellectuals of all nations1 and those who had schooled their eye and their heart on the perfection and beauty of the old and established arts1 were terrified1 if not horrified1 at and by the unlicked antics of this new contraption4 ,they saw in the motion picture nothing more than a machine to entertain1 chiefly to amuse1 the populace4 ,they damned it outright2 they found it a perverter of youth1 just as they had and have found those cheap1 vulgar and badly printed paper volumes which are to be had for a few pennies1 and which poison the youthful mind so that the expenditure of millions in charity and philanthropy cannot reclaim them4 ,there were as yet no artists who could play on this new and novel fairy violin4 ,the evolution of the film is quite logical3 it began with devices and agencies which were inadequate1 both artistically and technically4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4 ,scene from ,algol4 ,see p4 #hd ,it is our duty and our pleasure to do homage at this point to an artist who took up with the film1 and resigned herself to it1 at a time when artists in general poured contempt without measure and derision without thought on it4 ,this artist was the ,dane--,asta ,nielsen4 ,she has been dethroned1 unquestionably a prima donna of the old school by whose playing we can now do no more than evaluate the tremendous progress that has been made by her pupils and successors4 ,but in ,europe she was the queen1 the standard-bearer of the film4 ,her large1 dark eyes1 and the symmetrical play of her limbs1 captivated and converted many of different faith to the cause4 ,her gestures were taken from the pantomime3 she moved across the canvas in slow1 long1 ostentatious tread4 ,there was1 indeed1 something about her movements that might be described as obtrusive1 importunate4 ,but ,asta ,nielsen was--let us repeat1 in ,europe--the first of that great herd of jobless artistes and beggarly paid servants who took up her position before the revolving camera in a really and truly artistic way4 ,she was filled with a passion1 and endowed with a faith in art that was unknown to and unappreciated by the great majority1 as she played the lachrymose and vapid tales that were then being turned out for visualization on the screen4 ,she was originally an actress2 she abandoned the legitimate stage and went over to the motion picture4 ,now1 the actor on the regular stage is one kind of individual2 the actor for the motion picture is quite another4 ,the stage has a limited and well-defined category of beings and shadows1 of vessels1 so to speak1 for the fancy of the poet in words4 ,there is the youthful lover1 the sentimental dame of uncertain years1 the first hero1 the first heroine1 the doughty old father1 the droll old lady1 and so on4 ,the list need not be filled out2 it is a familiar one4 ,anything that fits into one of these classifications is played1 summa summarum1 by the actor engaged to take the part4 ,the actor of the spoken stage has a clear and definite being2 his character1 his make-up1 is known4 ,he is a comedian1 a boneless man who can slip into this rle to-day and into another to-morrow4 ,in his position1 whatever it may be at any given time1 he engages in a really fraudulent and affected game4 ,that is the comedy which devours in time the very character of that actor whose gifts are naturally none too great4 ,he becomes a player of all parts2 he creates all rles2 he grows into a poseur without truth of soul4 ,only the tremendous characters of the rarely gifted1 of a ,garrick or a ,kainz1 win the victory over the insidious phrase1 assimilate any rle they essay to interpret1 and transform it into a part of their own being4 ,i do not know whether ,asta ,nielsen was a great artist on the legitimate stage or not2 ,i hardly believe that she was4 ,for there is the atmosphere of 8comedy0 about her rles1 an eternal conflict between truth and phraseology4 ,no one had even a remote conception of the unsparing nature of the film lens in the early days of her histrionic glory4 ,one schematized a rle in accordance with the traditions of the legitimate stage4 ,nor was this all2 the first great film artist had to do everything4 ,she was worth her weight in gold2 and she was exploited4 ,this week she would take the part of a demoniac prostitute in silk and satin2 next week she would play the part of a young girl whose youthfulness was not surpassed by her chastity1 and whose beauty was the cynosure of vigilant eyes4 ,two things1 consequently1 were to be recognized1 and to be overcome3 the phraseology of the pantomime gesture1 and the insincerity of the rle4 ,the legitimate stage portrays and represents shadows--speaking tubes of the poet2 the film uses real human beings4 ,the development of the film has been different in different countries4 ,in one country its growth has been noticeably slow2 in another it has been remarkably rapid4 ,film actors put in their appearance1 were carried along for a while on the wave of popularity1 and then vanished--or they still fight on--,asta ,nielsen is a case in point--in a mad and ineffectual attempt to regain or retain their thrones4 ,this development of the film has been recognized nowhere4 ,it has not come to light4 ,it has been brought about in perfect accord with that instinctive necessity with which the healthy never fails to blaze its trail and find its way4 ,man versus rle1 individual versus a stage phantom--that is the situation4 ,in ,america1 where cumbersome traditions are rare1 in the realm of art1 the goal was reached more quickly than elsewhere4 ,it was in ,america that we witnessed the complete defection from the stage actor and a consequential preference for the type4 ,there is to be no mimicking2 there is to be no playing of theater2 each man has his own character1 and this character he projects on the screen1 again and again1 now in this disguise1 now in another1 but it is always the same character4 ,he projects his own ego2 and for this reason he never fails1 for a man can find his own mouth with the spoon1 it makes no difference how dark the dining-room may be4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #i4 ,scene from ,dr4 ,mabuse3 ,the ,great ,unknown4 ,see p4 #hd ,there is another country which1 by virtue of its well-nigh complete isolation from the hardened traditions of the ,mediterranean nations1 found the truth and genuineness of the film with marked rapidity3 ,sweden4 ,the ,swedish player is very rarely a great 8actor40 ,his face1 with its broad ,finnish cheek bones1 is rather immovable4 ,his eyes dream1 but inwardly4 ,they turn at times with an expression of unqualified skepticism toward the things of the outer world only to return to the same soul from which they derived their initial characteristics and inspiration4 ,the figures are not yet entirely awakened2 they stretch themselves after the fashion of young trees4 ,but in these ,swedish men lies deep breath3 it is the dreamy melancholy of their native land4 ,every one of them has the warm blood of life coursing through his veins1 and the atmosphere of truth is about them all1 even when we feel that they are all a bit alike in the matter of elegiac temperament4 ,when steel and stone are rubbed together1 sparks fly2 the ,swedes are all constituted1 more or less1 of the same resilient wood4 ,the film theater of the ,romance peoples was simply fearful4 ,the ostentatious gesticulation1 the long-drawn-out echo of feelings1 the false pomp of their operatic style have been the cause of many a bankruptcy among film companies and producers in sunny ,italy4 ,the ,italian film industry represents1 in truth1 in the year #aibc1 nothing but a heap of ruins from which here and there1 but only rarely1 a patch of green prosperity raises its intimidated tuft4 ,a great many ,italians are coming up to ,germany to-day1 the film gestures of which appeal to them as being relatively tolerable4 ,the sober1 phraseless vibration of ,american acting gets on the hot-blooded nerves of these sons of the ,south4 ,we ,germans1 however1 are fully convinced that the way we had been following1 in the matter of gestures1 up to #aibc was a false one4 ,our producers rarely have the courage to go fishing for film actors1 for new and youthful faces1 in the great stream of humanity that flows by them without ceasing4 ,until only one year ago1 we fancied that no one was fitted for the screen unless he had proved his ability on the stage4 ,that was a grievous error4 ,we have1 to be sure1 some clever character players whose psychic powers were not corrupted by the pathos of the stage4 ,i mention1 among others1 the famous ,jennings1 ,wegener1 and ,schnzel4 ,they are great on the stage for the very evident and simple reason that they dominate any part they play and make it yield to the dictates of their own personalities4 ,but we have no youthful favorite among the ladies2 we do not have the smiling hero1 who lustily packs up life and carries it off on one shoulder4 ,but our greatest lack is in another direction3 we have no young woman2 we have no radiant girl4 ,she is lacking1 but only in our moving pictures2 in life she is present4 ,and if we wish to bring these charming and lovely young girls into the moving picture world and project them on the screen1 we have got to make up our minds that there is but one place where they can be found3 in life itself4 ,we have got to recruit them from the flowing naturalness of their laughter4 ,we begin with a decided aversion to the star system4 ,and it must be said that all of those presumptive and presumptuous film princesses1 whose abilities would be remarkable indeed if they bore the slightest relation to their caprices1 have disappeared from the studios4 ,these stars made1 until quite recently1 the production of a picture in ,germany an excessively expensive undertaking because of their lack of willingness to work1 and their eternal talking4 ,this explains why ,fritz ,lang1 of the ,decla-,bioscop1 showed so many new and strange faces in his marvelous picture based on the ,nibelungen saga4 ,it is rare1 in the case of the legitimate stage1 that a part is written for a special actor4 ,whoever fits the part is assigned to it1 and he creates the character4 ,no other course of procedure is thinkable1 for a drama is written for a thousand stages4 ,there is something solitary about the film2 we regard it as something that 8takes place0 but once4 ,it is difficult to write good film characters if the writer is unfamiliar with the players that create the characters4 ,hampered by this lack of personal acquaintance1 the most that can be accomplished by the author is an acceptable sketch4 ,one has to associate with the prospective film actors1 and study their personalities without letting them become aware of the end in view and the caution that is being exercised in attaining it4 ,one has to study the player's unconscious movements2 the mirthful action of his hand2 the sensuous expression of his eye2 his gait2 his manner of sitting down4 ,the whole man is sometimes revealed by the way in which he smokes a cigarette4 ,one must make the actor angry and nervous4 ,each expression of impatience1 of joy1 of tedium that is characteristic of a given man must be noted down in the film book4 ,one has got to make a portrait of the man who is going to play the part the author has in mind4 ,he must be depicted1 in my film book1 just as he stands before me1 just as he acts--and reacts--toward the producer1 the director1 and toward the poor people who make up the crew of supernumeraries4 ,i have got to have the man1 and not his mask1 if ,i am going to succeed with him on the screen4 ,the poetic play associated with this type of acquired information and insight is at once singular and fascinating4 ,we lift a human flower up out of its original soil with its tender roots and transplant it to a new clime and a new earth4 ,there it finds itself again1 safe and carefully guarded3 it smiles1 and develops its flowers4 ,it is only in this way that the characters grow from their own power4 ,made to grow in this fashion1 they reveal in their every movement1 as in every deed they do1 the saving sign of inner truth4 ,they convulse the spectator through the unadulterated naturalness of their art2 and by virtue of their own ability1 they can make an improbable situation seem natural1 for their own life is natural1 just as it is peculiar to them alone1 and virile4 ,it is impossible to be a great film actor if one is small and unworthy4 ,the person who is cold by nature1 and who carries an unsympathetic heart in his breast1 will never be able to do more than simulate real feelings4 ,i do not believe that a prostitute would ever be able to play the rle of an angelic creature in a film4 ,behind and back of the keyboard on which the film writer improvises there must be a set of beautifully tuned strings4 ,otherwise nothing comes of the effort but the banal clanging of the hand-organ4 ,the film actor must be first of all a human being1 a real man1 a clear and unequivocal character of life and from life4 ,the picture of his soul is found only in everyday life1 never on the stage4 ,and his adaptability to the moving picture is determined by the manner in which he conducts himself in the life he leads from day to day with other men4 ,if he is beautiful1 if his body is erect and pliable1 so much the better4 ,but he must be a man of character4 ,character and temperament--two things that cannot be learned4 ,one can learn1 however1 the business of playing while facing the camera2 one can learn1 in this position1 to control one's gestures1 and to give a cautious expression of the feelings4 ,on the legitimate stage it is quite permissible1 it is indeed necessary1 for the actor to express his emotions through a certain exaggeration1 with the most beautiful pathos known to gesticulation4 ,the opposite is true of the film3 in it1 suppression of emotions1 muffling of feelings1 is necessary4 ,why8 ,because in actual life feelings are after all expressed in a subdued way1 behind the veil1 so to speak1 of that on which the interested party is to eavesdrop4 ,every time we notice any such emotion as ecstasy on the screen we remain cold2 we become in truth disenchanted because of what we have sensed4 ,experience has already taught us that exaggeration has no place in the moving picture2 it is ineffective4 ,this lesson we have learned from the ,italians4 ,all good film actors are noted for a certain measure of immovability2 they are cautious with and sparing of their gestures4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aj4 ,scene from ,golem4 ,see p4 #he ,in the good film manuscript1 the feelings are not poured in a lavish way over every single scene4 ,over the majority of scenes there should rest a splendid freshness1 a sunny everyday life filled with a wholesome humor the chief inspiration of which is the very joy of living and the atmosphere of activity4 ,the isolated scenes of real feeling should be played all the more quietly and calmly if the natural instinct of the actor prompts him to display unusually strong feelings4 ,in other words1 the more excited the actor the less excited his acting should be4 ,i personally place the wreath of honor on the head of that actor who creates the coveted effects with the least expenditure of visible energy4 ,in every gesture1 in every flash or darkening of the eye1 there should be concealed a deep truth which is illumined and illuminated1 secretly1 by the warmth of the feelings that the artist in reality experiences4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,setting ,the director of the legitimate stage is supposed to create an art form which rests essentially upon the spoken word1 with its artistic possibilities and potentialities4 ,his entire setting1 from curtain decorations to background and supernumerary costumes1 is supposed to intimate and indicate in a symbolic way 7though it must be conceded that the ,meininger ,stage strives after ideals of its own in this regard74 ,the word rings out in front of the pictures and traverses a jagged line of the background up to the mountain4 ,mimic art calls for a sharp milieu1 a pronounced environment4 ,since the descriptive power of the gesture does not extend beyond the hidden contents of the human soul1 the figures of an unenvironed motion picture would float about in empty space4 ,the world of the spoken drama is limited to the cubic feet of space within the theater2 the motion picture1 on the contrary1 has the world for its field2 it moves in perfect freedom4 ,the camera follows the actor wherever he may go4 ,if he betake himself to the uttermost parts of the earth1 it is there too4 ,so far1 then1 as decorative setting in the motion picture is concerned1 there is no such thing1 from an artistic point of view1 as limitation or consideration4 ,the very freedom1 however1 which the motion picture enjoys in the way of scenic alternation and variety necessitates constant indulgence in this freedom3 a mimic action dare not drag its weary course for hours at a time over the same setting4 ,there must be frequent change of scene4 ,its psychic powers of expression are too soon exhausted for it to tarry with impunity1 or satisfaction1 for any considerable length of time on the same scene4 ,in ,germany we have made some experiments with films in which there was no decoration4 ,one of these1 the ,rex film entitled ,scherben1 is said to have met with success on the other side of the ,atlantic4 ,i feel1 for my own part1 that the unvaried and undecorated scene of this paltry milieu was pretty tiresome4 ,a good film should show an abundance of pictures2 it should have three or four milieus follow close after each other1 rebound against each other4 ,we might as well make up our minds to it that the need for entertainment on the part of the public is so great that nothing short of gay1 if not gaudy1 variety will suffice4 8of0 replaced with 8or0 ,for this reason1 decorations are made each one of which has a definite stamp or character4 ,rooms in which human beings live and work must show traces of human habitation4 ,with the stage this may not be necessary1 for the illuminating1 enlivening power of the poet's words lifts the mind above the external picture4 ,the stage of ,shakespeare transformed the really immutable and altogether unpretentious setting once in ,macbeth's banquet hall1 another time in the gray field of the witches--and it did this through the animating phantasy of ,shakespeare's lines4 ,the stage is style art4 ,indeed1 the intellectual would have it this entirely4 ,but the realism of the last century1 which brought into being the so-called stage of illusion and fostered this creation until it went to the very last conceivable length in the matter of imitation1 is a source of real danger to the essential nature of the spoken word1 and to the wings of such fancy as the word may have4 ,the great mass of spectators the world over demand from the stage1 and also from the film1 that it hold up before them a picture of reality4 ,but in contrast to the film1 the spoken stage cannot be regarded as the spiritual property of these masses4 8docorations0 replaced with 8decorations0 ,regarding film setting1 the first question that arises1 and it is a very fundamental one1 is this3 ,which shall it be--,style or ,reality8 ,shall we prepare scenery that is related to the style of the legitimate stage1 or shall we copy life as it is8 ,the realism of the spoken stage is cumbersome and inadequate4 ,you have got to let the public sit and wait a full half hour to change a single setting of elaborate decoration4 ,and after all1 do what we may1 it is only a defective and sometimes even miserable transcript of nature that is conjured on to the stage1 despite the ingenuity of the machinist and many other near-colleagues4 ,the ,berlin performance of ,andalosia represented1 a few years ago1 the forest act as follows3 the stage was arranged in hills1 covered with tin tubs in which there was a profusion of real fir trees and genuine heather4 ,diagonally across the stage ran a real brook4 ,behind an invisible wire cage squirrels hopped about and frightened birds flew from corner to corner4 ,such a pompous stage setting as this is absurdly complicated4 ,the stage that goes in exclusively for style will produce the same psychic effect with the most simple and elementary means4 ,if style decoration is so made as to meet the exact needs of the stage1 if it suits the stage in every way1 well and good2 but this is not in itself irrefutable proof that we should follow the same rules in preparing decoration for the film4 ,the ways and means of the two arts are fundamentally different2 and the public that each attracts1 and from whose patronage each must survive or perish1 is in neither case the same4 ,moreover1 it is the duty of each art to do what it can4 ,it is only a fool who attempts the very thing for which he is not naturally fitted4 ,the lens of the moving picture camera sucks up the world about it with unlimited greediness2 but it rebels at the mere intimation of perverse or distorted art forms4 ,the materials with which the film deals1 which it handles1 are far too simple1 natural1 and human to endure any sort of studied or affected decoration4 ,the spectators in the motion picture want to see an interesting action on the part of human beings2 they demand beautiful and picturesque decorations2 they wince at1 if they do not reject out and out1 such pictures as owe their origin to1 and would please the art critics4 ,the urgent need for good and original settings is ubiquitous2 every film nation feels it4 ,but strangely enough1 it has been given the consideration it calls for neither by the ,americans nor by the ,swedes4 ,both peoples1 if we may be permitted to say so1 are perfectly contented with pretty pictures4 ,but real decoration is a vast deal more than a mere frame enclosing1 in rather indifferent fashion1 the human heart4 ,within the compass of the play1 the psychic or psychological effect and impressiveness have their quite real meaning2 they are important4 ,this fact has been recognized1 let us state it candidly1 by the ,germans4 ,the ,german film may be a very imperfect creation1 but you have got to admit that in the way of inventiveness1 wealth of ingenuity1 and such atmosphere as can be created by decoration1 it has accomplished a great deal2 indeed1 in some instances1 it has gone too far4 ,an instance of excess in the field of decoration was that clever and ingenious film entitled ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,it may be referred to as the masterpiece of doubtful decorative art4 7,illustrations ,no4 #a and #b47 ,this was the meaning of these decorations3 they were intended to surround or accompany the action as a sort of powerful tone2 they were so many notes4 ,the action itself was hostile to life1 misanthropic1 dour4 ,it painted the gruesome phantasies of a mind diseased4 ,it was an unintended1 but not on that account ineffective1 bit of irony that this picture of a deranged world was enveloped in hyper-impressionistic decoration4 ,the action was that of a madman2 the scenery was as it was4 ,one saw oblique and twisted houses painted with all manner of mad flourishes2 rooms no wall of which was rectangular or perpendicular or level2 passageways of the same description and streets that cannot be described2 rhombic windows and doors2 bent1 warped1 and splintered trees which reminded of the monumental drawings that are associated with ,chinese painting4 ,in these pictures 7the composition of them was an inimitable success7 there was a perfect reflection1 in error and knowledge1 of the inevitable characteristics of decoration4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aa4 ,scene from ,golem4 ,see p4 #hf ,we had to do1 first of all1 with the oft-repeated objection to this much-praised and much-calumniated film1 that in that insanely distorted milieu the actors moved about in their own human1 unfractured1 and undeformed bodies4 ,werner ,krauss alone1 who played the title rle1 was so unqualifiedly successful in making his being fit in and seem at home with the spooky element of this heap of distortions that the environment apparently enveloped this magician with a singularly magical veil4 ,the unnaturalness of his predicament was made to appear natural4 ,with the others it was altogether different4 ,the magic circle in which they moved left the impression that it was merely a ghostly and ghastly mantle that flopped about their figures4 ,it simply is not possible to squeeze such inherently contradictory material and motivation into a single frame4 ,the decoration1 always easily changed and varied1 must adapt itself to the form and figure of the actor1 which is unvariable and cannot be changed4 ,this being the case1 the following basic law compels formulation and observance3 ,setting dare not distort reality4 ,this law has a meaning of its own3 it applies to the whole business of art as this is exploited in the interests of caricatured and twisted expressionism4 ,that expressionism has about fought its last fight and displayed its ultimate lunacy1 is a safe and reasoned assumption4 ,the 8deformation0 of nature as an aid to the inadequate ability of the artist is a hopelessly unsatisfactory emergency aid invoked on behalf of a foul and decayed naturalism in its desperate attempt to conjure up a new style--un coin de la nature1 vu travers d'un temprament4 ,one saw an irrationally perverse and eccentric1 painted and plotted picture of a city 7the surface in the background of illustration ,no4 #a74 ,two insane people stood before it1 one of whom pointed at the singular picture and said3 8,my native city60 ,of the feeling of art there was not a trace4 ,the spectator1 going at the thing in a purely rational way1 figured it out as follows3 the lunatic was born in a little hilly city4 ,the magic of the words 8native city0 was not even hinted at1 to say nothing of being exhausted4 ,in a mimic and sensuous moving picture it does not suffice to portray a painted surface as a picture4 ,such scenery will do on the legitimate stage1 but1 in the motion picture1 the symbolism of it fails to reach the heart4 ,the decoration of the film must be plastic4 ,such a film can have only one meaning2 it can be important in only one way3 it is an experiment1 and experiments are rarely useless4 ,they may even be quite valuable2 for to start out on a wrong road is not useless in itself1 since we thereby learn that it is the wrong road4 ,we learn that we are in a blind alley1 that there is no use to try to go any farther1 that any attempt at a new creation is beaten at the beginning1 and can hope to end only in the most wretched of conditions--such as those find themselves committed to who have arrived late4 ,any achievement in the way of film scenery can have and be of enduring value then and only then when it serves as a stimulus to colleagues in other branches of the same art2 it must leave some room for many minds4 ,a film such as that of ,dr4 ,caligari1 which begins with irony and ends with resignation1 can never be regarded as more than a curiosity4 ,the ,decla ,company made another expressionistic film entitled ,genuine1 die ,geschichte einer ,blutsuferin 78,the ,tale of a ,vampyre074 ,it revealed the same artistic principles as those of ,dr4 ,caligari1 but with this difference3 they had now become petrified after the fashion of a regular mask4 ,i am of the opinion that for an achievement in this field to be of real value1 in technique as well as in art1 it has got to be taken from life and follow lifelike lines4 ,for this reason1 the possibility of a fruitful development in this direction seems remote indeed4 ,this gigantic spring-tide which surged forth with unqualified suddenness from the chaos of film evolution has about ebbed away and been absorbed by a few remarkable decorations4 ,its effects are still noticeable here and there on the upper surface2 this much must be conceded4 ,but the great storm that reached down to the depths and brought about a complete revolution and reformation in the domain of film scenery1 has never taken place1 though it was prophesied and promised by its leading adherents at the time4 ,wherever we can still recognize a faint echo of it1 it has quieted down into a milder1 calmer form which first coquettes with nature and flirts with life1 only to become gradually but completely reconciled to them in the end4 ,the tendency to invention of phantastic settings was immensely aroused by ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,illustration ,no4 #c4 for example1 shows what may be done in the way of an art form that is supposed to follow nature1 though it is conceived in error1 and though it is a specimen of such nature as we get when it is constructed rather than allowed to grow1 and constructed with the inescapable contortions that characterize this type of thing4 ,the unreasoned and unbalanced twisting and the laborious padding of these mountain lines are without a trace of either warmth or truth2 they lack inner genuineness4 ,the sunflowers in the foreground at the left are simply idiotic4 ,illustration ,no4 #d is a trifle better in the calm flow of its lines4 ,it is astonishingly true to life1 though the thought of a castle that has been chiseled from the solid rock does not exactly remind one of home1 or if so1 it merely emphasizes the saying that there is no place like home4 ,illustration ,no4 #e is thoroughly saturated with the romantic clarity of feeling for nature4 ,the reconciliation of the inventive artist with the forms of nature has been perfected2 it is complete4 ,there is1 moreover1 a remarkable freedom of invention coupled with astonishing fidelity to nature4 ,in all of these pictures we recognize an ever-increasing moderation1 an intimate and sympathetic pressing forward to the forms of reality that are not slavishly copied2 they are felt1 and that in a vigorous and natural way4 ,before we enter upon the open road of scenery that is faithful to reality1 however1 we must follow for a season romantic setting by way of familiarizing ourselves with a number of its amiable ramifications4 ,the playing or sportive mind of the artist in pictures roams about and remains resting1 in time1 toying like a butterfly1 on the bizarre forms of the phantastic world4 ,illustration ,no4 #f1 for example1 shows us a magic garden in ,asia4 ,there is an easy and refreshing humor about it2 it is charming as a picture4 ,it has only one fault3 it is inappropriate as a bit of decoration for a film4 ,for the film picture passes by in a few seconds1 and it is not the business of the decoration to draw attention away from the action4 ,such complicated pictures1 with all their captivating by-products1 can be studied in detail and with much thought and consideration1 but not in the film--there is no time for them there4 ,all decorative scenery has to be well arranged2 it must be lucid1 clear1 and easy of survey4 ,illustration ,no4 #g is confused and hard to read4 ,moreover1 this scenery has nothing to do with the action4 ,no one would ever suspect that this room was occupied by an ,american millionairess4 ,let the decoration be as grand and glorious as the human mind can make it1 if it is not a frame1 or a framework1 for the things that go on in the human heart1 its effect is swollen1 disingenuous1 and undesirable from every point of view4 ,the odd and fanciful device fails if it is not truly and inwardly affiliated with human fate4 ,this is proved by ,illustration ,no4 #h1 the cramped and even convulsive style of which1 with its black and white norm1 does not convince4 ,the plastic effect is altogether inadequate and defective4 ,this picture is shown here because it is a brilliant refutal of the oft-repeated assertion that the film1 as an art-form1 has to do with and rests upon the art of black and white4 ,there is neither artistic nor objective value in the picture2 it is merely a curio1 a bit of nourishment for under-bred curiosity1 and was born of a deformed notion4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ab4 ,scene from ,destiny4 ,see p4 #hg ,the curiosity1 however1 of phantastic forms is not to be ruthlessly denounced and rejected if back of it lies a graceful notion1 a happy idea4 ,illustration ,no4 #i shows such an original scene of vibrant freshness4 ,the dancing girl is pictured as an undisciplined1 capricious little creature1 and one is bound to admit that a setting of this sort throws a captivating and intriguing frame about the radiant soul of man4 ,this picture has nothing in the world to do with naturalism4 ,it is of merely momentary significance and1 like ,illustration ,no4 #h1 has but little bearing on1 and consequently but little significance for1 the real value of decoration4 ,but in contrast to that pale black and white drawing1 this dance scenery gives evidence of a brilliant artistic brain from which ingenuity radiates and in which confidence may be placed when it is a question of brightening up a film4 ,one sees that it comes from a brain which creates pictures in an easy even if extravagant mood1 pictures which fire the imagination somewhat after the fashion of a cool flask of seasoned and sparkling champagne4 ,we had a wonderful fulfillment of the phantastic decoration in ,wegener's ,golem1 that fairy tale which told of the breathing of life into a figure of clay through the magic power of a ,jewish ,rabbi1 who made the monster his servant--until it1 having reached the point where it had real feelings1 turned against its lord and master4 ,poelzig had created the milieu for the romantic action1 ,illustration ,no4 #aj4 ,a fairy play of spooky streets and ghost-like alleys1 the old1 old house of which bent and crouched under the vault of heaven4 ,there was the doomed and damned world of the ,ghetto1 isolated from all things agreeably human and threatened by gigantic walls4 ,the sober fact of the business is that when genius takes a hand in the matter of scenery1 and visualizes its ingenuity1 doubts disappear and faith rules supreme4 ,we give in2 we resign4 ,was this world a copy of reality8 ,was it the sole product of the artist's wish8 ,the whole thing was a play1 a marvelous mask1 the expression of an animated and enlivened will4 ,there was much more style to the interior of the rooms4 ,and for this very reason they were less natural2 they were more alien to free and easy conception4 ,but the room of the ,rabbi1 with its low1 crooked1 burdened walls1 the stairway of which the least that can be said was that it was heavily constructed 7,illustration ,no4 #aa7 was entirely in keeping with the city sighing as it was under its mighty load4 ,but ,golem lay apart2 it was a unique picture4 ,the swirling1 over-decorated flourishes of this world which had become so introspective1 which had retired unto itself1 and which retires unto itself again and again and at every opportunity1 did not somehow make the right replies to the questions of our soul4 ,the final echo1 the longed-for repercussion of those wishes that creep into the hearts of the children of men1 are always and invariably lacking in phantastic art4 ,such art may cause curiosity to grow2 on such curiosity may batten2 but it is never the creation that at once constitutes the longing and stills the longing that has been aroused4 ,the film is not the art in which a visionary fancy may rage until its rage is over4 ,on the contrary1 the film represents the most perfect union of active and modern life with the symphony of feelings4 ,and it is not until we reach the point where the film dips down into hard reality--whether it be the reality of the present or of bygone ages is of but little consequence--that its art of decoration is confronted with those problems and tasks at the sight of which the human eye begins to glisten with ardent enthusiasm--is confronted with those works of the film in which every picture1 every feeling1 and every gesture preaches its ,tua res agitur4 ,settings befitting reality do not necessarily have to be smooth1 unconditional1 and unconditioned copies of reality4 ,the chief desideratum is to have life and atmosphere in them2 they must be filled with tender emotion1 gentle animation4 ,the following pictures belong to this category4 ,illustration ,no4 #ab reveals in a kindly1 loving way the milieu of a ,south ,german village4 ,it is full of fancy1 yet it is faithful to reality4 ,the sole point in connection with this picture lies in this question3 ,a ,german film company made this picture2 very few people took part in it4 ,would it then not have been better and1 in the end1 less expensive1 if the company had actually gone to one of the countless ,south ,german villages and taken the photographs on the spot8 ,illustration ,no4 #ac is a trick setting from ,lubitsch's ,sumurun4 ,it is only a few yards in height1 and the effect produced is so natural that one fancies one is really surrounded by colossal buildings that stand out all alone4 ,illustrations ,no4 #ad and #ae offer an interesting study in comparisons4 ,in ,no4 #ad1 the grandiose scene from ,madame ,dubarry 7smaller minds have all too often been influenced by this scene1 to their own detriment71 we have a chaotic fullness from the masses1 and an architectural ensemble in the buildings included that is rather hard to study in the right perspective4 ,it seems on the whole somewhat disconnected4 ,but in this very lack of composition the picture reveals a fabulous fidelity to life2 this is just such a scene as real life throws on the canvas4 ,in contrast to this we have the bold composition of the pictures from ,anne ,boleyn4 ,it is in beautiful style1 in the manner of the ,meininger ,stage4 ,there is fullness and there is order2 it shows genuineness instead of truth4 ,a continuation in the development of this imitation1 which in this case is ramified and multiplied down to the last and minutest bit of gim-crack on the houses1 is no longer possible4 ,such additions as may be made will have to consist1 not in making the decoration more intensive1 but in making it more extensive2 it must have to do with surface and not with depth 7as in the buildings of the ,indisches ,grabmal71 for the limit in intensity and depth has been reached4 ,this being the case1 the only thing that can be expected in the future is a sort of wild goose-chase after every conceivable species of scenic extravaganza4 ,one architect tries to outdo the other in building high buildings and big buildings and complex buildings1 with the result that the firm that has the greatest resources1 or the best credit1 will1 in the end1 carry off the prize4 ,the man who really tries to further art will be forced into the background2 the material1 the mass makes itself felt4 ,scenic views have1 in truth1 already been constructed every detail of which1 and there are many1 rather militates against real effect so far as the film is concerned4 ,this is proof that the way of film setting is unique unto itself2 there are such things as faithful imitations of indispensable film style1 but to follow them is to be led out on to distant paths that are alien to the essential objective2 for lavishness is never a sign of control4 ,the prime prerequisite of a good film picture is that one glance is sufficient to take it in2 from this truth there is no escape4 ,and despite this1 the film picture dare not lack atmosphere4 ,the imitation of reality is all right in itself and quite beautiful4 ,but so soon as the reality that is imitated becomes excessive in detail so that easy survey of it is impossible1 we have to depart from it with an indulgent farewell1 otherwise it will become distorted1 caricatured1 and naturally annoying where it is meant to be illuminating4 ,film decoration calls for an elaborate and calm flow of lines1 lines which surround the action like a mighty and manifold frame1 but which do not wean our attention away from the film itself2 on it our eye at least must be kept riveted4 ,those details1 which are as expensive as they are useless1 are to be avoided1 while emphasis is to be placed on the essentials in the scenery4 ,illustration ,no4 #af is on the border line between a faithful copy and a clever diversity or manifolding4 ,the scene is extravagant only in composition2 the details have been worked out with just enough completeness to give the impression of absolute reality4 ,the settings of the following pictures are of a remarkably impressive and artistic power4 ,they give visual evidence of an elaborate style1 the chief concern of which is suitability4 ,it is a style which1 thanks to the sketchy means of the wings1 reproduces the decisive line without becoming lost in ornamental set-off and too much ramification4 ,illustration ,no4 #ag1 a quite unostentatious setting1 shows1 with unreserved fidelity to life1 a house wing of plain compactness1 and of an unusually modest atmosphere1 which encompasses the action and aids in its effective visualization4 ,the scenery in ,illustration ,no4 #ah--the picture is from ,vgeld--is inimitable4 ,the loneliness and desertion of the two people is seemingly in the act of beginning to strike up a deep note1 just as if one were to draw the bow across the bass string of a violin4 ,this is the kind of reserved and unobtrusive clarity of lines that has got to be practiced if we are to solve the problem of film decoration in a successful way4 ,such practice absorbs and assimilates the fundamental elements of all styles and tones them down into one grandiose picture--such as ,illustration ,no4 #ai4 ,it leads one out beyond the narrow confines of the atelier and on to piles of human occupancy in the open air1 creations of the architect's mind which make no attempt at a microcosmic delineation of details2 it has the whole1 the entity1 rather tower up before us1 in microcosmic fashion1 and uses to this end1 not the pebbles of excessive embellishment1 but the huge square stones of all great buildings4 ,instances of such are ,illustrations ,nos4 #bj and #ba4 ,it must be conceded that settings1 if strenuously composed1 as we have indicated1 call for a certain simplicity in the matter of photography1 a simplicity the strict observance of which necessitates the taking of the photographs at a considerable distance and from obvious points of vantage4 ,for it is clear that it is impossible to get a picture of such objects at any or every angle4 ,such strong compositions are practicable only in the films that have to do with heroic subjects4 ,we may lay it down as a general rule that a heavy composition1 because of its heavy arches1 can easily become disadvantageous to the lines4 ,the quiet1 peaceful day of rest in ,illustration ,no4 #ba is beautiful4 ,but it is not merely setting that must be made with due regard for the effectiveness of the film for which it is intended2 the costume that the actor wears must also be given discriminating attention4 ,we want a replica of reality2 this goes without saying4 ,but wherever the reality is unattractive1 or characterized1 to be specific1 by a bewildering fullness of lines1 then it is that we need probability--or better still1 verisimilitude4 ,to play some great episode in the same costume in which it originally took place is in itself a noble idea4 ,but it means nothing to the film to place the costumes of that time1 glittering with color and bedizened with all manner of spangles and buckles1 before the1 after all1 color-blind eye of the camera4 ,the big1 balloon-like costumes of the ,renaissance1 the ,italian as well as the ,german1 make a rather poor picture of unknown colors and indifferent lines4 ,to take a picture of this kind and do it effectively requires an artist who is cautious in his exploitation of all things stylistic1 modest in his desire to display his inventive power1 and trained in the art school of experience4 ,we may say1 in general1 that there is no single costume of any age or all ages that is entirely effective on the screen4 ,it is a serious fact that cannot be lost sight of that1 in this domain of the moving picture1 the effects we so ardently strive after depend not so much on genuineness as on the appearance of genuineness4 ,take the frontispiece4 ,what a splendid clarity and lucidity of line6 ,but the costumes of those times were like the ones that constitute the glory of this picture only in general proportions and outlines4 ,and thus it comes about--just as in the most exalted works of art of all ages--that each individual part serves the whole1 and there is none of that greediness for isolated triumph that results1 if unleashed1 in a dazzling and distracting display of the arts of the virtuoso4 ,our film world is a business affair1 but every sane man is willing and eager to let the grand ideas of real art have the fullest possible play--provided these ideas are effective and imbued with sufficient life to work in harmony with our business interests4 ,the motion picture is art for the masses2 there is not a shred of use to try to deny this1 or to evade the conditions that this unpliable fact necessitates4 ,such decoration as it calls to its aid must1 consequently1 be of such simple1 even primitive1 impressiveness that its place in the motion picture becomes at once clear even to the untrained and obtuse eye4 ,it is injudicious to launch out on any artistic enterprise which cannot be felt and appreciated by the masses4 ,such sthetic hardiness as characterized ,dr4 ,caligari1 with its voguish art forms1 can never be regarded as more than an unusual attempt which took the masses by surprise4 ,let that kind of moving picture become the rule rather than the exception1 and the people who have hitherto flocked to the motion picture will fail to re-enter it and1 bent on entertainment of some kind1 they will betake themselves to the kino--to those narrow1 moldy pits in which the canvases that are displayed consist of a spiced and peppery potpourri that is especially concocted to seduce the eye--canvases that are born of low but intense avidity1 and which are given to such children of men as are most easily moved by the same impulse4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,poet ,i will praise the sons of ,atreus1 ,of ,cadmus will ,i sing-- ,but my harp will be in tune with ,a theme that makes love ring4 --,anacreon4 ,we have progressed with our subject up to a certain point1 proceeding at all times from the external to the internal2 from that which is without to that which is within4 ,as we have done this1 the parts have been placed in our hands3 the mechanism and the scenic picture4 ,the individual who unites these two parts into a coherent whole1 and who breathes the breath of a full and pulsating world into these united parts1 is the poet4 ,the means are in his hand1 just as hammer and chisel2 the picture stands before his soul4 ,the longing of every artist is to fashion and give shape to a heaven and an earth2 he longs to compress the whole of bubbling life into his picture4 ,but the marble block gapes at him and says3 8,of sound in me there is not a note4 ,i am immovable4 ,colors do not radiate from me4 ,fashion me into a living picture6 ,give me form and life60 ,it is even so with the moving picture4 ,it has its own world1 a narrow1 hard1 unwieldy world that is not unlike the heartless chunk of marble4 ,locked up in this world of the moving picture are the fates and visions which dream of the amiable artist who will some day chance to take them unto himself1 and give them the life they feel is theirs by every right4 ,the poet of the motion picture6 ,from his soul come forth the pictures--those that have never been seen1 that are never to be seen4 ,the divine grace of completing a work of his own is not given to him2 he is given the torture associated with excavating confused and heterogenous visions from the mountain of desire4 ,this is his part4 ,though the better1 he does not choose it2 it is assigned to him by virtue of the things that have been given him1 and have not been given to other men4 ,the dramatist1 the poet of the legitimate stage1 has a final form at his immediate disposal--the word4 ,this word rings out from the stage in unamended and unadulterated form1 and is caught up1 with gratitude1 by the sympathetic friends in the pit1 stalls1 and boxes4 ,he is rewarded with thanks--even though the thanks he receives come merely from hearts momentarily exuberant4 ,those who make their living from the creative activity of the motion picture poet are famous people4 ,they live in the very atmosphere of renown4 ,their names are household words4 ,their pictures are displayed in the plateglass show-windows of the cities4 ,but the motion picture poet himself8 ,who knows anything about ,carl ,mayer1 the author of ,dr4 ,caligari and the ,hintertreppe8 ,who ever heard of ,hans ,gaus1 the man who wrote ,madame ,recamier8 ,who is in any way familiar with the name of ,hans ,krly1 who1 in collaboration with ,lubitsch1 wrote ,die ,puppe1 ,kohlhiesels ,tchter1 and a number of our other most brilliant scenarios8 ,truth to tell1 if ,lubitsch had been only a writer of scenarios and not at the same time one of our very greatest managers and producers1 it would be impossible to make a circus dog bark at the mention of his name4 ,this is all due in part to the inherent nature of the case4 ,the motion picture is art for the masses4 ,and the masses are naturally accustomed to admire that artist who submits his creations to them in tangible1 palpable1 and finished form4 ,the man who chopped the crude picture from the marble block was called an apprentice1 a laborer1 a pupil4 ,but in contradistinction to the poet of the motion picture1 the apprentice did not create the completed and complex picture4 ,to be a poet is to be a brooder4 ,in order to acquire the title of poet1 one must be able to conjure a coveted picture from the refractory clay4 ,the poets of ,german ,romanticism did their creative work in rain-soaked1 wind-rattled attic rooms far from every vestige of external culture4 ,they suffered the inconvenient pangs of hunger while so engaged4 ,but no one has ever become fat from their creations at the same time that the thanks they have received have come from the heart1 and have been repaid a thousandfold4 ,to be a motion picture poet means that you have got to keep your feet on the ground4 ,in this art--which is hopelessly bound up with the bank account and the pocketbook--there is no place for the idealist of romanticism4 ,such an individual can only stand alone in the corner1 embittered and sterile4 ,the film writer is still held in rather low esteem in ,germany4 ,it is impossible to get along without him1 for without new ideas and actions the entire apparatus of the film corporation stands idle4 ,as things are at present1 however1 the method of procedure is incorrect3 his material is taken from him1 he is kept at what seems a safe distance from the ateliers1 and the duty of building his material up into an actable and effective motion picture is left to the producer and manager4 ,the author is poorly paid2 consequently he finds it materially and spiritually unwise to torture himself for any great length of time with any one work4 ,quantity1 not quality1 has to be his shibboleth if he is to meet his very ordinary financial obligations4 ,the mistake that is being made is naturally a two-sided one4 ,the film author's place is in the studio2 he should be the silent witness of every scene2 he should be thoroughly conversant with such technical progress as has been made and is being made in the way of illumination and psychic photography4 ,but he dare never forget that a film work is not the work of an individual4 ,an author has to have1 if success is to crown his efforts1 a great store of general information1 a store such as reaches far out beyond the studio4 ,he should have a general but clear idea as to what it costs to mount a film4 ,he should be familiar with what other film companies have accepted and produced2 he should study the film output of foreign film peoples--if he does not1 collisions are apt to occur and these have been known to result in lawsuits based on the charge of plagiarism4 ,he should be skilled in the distribution and placing of such decorations as are to be used with his scenario1 and thus be able to avoid the embarrassment that arises when a colossal scenery has been bought and paid for1 though the scene that it is supposed to decorate is of ,liliputian dimensions4 ,he should know what people are talking about1 how they are most easily entertained1 most intelligently amused4 ,if he fails in this regard1 he is apt to expend his creative energy in the lining out of a film that is in its place in an established institution for the blind4 8,liliputian0 replaced with 8,lilliputian0 ,there is a tremendous amount of work attached to the domain which the film author feels is his2 there is so much technique1 so much specializing in the modern motion picture1 that the author is unquestionably an indispensable member of the court that creates the film2 he does not make it alone1 but it cannot be made without him4 ,his opinions must be respected1 otherwise he avenges himself by an action which bears on its very brow the stamp of mere affectation and technique2 you can see that it has been invented2 that it is not of sterling inspiration4 ,and so far as the recognition of the film author is concerned1 ,i am bound to say that things are still in a serious plight in my native land4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ac4 ,scene from ,sumurun4 ,see p4 #hh ,if the moving picture writer is paid precisely the same money for a subtle1 well-studied1 artistic1 and purified bit of poet action that he would be paid1 or is paid1 for a bit of cheap1 meretricious1 and insidious cajolery1 there is no hope4 ,then good-bye soul1 and welcome to the martyrdom that ensues when other people wax fat on the creation that has made the author lean6 ,he says to himself1 and he cannot be expected to say anything else1 8,to the ,devil with idealism60 ,this explains why ,hans ,gaus is not writing another ,madame ,recamier1 why he is not writing any more passionate1 brilliant1 disciplined film poetry4 ,and it explains1 too1 alack and alas1 why he is turning out cleverly devised1 invented1 and not felt1 film pieces that keep the pot boiling4 ,this explains1 of course it does1 why the battalions of rather talented motion picture writers are fabricating whole libraries of scenarios that reveal nothing more than the cold hand of invention4 ,the motion picture itself suffers most from this unenviable state of affairs4 ,but this1 in itself1 is a rather impersonal theme for lament1 for it is the film corporations that must bear the major part of this misfortune4 ,and why8 ,because a good scenario1 one that glows with the heat of informed inspiration1 forces its way into the soul of the spectator1 invites him to come back1 and even goes so far as to have the hope well forth in his bosom that1 having now seen twenty moving pictures in which the swollen effusions of uninspired tricks have left him cold and disappointed1 he will go the twenty-first time with enough faith in human nature to fancy that he may at last be rewarded for his persistence4 ,a motion picture is successful only when an unusually good and extraordinarily inspired scenario chances to lift it up above the colorless odds in numerical superiority and enables it1 for this reason and for other reasons1 to shine forth like a lighthouse on a sea of near-darkness4 8extaordinarily0 replaced with 8extraordinarily0 ,it is sometimes amazing to see what enormous sums of money may be expended1 and what an abundance of ability may be lavished on utterly inadequate and ineffective poetry4 ,such a film can never hope for wide or world-success4 ,everything that is deserving of attentive interest is in the picture itself4 ,once it has been played there is no more to it2 that is the end of it4 ,there may be architects of real imagination and education1 managers who are inherently clever and not at all afraid of work1 a select company of actors and actresses--all of which is fine4 ,but in this circle of people there is one who is missing3 the author4 ,he should be there1 for it is he who is to reflect on the ways of the world and project a new world on the screen4 ,it is he in whom and through whom the work of the others is to acquire the breath of real life4 ,but1 though it is a hard statement1 it is true3 ,in this art not a finger is being moved in the exclusive interests of the idea of sthetic progress4 ,and yet1 and yet--for the film companies to further the cause of the poet is to put money into their own pockets4 ,the best field the film companies can possibly develop is the mind1 heart1 and soul of the naturally gifted film author4 ,the film companies will never have splendid and effective scenarios to work on until they have made up their minds to reward1 in a practical way1 the film author1 splendidly and effectively1 for his labors1 to recognize him1 in a practical way1 just as they at present 8recognize0 the leading manager and actor4 ,i am ready to contend that the best film actions are written in ,germany--but that the very worst manuscripts and clue-books are also written in ,germany4 ,this is true of the average4 ,those companies in which the film author enjoys the same rights and privileges that the manager enjoys1 and in which the two work hand in hand1 are having one success after another4 ,i need but mention the ,decla-,bioscop1 a company that is altogether unique in that its records show that one of the most brilliant film authoresses ,germany has thus far produced1 ,thea von ,harbou1 is married to ,fritz ,lang1 one of our very best managers4 ,it is a remarkable fact that no one can write a film alone--and that it should not on this account be attempted4 ,a good film1 other things being equal1 is created when two adequately endowed writers1 one of whom can depict action1 the other of whom can arrange the scenes1 rub elbows in a common and mutual effort4 ,when it is done in this fashion1 the film glows with the fire of creative genius and is altogether vivacious4 ,from an artistic point of view1 there is but one way to solve the problem of the film writer1 and that is to have the author--as ,griffith1 ,lubitsch1 and a number of others are doing--stage and produce their own works4 ,the idea of the action has been crystallized in their souls in a thousand pictures4 ,no other person1 however gifted he may be and be his intentions the very best1 can appreciate the picture even approximately as well as the author himself who dreamed it into existence4 ,but if the film author has no ability as a director1 the only course left open to him is to submit his scenario to a second party1 or at least the germ1 the central idea of it4 ,the only thing this second party can then do is to raise a strange flower from the seed the author sowed4 ,a sympathetic understanding of the two artists1 in this case1 is a wish that has not yet been fulfilled4 ,for the two artists to work at random1 to say nothing of working against each other1 is to create confusion worse confounded1 and such is not art4 ,in the end the will of the one or of the other will have made itself felt4 ,and we can hardly demand of the poet that he accede to revisions and emendations of his poetry without cavil1 inquiry1 or interest4 ,it frequently happens1 however1 that a talented poet is wholly unfamiliar with the nature and technique of the motion picture4 ,in such a case1 the artistic and financial success of the picture depends upon a complete revision of the scenario as originally submitted1 and this revision is undertaken either by the stage manager1 who must have a fair measure of the poet in him even if he has not written1 or by that creature known as the dramaturge3 he is part stage critic1 part stage manager4 ,the old-fashioned dramaturge is1 as should be known1 the man who has no idea of his own but who is an ingenious thief4 ,he still vegetates in all countries1 sad specimen though he is4 ,no man is a good dramaturge who is not also a poet4 ,he should be the second poet who collaborates with the author4 ,the author is not infrequently maladroit1 dream-burdened1 and obsessed with unfilm-like notions4 ,the dramaturge has to be a malleable connoisseur1 one who can scent out of the wealth of good passages the weak spots of a film manuscript1 and then lift them out before it is too late4 ,to work with such a dramaturge is a pleasure4 ,the author stands ashamed and humiliated in the presence of pictures the existence of which the dramaturge first challenges and then kills4 ,one affable moment follows another of the same enviable description4 ,a creative fever comes over both of them2 they are convulsed when the heroes suffer2 they revel in satisfaction when jolly situations rebound against each other4 ,this is however an idealized situation4 ,generally speaking1 the dramaturge is an ambitious1 avaricious1 sterile wiseacre who spills his caustic criticism all over the author's creation and leaves it a thing of shreds and patches4 ,with heedless1 listless scorn1 he derides and lampoons any idea that did not originate in his anointed head4 ,he robs in time the author of every vestige of desire to create so that he 7the author7 avoids future encounters with him 7the dramaturge7 as he would avoid a plague4 ,from that time on1 the author writes his manuscripts alone and sends them in to the dread dramaturge1 who is at liberty to do with them as his conscience dictates4 ,good1 delicate1 and amiable film manuscripts do not arise in this way4 ,there are poets and managers who do not know what the essential prerequisites of a good motion picture are4 ,here is where the dramaturge comes in4 ,it is his lofty task to effect a reconciliation between idealism and materialism4 ,that he judge the work solely on its artistic merits and from the artistic point of view is out of the question4 ,the first film that arose under such conditions would be a commercial failure2 the second would spell the bankruptcy of the company that produced it4 ,it is1 at the same time1 lamentable1 pitiable1 when the dramaturge judges a submitted manuscript solely from the point of view of its potential commercial success4 ,let this type of dramaturge have his way1 and the film will suffer complete deterioration1 decay1 and death4 ,moreover1 such film works have not the slightest chance of success in foreign countries4 ,to concoct a good and 8safe0 thing that will take on the local corner--any man can do that4 ,but the film must be so great and grandiose that nobody else can do it4 ,detective1 revolver1 and sensation films find devotees in the movie halls of the entire world who can do this trick just as well as anybody else2 and they know it4 ,such films have from the very beginning powerful competition4 ,why has ,charlie ,chaplin been such a ubiquitous success8 ,because he is unique2 his achievements are his own2 his accomplishments are inimitable4 ,a film manuscript is good then and then only when it promises an artistic and an economic success4 ,art and business--let us repeat--must be united in this case4 ,to judge a film manuscript on this dual basis is1 however1 not so difficult4 ,the motion picture is art for the masses4 ,this truth eliminates of itself all cold-blooded and un-felt texts4 ,a warm1 vivacious1 animated1 artistically valuable motion picture book has got to please--that is1 it has got to lead up to a commercial success4 ,the dramaturge who takes this view of his business is an exceedingly important personage among his company's acquaintances4 ,he is its artistic conscience2 he is its reliable guarantee against failure4 ,the basic condition of what he does is perfect knowledge and ability in the field in which he works4 ,he has to know the nature of the motion picture2 he has to be able to see in advance its possibilities of success4 ,and this knowing1 this seeing1 must be second-nature to him2 he must be saturated with them4 ,this alone will give him the ability to select1 from the mass of manuscripts that are submitted to him1 those that are in every way available4 ,he must be the good physician1 the unbribable custodian of those imperfect and yet redeemable papers that lie on his desk for investigation4 ,nor is this all4 ,in case the manager does not elect to stage the film work himself1 the dramaturge must be able to get everything that is in every scene out of it4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ad4 ,scene from ,madame ,dubarry4 ,see p4 #hh ,the basic condition of his very being is the perfect1 the universal recognition of his position1 a position that he has to fight for just as strenuously as the dramaturge of the legitimate stage has to fight for his4 ,the film dramaturge is by no means the fifth wheel on the wagon4 ,indeed1 every art1 including the art of the theater1 moves along on many wheels every one of which must be in working order if the wagon in question is to enjoy easy and unimpeded motion1 and is eventually to reach the point where those who are driving it1 in this way and in that1 would have it go4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,compass ,,of ,,poetry ,the word is the world of the legitimate stage4 ,it rings out clear from the actor's lips1 forces its way through the spacious auditorium1 and reaches the ear of the most remote spectator4 ,the gesture is drowned out in this same space2 it is the handmaid of the spoken word1 to which it lends corroboration and the expression of will power4 ,the word is an enigmatic symbol of thought4 ,what our ear receives is a fleeting fugitive sound1 almost an indifferent sequence of sounds4 ,what our mind receives is the meaning liberated from the sound4 8,death60 ,the meaning is clear4 ,remove the meaning1 the sense that lies hidden in this word1 and there remains nothing but a null and void sound picture3 ,d-e-a-t-h4 ,make a single1 insignificant change in the sound1 substitute 8br0 for 8d10 and the meaning1 the sense of it1 is completely changed4 ,the word is the instrument of the mind4 ,as ,heinrich ,laube has well said1 we termed the stage1 while it was still in its 8first1 nave period10 a ,schauspiel4 ,the word means a 8play that is seen40 ,but the stage is neither a ,schauspiel nor a ,hrspiel 78a play that is heard071 as in the case of music4 ,it is a ,gedankenspiel1 or 8thought play40 8words0 replaced with 8word0 ,those values of the stage action which we perceive through the aid of our various senses are merely symbols and forms of expression for the intellectual or spiritual values4 ,the word itself1 as a matter of fact1 loses its significance as a sensual sequence of sounds1 as an acoustic phenomenon completely except for a slight fragment of beauty that lies in the word as such4 ,the distinctive earmark of the stage action is the spiritual style4 ,and since every art fashions the soul1 stage art is the spiritual soul2 it depicts feelings through thoughts4 ,unintellectual1 obtuse1 dull people do not thrill us on the stage4 ,dramas whose characters are peasants and the lower classes of workmen have to be embellished and doctored-up with a goodly measure of strong theatrical devices in order to be really effective4 ,we have but to think of the efforts that have been made to arouse interest in such plays as ,schnherr's ,faith and ,fireside and ,hauptmann's ,teamster ,henschel and ,the ,weavers4 ,consequently1 it is never the dark1 flat levels of purely impulsive life that are sought after by the great dramatists--whoever they may be and in whatever age they may live4 ,the great 8stage people0 are characterized by an abundance of spiritual wealth4 ,heinrich ,laube was right when he said1 8,mind and thought are the drama's weapons of attack40 ,they are also the weapons of attack of the grand characters that stalk across the stage4 ,wallenstein1 ,faust1 ,macbeth1 ,lear1 ,hamlet--these are the characters that are sought after by the actor1 for they all enjoy the very highest of spiritual wealth4 ,the stage1 the most perfect counterpart or reflection of mankind1 embraces the three realms of life--,sensuality1 ,soul1 ,intellect4 ,all those glorious figures are choked and convulsed by sensuality4 ,their paths lead away from sensuality and back1 if possible1 to pure intellectuality4 ,that course goes so far that one of the very wildest of them remarks at the close of his career3 ,life's but a walking shadow1 a poor player ,that struts and frets his hour upon the stage ,and then is heard no more4 ,it is not mere chance1 nor is it a histrionic whim on the part of the poet1 that ,faust abandons ,gretchen and seeks and finds ,helena4 ,on this account the sensual impulses of the stage characters are the paths of error which lead up to the intellect4 ,the great stage personages are never men of mere impulse4 ,thoas is not a barbarian of the senses2 ,tell is not a rude1 crude fellow just as nature made him2 ,romeo is not a mere sensual seducer but a psychic visionary4 ,the legitimate stage strives after great1 free thoughts2 and characters such as ,faust represent the very strongest expression of its arts4 ,in this excess of excelsior1 however1 in this defection from the wishes of this earth1 lies a real danger to which not merely the poetising dilettant is apt to succumb2 indeed the very greatest of ,german poets have at times failed to escape its intriguing peculiarity4 ,it is the danger of the too-high1 of arctic clarity1 of the exclusively intellectual4 ,the soul glows through real art like a vestal fire1 pure1 mild1 serene4 ,let the flight be too hardy and too upward1 and the fire goes out1 art ceases1 and shrewd1 shivering theatrical dialectics set in4 ,in the case of the motion picture1 the opposite takes place4 ,the word withdraws1 becomes unessential1 often directly adverse to art and the canons of art4 ,then it is that mimicry steps out and up and becomes the bearer of the action4 ,if humanity had been born deaf and dumb1 it would long since have perfected its mimic apparatus so completely that it would be the tool and symbol of thought4 ,what can the gesture mean to us8 ,feeling that is so familiar to us that it awakens sympathy on the slightest provocation4 ,only that which is from the very beginning impulse within us is sensuality4 ,mimicry is the symbol of sensual values4 ,the sign1 the prognostic1 the distinctive mark of mimic action is the sensual style4 ,and since this art signifies the expression of the soul1 the motion picture is the sensual soul4 ,it is feeling expressed through gesture4 ,consequently1 an impulse that is not in everybody is not felt by everybody4 ,this explains the failure of quite a few works4 ,the homosexual film1 for example1 ,anders als die ,andern 78,different ,from ,other ,people07 was a source of disordered loathing to those 8other people40 ,how can we expect a healthy individual to feel the excitement of an insane person1 as in ,dr4 ,caligari1 or of a pathological vampire1 as in ,the ,vampyre8 ,and how can we expect a human being with a strong constitution to sympathize with the demented antics of a nervous wreck and feel his feelings after him1 as in ,nerven 78,nerves078 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ae4 ,scene from ,anne ,boleyn4 ,see p4 #hh ,with a certainty that is growing from year to year1 the film writers of to-day choose their material from such domains of feeling as have a universal and altogether human appeal4 ,they depict the impulses of the soul1 but only up to that point where the healthy feelings terminate4 ,it is one of the wonders of peace that these impulses are common to all the peoples of the earth4 ,the intriguing writ of the ,asiatic soul becomes1 in this case1 clear and simple4 ,even the barbarian nations1 the ,negro1 the ,eskimo1 the ,moroccan1 rejoice at the sight of our films with the joy that spells appreciation4 ,it seems1 however1 that a great motion picture cannot be built up around peoples who are impulsive and that only4 ,the characters of ,hintertreppe were impulsive2 those of ,scherben were lethargic and animalistic4 ,we were moved but not convulsed4 ,the impulse in itself1 and in its isolation1 is uninteresting1 for it is un-psychic4 ,we sympathize with and feel the feelings after those who display them only when the impulse is raised to a passion4 ,if we are to be captivated1 carried off our feet as it were1 the action has got to be strong2 it must set forth not mere wish but will1 too4 ,those elementary passions that spring forth from sensuality--that is1 from the ensemble functioning of all our senses1 constitute the field of mimic portrayal4 ,the motion picture has as its goal the great and captive passions4 ,and characters that are bound to earth1 full of soul but in the plight of the unhappy ,prometheus1 make up the strongest expression of the art of the motion picture4 ,the bow of the passions is a mighty one1 great in compass and more frequently taut than not4 ,it rises from out of the primeval abysses of nature and takes in the tenderest tremblings of the soul4 ,anyone who has ever seen that wonderful ,goldwyn film entitled ,honor ,thy ,mother knows that by passions ,i mean1 not merely what is ordinarily connoted by the term1 but also that calm1 melancholy faith of the heart which characterizes all reverential and respectful people4 ,every impulse that arises in a perfectly natural way1 and which cannot be separated from the heart by any power on earth1 is a passion4 ,everything that is an initial1 original1 and uninfluenced impulse is stuff for the motion picture4 ,but just as all art moves about a certain pole1 about that basic impulse which flouts reason in the exercise of the drawing force that one man has for another1 and that pulls them both along toward the inescapable judgment handed down by the senses1 just so does the motion picture itself obey the urge1 and that with unconscious docility1 to move on to the fate that finds its basis in human love1 and in so doing it moves on to the highest1 unexhausted1 and inexhaustible goal--its eventual formation and conformation4 ,to such love the coldly and exclusively intellectual is alien4 ,there is no place for the blue-stocking ,helena4 ,a lover in a motion picture who would show himself superior to the simple1 unaffected ways of love would cut a ridiculous figure4 ,the love of the moving picture strikes but few strings1 and these strings are gentle4 ,this art is not wreathed about with the roseate play of lovely thoughts4 ,those poets whose hearts do not overflow with an abundance of visions paint1 in the motion picture1 nothing more than the tiring and monotonous picture of a colorless and brutal giving and taking4 ,but just as the great ,garrick could move his audience to tears through the mere recital of the alphabet1 just so can a fiery soul fill the violin of the motion picture with more nearly inner and more truly intimate notes than a soul that is halt and blind can fill the entire orchestra of the stage4 ,passion is pure2 it is clean4 ,wherever the soul is moved1 and whenever it moves with the action1 there is purification4 ,but just as the legitimate stage may lose itself in the frigid chill of unanimated intellectuality1 so does the motion picture run at all times the danger--if its poet is a bellowing and garrulous individual--of sinking into the fiery swamp of unanimated sensuality4 ,when this is the case1 the unwholesome passion of mere sexual perversities becomes a play of social life that is poles removed from real art4 ,in the foul seething and turgid vapor of such degeneracy1 culture is stifled1 purity is unable to raise its lovely head1 and what might be the hills and high places of art are converted into waste places4 ,this disgusting drama that poisons the people is the everlasting nuisance and eternal bugbear of those who have faith enough in them to feel that the time should come when the motion picture is a proud and pure art4 ,we all know how matters stand3 each individual has the dignity of mankind at his disposal1 after all4 ,it can never be the duty of the motion picture to use the magic song of love1 such as all true poets have sung to their peoples1 in order that it may drown out the vulgar street ditty with its lines of illicit passion and its refrain of indecency4 ,the real motion picture poet1 however1 the one in whose heart there vibrates and pulsates a culture that is natural to him and given him of the gods1 will always be able to fill his figures with a noble and royal sensuality that shines out in bright effulgence over and beyond the flat1 greedy1 paralytic doings of the love that knows not inspiration and to which the staleness of everyday carrying-on is first and second nature4 ,his soul1 recruiting in the interests of human kind1 will move like a storm across the hills2 there will be love in its flight1 and then it will settle down into calm serenity like the subdued tones of so many silvery bells4 ,the motion picture can delineate aristocratic characters2 it can represent men and women of aristocratic souls4 ,but when this is to be done1 more must be done than to have the leading man and the leading woman don evening dress4 8aristrocratic0 replaced with 8aristocratic0 ,those who accomplish this--the delineation of fine and fair souls--have to be great artists4 ,rubbish and art1 discord and harmony1 the inflated and the sterling1 though their spheres are relatively near each other1 are nevertheless separated by the wide1 wide gulf that separates the dilettant from the genius4 ,those who are petty in the business can offer us only the empty1 the hollow1 the fatuous4 ,abundance they know not2 harmony is not a part of them2 they deal in deadening boredom4 ,around about the love of the motion picture is stretched the bright-colored frame of the surrounding world4 ,its milieu is of diversified hues4 ,it is not possible for even the legitimate stage to renounce entirely the world in which its action takes place--though ,romeo and ,juliet might be played to an audience recruited wholly from the slums and not lose either its fragrance or its charm4 ,in the motion picture1 the nature and the wish of the milieu signify the constant variation of the impure motive4 ,let no man fancy that it would be possible to construct a great motion picture from an environment4 ,there is1 for example1 the case of the ,french film entitled ,columbus--the most abominable piece of work1 incidentally1 that has ever been done on the screen4 ,the life of the great discoverer was mashed and squeezed into a mess of incoherent scenes4 ,the one great1 heart-shaking act1 or action--the real experience of ,columbus's soul--was missing4 ,in like manner1 the film entitled ,august der ,starke 78,august the ,strong07 went up in smoke between the baroque castles of ,saxony around which the gala coaches moved in unending procession while the uniforms shone forth in all their kind of glory4 ,in between all this revived and represented ostentation were six love scenes--a new one for each act--each of loathsome brutality--and in each of them the poet was the match-maker6 ,the surrounding world1 the milieu1 becomes the exclusive servant of the feelings4 ,a historical film is a love action of times long since past1 and never a treatise on the cultural history of that time4 ,schiller compressed the whole history of the ,thirty ,years' ,war into his ,wallenstein4 ,in it ,max and ,thekla drift along as if on a small floating piece of ice4 ,the legitimate stage can do that sort of thing1 provided the individual that does it is a genius and has genius4 ,but the most ingenious motion picture actor is the one whose hand forges the historical motives into a splendid yet unobtrusive frame1 and places this frame about the action of the soul4 ,he cannot count upon fidelity to history2 he is lost if he endeavors to reproduce historical events4 ,whenever the great men of history appear in the motion picture1 they have to feel great2 they must display great emotions4 ,the muse of the motion picture is anacreontic4 8unobstrusive0 replaced with 8unobtrusive0 ,there is the case of ,madame ,recamier which was brilliantly staged by ,delmont4 ,in it ,napoleon1 ,talma1 ,josephine ,beauharnais1 ,juliette ,recamier1 and the people associated with them were bound together into a fate that was pure1 shot through though it was with smoldering passions4 ,we had a foreboding of the flaming forth of a dark and princely soul4 ,closely interwoven with the action1 though detached from it for a few minutes1 was a picture of ,napoleon standing off on a flat elevation surrounded by a few officers4 ,it could be seen only in the distance4 ,a rider comes up1 and then another1 and then another4 ,each is in haste4 ,in the valley below we catch sight of a fire2 there is smoke4 ,a certain fate that was an entity in itself1 a strange and urgent fate1 prevented the various pictures from becoming separated or allowed to stand out in isolated importance4 ,the picture as a whole1 the whole of the picture1 cast its shadows over this scene4 ,napoleon1 already long since made a part of the action1 stood there as if to say3 8,here ,i am4 ,i am coming60 ,the sensual motion picture knows no god4 ,the poet of the spoken drama can convert a hut into a house1 a cabin into a castle4 ,the motion picture man builds up his houses and castles until they reach the very skies1 but they remain formations of this earth4 ,they are grand1 perhaps they are beautiful2 but they are never holy2 they are never exalted4 ,the divine services and mysteries of the motion picture are mere parades of brainlessness4 ,that which is supposed to be holy leaves an unholy impression4 ,religiousness is dissipated into the merest emptiness4 ,the boastful seeker after ,god remains a man in prayer2 he gesticulates with his hands1 and his hands are empty4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #af4 ,scene from ,dr4 ,mabuse3 ,the ,great ,unknown4 ,see p4 #ij ,priscilla ,dean1 whom we love very much in ,germany1 played in her film1 ,the ,beggar ,woman of ,stamboul1 a charming scene of prayer4 ,a lovely little girl knelt down and folded her hands4 ,there was piety in the scene4 ,but her action was a sweet1 imitated1 childlike gesture1 while in her little head there was no room for the superhuman picture of the creator4 8,but why nothing but sensuality80 you ask me4 ,the answer is easy3 it is utterly impossible to photograph an idea4 ,one should never try to project the invisible land of dream or wish on the screen1 for such a land is the creation of the brain4 ,experiments of this kind have been made often enough--naturally in ,germany4 ,but every single one was a failure1 for the idea thus treated becomes even more cold and bloodless than on the legitimate stage4 ,one cannot catch up an idea through the medium of faint and feeble symbols4 ,moreover1 the road that affects to point to the place where ideas are translated to the hearts of men leads in reality to an infinity of texts1 to a surrogate of the intellect4 ,let us be modest1 for the domain of the film is rich enough as it is1 and the man who creates exclusively from the abundance of things seen1 from visions as it were1 will never exhaust the fountainhead4 ,but there is a gap in this sphere of sensuality2 there is an empty place in the field in question4 ,those silent heroes who have turned away from the world1 and behind whom and back of whom there lie struggle and passion1 step out from the world of sensuality1 in which they have become and remained mute1 into the realm of spirituality4 ,this land is open to them to the uttermost end of its compass1 indeed down to and up to the point where they see ,god2 where they have forebodings and premonitions of ,god that are the equivalents of acquirement4 ,no thought that is felt is foreign to them4 ,but they do not speak of the visions they have had2 every word from their lips would be profane2 it would be a matter of desecration4 ,the great1 strange1 lonely figures of the motion picture1 back of whose brain the thought shines forth1 are not to be understood through thought4 ,they are to be felt1 not thought4 ,they are not to be conceived of as wise men and prophets2 they are brooders and sufferers4 ,one would have to1 and one might1 write a ,christus film that is apathetic and undramatic3 ,christus the man1 making a pilgrimage over the ,earth1 a stranger1 unapproachable1 silent1 immediate1 unknown1 not understood4 ,such a film could be made a vast deal more effective than a ,christus drama on the spoken stage4 ,for on the stage the ,christus dare not remain silent4 ,he would have to appear as a speaker4 ,the humble carpenter's son would have to pass before us1 and on by the mute greatness of ,his own soul1 engaged in an endless flow of words of wisdom and thoughts that lie too deep for men4 ,it was such a ,christus nature as this1 invisibly crucified1 that our wonderful ,bernhard ,goetzke played in his ,indisches ,grabmal4 ,even under the slag of this adventuresome action there shone forth the pure glow of a passionately suffering heart4 ,when ,ramigani raised his hands we understood that before this gentle1 imperative gesture the tigers of the fields slunk away in silence while lifeless things fell to pieces4 ,it was the power of the superman that was revealed to us3 a power that had been generated in the man himself1 not given of ,god4 ,when he prayed1 it was a coming unto and into himself1 not a disappearance in or a coming unto ,god4 ,buddha vanished in the background1 a cold1 chilly picture4 8adventursome0 replaced with 8adventuresome0 ,such greatness is rare in a film4 ,there is only one other film character whom ,i can recall having seen who bore the very stamp of immortal greatness on his brow--the ,frenchman1 ,g4 ,melchior1 in ,atlantide4 ,his eyes had the effect of invisible arms which brushed the seductive passion of the woman in the case clean from his heart4 ,his glance glided over men and things as if he were in an atmosphere of his own creation1 far removed from what constitute the spoils of mortal man4 ,but art of this sort stands in the background of the motion picture2 it is suspected by but few4 ,and in the foreground stands mottled1 gaudy sensuality4 ,it cannot be otherwise4 ,for the motion picture is an art that is of the earth earthy2 it revels and rolls in human feelings4 ,this defection on its part from intellect is necessary2 it is not thus because its creators wish it so4 ,just as is the case with music1 the motion picture will never be called upon to solve the problems of the human intellect or of man's morality4 ,the motion picture pedagogue works ahead in an ineffectual effort to put brains into the screen2 he cannot do it4 ,he fills the text with sententious remarks and moral observations4 ,he clutters the whole business up with a mess of mushy wisdom that bears not the slightest relation to the sensory content of the action1 which is mimic first1 last and always4 ,the task of the motion picture is quite similar to the task of music3 to serve a generation that has strong feelings4 ,where music1 however1 excites and incites a general and indefinite feeling 7whose compass reaches from the tortures of the ego to the all-embracing feeling of the godhead itself7 through tones1 the motion picture assembles its fullness on the earthly world of emotions4 ,the motion picture actor fails to reach his objective1 he fails to fulfill his true mission1 if he depends for success upon mere sexual titillation4 ,he is lost to himself and the cause he serves if he works for the excitation of undisciplined and easily aroused pruriency4 ,there is1 indeed1 no art that admits of such abysms of failure and misconduct as the motion picture4 ,there lurks in every step the motion picture actor takes and makes the grave danger of sinking into the slime of unleashed sexuality4 ,there is no well-constructed1 marked1 and planned road here that leads straight out1 away1 and over earthly love4 ,and we do not wish to get sucked down into the mire4 ,sensuality and soul--that is the slogan4 8titulation0 replaced with 8titillation0 ,a new world has been discovered for which there has been up to the present no adequate expression4 ,we film voyagers hoist the sails and embark on a voyage of conquest and circumnavigation4 ,but behold6 it is a strange and yet a familiar route we have to pursue4 ,it is not like the realm of tones1 etherial and intangible4 ,it is our lives that we have discovered1 and which we are looking upon with our own eyes4 ,a mighty flood of pictures rushes by us4 ,which shall we choose8 ,shall we choose the spooks1 the spooky visions1 the dancing will-o'-the-wisps1 the nocturnal spirits8 ,we let them go on their way4 ,they are not for us4 ,for the film has at last taught us what everyday life had caused us to forget--or almost to forget4 ,i mean by 8us0 the ,europeans who have become filled with hate and poisoned with pugnacity4 ,we had about forgotten that the world is beautiful4 ,every nation has its own soul4 ,but where the spirits of the various peoples stand in the presence of each other1 and opposite each other1 alien if not directly hostile1 separated as it were from each other by 8foreign0 languages1 the real souls of all the peoples have grown up from the brotherly roots of humanity4 ,despite this brotherhood1 however1 no one should attempt to sink his own folk-soul into the soul of another people4 ,that cannot be done4 ,let the ,german turn out the historical film1 in which he sinks his soul into the world of feelings of the ancient ,egyptians1 or the ,english1 or the ,romance peoples just as much as he pleases4 ,it is his business1 and no one can stop him4 ,but the fact remains that the historical film is always a somehow colorless creation in the popular sense4 ,it is always somewhat affected if not a bit fraudulent1 and in the case of any nation it is always touched up and retouched with the same artificial masks4 ,the historical film is here and here to stay1 however4 ,there is a good reason3 in those ages of violence and lawlessness film themes grew on the trees4 ,there was a dazzling world full of adventure such as the film will never completely turn its back on4 ,i am of the distinct conviction1 at the same time1 that it is the modern film which most effectively discloses the real nature and aim of the film4 ,it is the most popular2 it alone is true4 ,in it there are no masks2 and there are very few big wigs and pasted mustachios4 ,the people do not have to sink themselves into unknown deeds and inexperienced acts of gruesomeness4 ,they stand before the camera of the world in which they live2 it is their own feelings that the lens takes up into itself4 8gruesomness0 replaced with 8gruesomeness0 ,in the modern film each people goes its own way2 it has its own feelings1 its own heart projected on the screen4 ,it obeys the inescapable and inevitable commands of its own public life4 ,every man does what he can2 he acts on what he himself knows4 ,and as ,goethe once wisely remarked1 8,life is interesting1 it makes no difference where you take hold of it40 ,the differences in peoples are wonderful--as the modern film shows4 ,the ,american rejects any and every film that does not stand with both feet on the ground of actual life4 ,the ,american takes his film themes from his own activity1 and it is a gigantic one4 ,he binds his people close to the world4 ,he has them engage in the calling that is theirs4 ,he is as little inclined to scorn the orphanage or the tent of the cowboy as he is to close his eyes to the elegant urban salon4 ,wherever he goes1 he notes what he has seen with the hard pencil of the professional reporter4 ,he eavesdrops1 he listens-in on life in every form4 ,with the 8essential0 he is but little concerned2 he is out for the picture of his milieu1 of his environment1 of the world about him1 and this world of his is bubbling over with life4 ,he is objective1 and his objectivity has not been distorted by any theory of art that confuses the issue when conditions change4 ,he seizes the world wherever he finds it most interesting4 ,he does not hesitate1 once he has seized it1 to place his people in this surrounding2 and he endows his people1 as it were1 with the fates and the fancies of their new setting4 ,the ,american film is always most effective when it takes its material from the checkered and chic fullness of the very present2 when it depends for its inspiration upon reality4 ,it aims at genuineness2 it tries to be true4 ,it seems1 at least1 that it never tries to depict a milieu which it does not know4 ,the great city is the mother-earth of the ,american film4 ,the minute it abandons the city and goes forth on voyages of discovery in nature it loses its vivacity1 its effectiveness1 its sense of reality1 and goes over into watered makeshifts or highway romanticism4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ag4 ,scene from ,a ,doll's ,house4 ,see p4 #ia ,the ,american despises all heavy1 tiresome1 serious art2 he depicts a highly-colored life1 bubbles over with mad1 or at least unexpected1 ideas and notions1 and has his spectator laugh and weep--an omniscient ,lord knows that he never lets him do anything but laugh1 or anything but weep4 ,the more extravagant the thing is1 on the heights and in the depths1 the better4 ,after all1 life is beautiful4 ,one laughs ten times as willingly as one weeps4 ,and no sane man wishes to see this belief in the joy of life1 and the eventual victory of happiness and strength1 taken from us4 ,the ,american has not a shimmer of a conception of ,dramatischer ,aufbau2 of dramatic composition he is innocent4 ,the most he does is to indulge in a brief exposition1 which he expresses in a few and none too labored words1 in which he has something to say about the general significance of the people in whom he is momentarily interested--and then the thing starts4 ,the ,american film is effective2 and its effectiveness is to be explained on the ground of the ,american people themselves2 they know precisely what they are after1 and they proceed without delay2 they are not hampered by inertia2 they are intelligent2 they are diligent4 ,the ,american's creative action is sure and simple2 it is not reflective1 nor congested with too much brooding2 and it certainly is not based on systematic philosophizing4 ,his film is just as unsentimental as his life4 ,the majority of his scenes are noted for an atmosphere of sobriety4 ,this and that takes place1 but if a catastrophe does not follow there is no use to get excited4 ,in the few scenes in which the fate of one man rebounds against the fate of another1 the will of one man stands face to face with the will of another4 ,the ,american film is1 so to speak1 dramatic only in a secondary or subsidiary sense4 ,the hero of the ,american film is the man of deeds4 ,in the first act his goal is set2 in the last act he reaches it4 ,everything that intervenes between these two acts is a test of strength4 ,the strongest wins1 every time4 ,the whole action revolves about this hero1 and the 8good ending0 is more a matter of logic than of anything else2 it is the judgment handed down as to who was the most powerful4 ,there is no such thing as a weakling among ,american film heroes4 8,it is not interesting2 it is not effective2 therefore we don't want it40 ,that is the history of ,american film making in so many words4 ,the basic principle of the ,american film is expediency4 ,it is expediency1 suitability1 availability1 that makes the ,american exercise great care in choosing the title of his film1 in having the action grow in interest1 and in using decoration that fits the case and represents1 on the whole1 a genuine and solid picturesqueness4 ,it is expediency that prompts the ,american to avoid those diseased and unwholesome themes which would be understood only by the spectator who is likewise diseased and unwholesome4 ,it is expediency that moves him to avoid purely and rigidly intellectual themes1 such as are appropriate for private audiences only4 ,it is expediency that suggests to him cheerful1 vigorous1 bright1 and fanciful themes in which the world is made to shine and flash4 ,it is expediency that causes him to fill even the gloomiest theme with a good measure of happiness4 ,there are1 indeed1 many roads that lead to idealism4 ,the ,american does not seem to be at all familiar with the word 8,art0 when he takes and makes a motion picture4 ,he uses1 instead of art1 the word 8effect40 ,this may seem a bit primitive1 even uninspired1 but it gets desirable results4 ,that is good which is effective2 the ineffective is bad2 whatever pleases is allowed4 ,these seem to be his shibboleths4 ,he has1 for this very reason1 been spared the humiliation attendant upon the film that would-be art1 and which has brought bankruptcy to its champions and producers4 ,for the ,american the soul is merely a means toward an effect4 ,he never overworks the soul2 he does not splash it all over the individual scene4 ,he uses it just in so far as it is necessary to make his hero a sympathetic creature and creation4 ,in the middle1 and the middle point1 of his film activity stands1 not the soul1 but the joy in telling a story4 ,for there is only one thing the ,american aims at3 he wants to have a chat2 he wants to indulge in a causerie4 ,for him there is no artistic 8problem to be solved40 ,he neither writes theoretical treatises on the film1 nor does he read them4 ,in this somewhat rigid domain which the life and ,weltanschauung of the ,american people themselves have staked off for the ,american film1 there live1 move1 and have their being a great number of happily endowed and cautious talents4 ,they avoid clever and ingenious dodges2 they are not easily derailed4 ,they try incessantly to raise the value of the work they are engaged in and on to an ever-increasing height of excellence4 ,the ,american film reflects the inmost nature of a people that is happy2 of a people that has been accustomed to create without being loaded down with theory or chained to tradition4 ,it is the film of a people that has preserved unto itself the riches of the centuries4 ,the ,american is genuine2 the ,swede is true4 ,other peoples fill their motion pictures with foaming and sometimes frantic melodies4 ,the ,swedish film is not rich2 it is unostentatious1 sometimes to the very point of scantiness4 ,its tone is that of the folk-song with its tones taken from and based on pictures4 ,its characters are close to the earth2 they are rarely impulsive1 and if so1 the impulsiveness is of a gentle nature2 they seem quite free from self-consciousness4 ,they move their limbs after the fashion of dreamy giants4 ,they play with their hearts somewhat as the children of ,asa were wont to play with the golden discs4 ,their feelings have not been artificially translated into a milieu2 they have not been composed into a new home4 ,they grow quite naturally from the soil that begot them4 ,in the case of the ,american1 or the ,german1 film1 we have the conflict first2 the milieu proceeds then from this conflict4 ,the canon of the ,swede reads3 ,in the beginning was the earth4 ,on this soil1 excessively aromatic or iridescent fruit does not thrive4 ,the passions of the ,swede are subdued2 they whisper like waving grain swayed to and fro by a gentle breeze4 ,because of their lack of display they seem1 to the eye and ear of the person accustomed to the bluster of an industrial life1 a bit primitive and monotonous4 ,the ,swedish film is an olian harp which is moved unconsciously2 the few wonderful tones that lie as potential factors in its strings are melodies only4 ,the reflective element of this film is remarkably impulsive in character4 ,it sinks itself with burning fervor into the depths of the heart1 never rises to the chilly clarity of abstract thought1 and rarely loses itself in moral fustian4 ,the ,swedish film retains its perfect naturalness even when it concerns itself with urban personages and chooses1 perforce1 its decoration and setting from the fashionable drawing-rooms4 ,when it does this it is a matter of secret mask4 ,these men in evening dress1 these dcollete ladies1 remain after all peasant children who wear their foreign garb with nave gaiety4 ,at times the ,swede grafts an alien twig on the young wild tree of his motion picture art4 ,when he does1 it is ,german if subtle1 ,french if erotic4 ,the ,swede paints his picture with a fine brush1 embellishes each on rather broad lines1 and coats every picture with a shimmer of hearty intimacy which to a film connoisseur of another country seems altogether unobtrusive4 ,the film action1 the ebb and flow of pictures1 seems to him a matter of indifference4 ,he avoids excitement2 he shuns the raging of man against man4 ,invented1 and therefore affected1 action1 be it never so refined1 leaves him cold4 ,he loves to see things grow2 the secrets of the inner life are precious to him4 ,his heroes encircle the coveted goal without bodily moving out of their tracks4 ,all of this is at once an advantage and a disadvantage4 ,it is rare that the manager of a ,swedish picture strives for such brilliant effects1 or for such a wealth of ideas1 as characterizes the ,american and ,german film manager4 ,swedish film technique stands nearly still2 if it moves at all1 it is a cautious move4 ,this is true1 indeed1 of ,swedish film art as a whole--that art which came as a direct revelation to1 though it left its imprint upon1 the film art of other peoples1 and especially upon that of the ,germans4 ,swedish photography is not infrequently dull2 it seems to have been lighted up from underneath2 it makes no attempt to compete with the chiaroscuro for which ,american and ,german operators are noted4 ,the ,swede creates for himself4 ,he loves the figures of his native land2 in them and through them he improvises2 he rings changes on the same motives4 ,does he really wish to create art8 ,will the seed he has been sowing grow8 ,while the ,swede was quietly engaged in his dreamy plays1 the ,american and ,german--stimulated by him to a rather high degree--were chiseling from the stone blocks of their own folk souls stronger and more delusive pictures which1 in their innermost nature1 were no less true than the film of the ,swede4 ,since the ,swede makes no attempt to speak to the world1 but only to a limited circle of intellectually inclined people1 he is always threatened with an imminent exhaustion of means4 ,even to-day1 on this account it seems1 he is trying to effect a compromise between himself and the world1 though it cannot be said that he is going into convulsions over his effort4 ,he is not in a hurry4 ,he is trying his skill at historical films which hardly become him either as a creative genius or a trained spectator4 ,he is snatching his figures out of the earth and giving them1 at the expense of verisimilitude1 and following the bad example of the ,german social film1 the rather rootless and precarious existence that attaches itself at all times to mondaine as distinguished from mundane life4 ,it is a case of change from ,i to ,we which connotes a changed attitude toward the world in general2 and it is a change which the film of ,sweden has not entirely escaped4 ,but it was to be expected3 the ,swede and his film are both much too strong and healthy either to avoid or neglect this transition4 ,the ,swedish film is the reflection of a people that depends upon itself1 that rests within itself1 on whose shores the tempestuous waves of other nations break but gently3 they have already been broken before reaching that point4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ah4 ,scene from ,vgeld ,castle4 ,see p4 #ia ,the ,german is the great experimenter4 ,fate has struck ,germany many a telling blow in the last decade2 much has been destroyed forever4 ,but amid the dbris there has remained a spirit of daring1 a courage that makes an essay at the bold enticing4 ,we experiment in the motion picture1 though not so much from a mere love of the novel as from a settled conviction that in this field we still have a great deal to learn2 we are still undecided about a great number of things4 ,there is hardly a theme on earth or in the moon with which we have not concerned ourselves2 we have conjured the things of the earth and the stars up before the film camera and had them remain there until their pictures were at our disposal4 ,we have descended into the dusty tombs of prehistoric times2 we have adapted the stories of foreign countries to the screen4 ,fairy tales--those of yesterday1 to-day1 and to-morrow--have been tried4 ,and when1 at the close of the ,war1 a sudden flood of ideas1 notions1 conceits1 and utopias swept over our heads1 we even tried to philosophize on the screen4 ,in all of this busy activity1 in this feverish and unceasing search after new themes and new values1 there has been one thing that we completely forgot2 and this one thing has been passing by us in a thousand pictures3 it was our own people4 ,of ,german films that introduce us to the whirling life of our country1 particularly from the rural point of view1 we have hardly an indication4 ,a real beginning in this direction certainly has not been made4 ,it is there1 however1 and there only where uniqueness of real character is conspicuous that one finds the type of originality that pleases in itself and defies competition of any kind4 ,at present1 forces are beginning to work1 action has been begun which1 if carried on and out1 will project on the screen the land of ,germany with all the beauty of its streams and forests1 and which will show the ,german soul with all its dreams and wishes4 ,this is the way the film entitled ,explosion1 which tells of miners and their lives1 came into existence4 ,this was the initial inspiration of ,fritz ,lang's ,nibelungs1 that grandiose epic of the remote ,germanic past4 ,these are to be sure beginnings2 but so long as they remain the sole examples1 so long as the status quo in this matter is preserved1 we ,germans simply do not exist in the film2 we have not yet arrived4 ,and be it said once for all that the popular film is the one in which a film people can best show its real character4 ,instead of studying this theme--our own people--and exploiting it day in and day out1 the ,german has scoured the whole world for themes4 ,his historical films have been prepared with marvelous accuracy2 not a detail has been neglected which might add in even the slightest way to historical reality3 loyalty to history has been preserved and observed with touching constancy4 ,i have my very serious doubt1 however1 whether this has been wholly necessary1 for such films are not shown exclusively to historical seminars in the universities4 ,the ,german is almost universally successful in digging up a theme of crushing weight and power4 ,he is never at a loss to create an action of either gruesome or exalted greatness4 ,we have but to think of ,golem1 ,madame ,dubarry1 ,dr4 ,mabuse1 and ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,these are most powerful films4 ,another is the ,nibelungs4 ,so far so good4 ,but it is rare indeed that the ,german succeeds in endowing such films as these with the light and easy1 the inspiring and inspiriting wings of humor4 ,for a time1 indeed1 there was only one type of film that was regarded as a success3 the film with the tragic ending4 ,the ,german so frequently forgets1 or he at least overlooks1 the fact that it is not the business of the motion picture to play into the hands of hard1 rigid1 classical art1 and to follow the canons of such art in so doing4 ,it is the business1 rather1 of the motion picture to amuse people1 to cheer them up1 and to stimulate them4 ,latterly1 the ,german has shown a marked tendency to turn away from the film based on the masses4 ,he has not done this however voluntarily2 the extreme cost of producing such films has made them prohibitive4 ,nor is this all3 the ,german has not looked with favor recently on the film that has to do with huge crowds of human beings for spiritual reasons4 ,at present there is decided preference for the film that depicts a strong fervor of some sort2 for a film that is impressive from the point of view of individuals2 for a film that delineates a logical development of the adventures of the soul4 ,and it must be conceded that the best artists are gradually finding a way by which they can unite delicacy of soul with grace of experience and thereby create what all the world must regard as beauty4 ,for a long while1 the ,german1 like the ,swede1 neglected the real art of decoration and photography4 ,within recent years1 however1 our better ateliers have made remarkable progress in this direction4 ,some of our films that have been created since the making of this progress1 such as ,suvarin or ,the ,stone ,rider need not hesitate to stand comparison with the best of any country4 ,the small film companies have been obliged to close owing to the unprecedented depreciation in ,german currency4 ,this1 however1 is not a matter for profound regret1 for their quality could never be said to be the outstanding feature of their creations4 ,nothing but quality can ever make the trouble that has to be taken a matter of eventual gain4 ,in the art of motion picture1 genius is its own reward1 but pains are well paid4 ,the ,german film will come once the chaos that reigns supreme at present has been eradicated1 and the situation becomes brighter all around and everywhere4 ,to-day1 ,bolshevism raises its ugly head in the ,east2 in the ,west1 heavy artillery is in position while fleets of bombing planes whirr through the air4 ,the atmosphere is thick2 so thick1 indeed1 that it casts a heavy shadow over the country4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,film ,,adaptation ,the mad search of the motion picture for appropriate material created a unique caricature3 second-hand art4 ,in general1 it is regarded as a sign of unoriginality1 if not of actual sterility1 when a work1 which speaks a different language in the domain of art1 is translated into the language of the motion picture4 ,it is not dissimilar to the situation that obtains when a given individual1 unable to write anything on his own account1 translates from the writings of others4 ,but the languages of words1 words that act as the hand-maidens of thought1 are all members of the same great family of the human mind4 ,when languages of this kind are translated1 the only change that is made is a change in sound4 ,the meaning remains the same4 ,the essential traits1 the underlying faculties of a poet remain quite intact if translated cleverly1 knowingly1 and modestly4 ,it is the spiritual soul that shines forth in poetry4 ,the motion picture 8is not of this confectionery10 the ,swiss ,carl ,spitteler would say4 ,all that can come to light in the film1 and particularly in film adaptations1 is the sensual soul of an action4 ,from this it is evident that when a bit of literature is adapted to the screen1 the adapter is obliged to set up a quite different objective from that which the original poet had in mind4 ,attempts have been made to refute the necessity of this change of purpose4 ,the desire so to adapt a great piece of literature to the screen that it will be in every way worthy of the original poet in that it is a faithful reflection of his aims1 is in itself altogether praiseworthy4 ,but no poet has thus far ever had his renown increased by such an effort4 ,all that was the most tender of beauty in the poem as it originally stood became a soft sweet pap and nothing more when transferred to the literal words of the film text4 ,attempts of this kind have not only been unsuccessful with regard to the poet that was to be honored2 the truth is1 no good motion picture has ever been made in such a way and with such an aim in view4 ,the result has invariably been a surrogate that afforded nothing more than a glassy tedium4 ,the problem of film adaptation cannot be solved by reverence alone4 ,for the spiritual soul mocks the coercive oppression that goes with gestures and refuses to be confined within the narrow circle of such art as the motion picture has at its command4 ,gold becomes a mere quasi-precious metal1 beauty degenerates into paint and powder1 truth is routed by phraseology4 ,no one who is at all judicious will ever attempt to adapt to the screen a bit of poetry whose entire art consists in a complete absorption by and amalgamation with the world of pure thought4 ,goethe's transcendental works run but little risk4 ,those works1 however1 in which there is a union of the spiritual soul with a sensual soul stand in ever-present danger4 ,shakespeare's works1 for example1 are remarkably divided in this regard2 they are full of fissures3 he hid his pure intellectuality in an action that is glaring1 medieval1 and vigorous4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ai4 ,scene from ,destiny4 ,see p4 #ia ,what do we mean by film adaptation8 ,we mean the separation of the sensual action from all the rest4 ,the feelings1 transfigured through pure intellect in the original poetry1 are lifted from their initial surroundings4 ,adapt a poem of the spiritual soul in this way and a journalese tract is the result4 ,take the case of ,hamlet3 death through poison1 the son as the detective1 the queen mother suffering from aberrations1 a duel with poisoned blades1 and a conclusion of fourfold death by poison4 ,in such a bungled compilation there would not be a single trace of ,shakespearian spirit4 ,in such a thing the riddle of ,hamlet would not be solved but cracked4 ,but since film adaptations are the order of the day1 we might as well pay them our respects1 bow to them1 and confess that they exist4 ,there is no use to deny the existence of that which already exists2 a fact is a fact4 ,moreover1 film adaptation is not so contrary to all the laws of nature and art as it would seem at first blush4 ,for there are many poetic creations of magnificent beauty of action whose picturesque fullness poetry alone can do nothing more than merely touch or indicate4 ,there are other poems whose world of feeling is congealed in cold abstract thought4 ,in such cases the motion picture reclaims its original due4 ,there are also poetic works1 such as ,schiller's ,fiesko1 which are just as effective in the poetic form as they are in the form they take on at the hands of the motion picture4 ,a work1 consequently1 the sensual action of which is so strong that a masterful1 and dignified1 motion picture can be made from it1 may be adapted to the screen4 ,to transform a creation of the human mind and soul which constitutes1 judged from every conceivable point of view1 a work of real and great art from the sphere in which it originally stood1 and in which it was originally created1 to another sphere1 and into another species of art1 is always more or less sacrilegious4 ,if done1 it must be done well1 and done completely4 ,there is no room here for piecemeal work4 ,the adaptation of a poem to the film calls for a re-creator who is a stranger to mercy2 he dare not shrink from tearing up the tenderest flower by the roots and transplanting it to a new and strange garden4 ,anything that does not fit in with his purpose must be ruthlessly cast aside4 ,follow this recipe1 and a work that is not appreciated by the uncultured1 great though it may be1 may be metamorphosed into a work that is appreciated1 on the screen4 ,indeed1 a new work of real art may arise in this way4 ,in a case of this kind1 the original poet may after all have his renown increased despite the fact that the film to which his name is still attached corresponds in no way to what he originally had in mind4 ,nor should we ever fancy that work of this kind is unnecessary4 ,the ,norse adaptation of ,bjrnson's ,synnve ,solbakken1 one of ,bjrnson's short stories1 written when he was still a young man1 seemed1 in its finished form1 as if ,bjrnson had had the film camera in mind when he created it4 ,picture after picture was shown1 and that at great length--and great breadth4 ,of ,bjrnson's unquestioned passionateness1 however1 which resembles the roaring power of an ice-cold mountain stream as it gushes down the hillside1 there was not a trace4 ,to adapt is to use violence1 to do violence4 ,the adapter will never succeed in finding and filming the original purpose of the poet4 ,the adaptation of ,fiesko was good2 it was a success2 but it was not ,schiller2 it was not a child of his mind4 ,and it would have been still better had it resembled ,schiller even less than it did4 ,the action should have been adapted much more to the needs of exclusive mimic portrayal4 ,to try to spare the poet1 to hurt his feelings in no way1 is to render him a disservice4 ,it is unfortunate that productive poets can be persuaded to subject their works to the adapter only with difficulty 7as ,carl ,mayer in the superb film ,schloss ,vgeld74 ,this is true1 though the thought that is required to adapt a work to the film is so great that the process in itself requires originality and reveals a spirit of the most real productivity4 ,for it is after all easier to create a new work from the beginning than to take a finished work and transform it so completely that it meets the requirements of an entirely new and novel art4 ,for the author the adaptation is frequently a most unsatisfactory affair4 ,the book often leads the adapter astray2 follow it1 and he loses himself in byways that are unknown to the ways of the film world4 ,in such a case the entire production has to be re-created1 which means that it has to be re-written4 ,the result of this is that everybody is dissatisfied1 and not a few are in a bad humor4 ,on the other hand1 the author may allow1 or may have allowed1 himself to be carried away by a veritable wealth of ideals3 he changes everything2 he adapts everything2 he makes new characters2 he develops new action2 he cajoles a new fate into the composition as a whole2 he invents new episodes2 he even creates a new milieu and a new atmosphere4 ,the result of all this may be1 to be sure1 a quite good film4 ,but it may be so new that it is incorrect to speak of it as an adaptation4 ,in such a case1 the original author falls into ill humor1 because he feels that violence has been done his creation which is equivalent1 he feels1 to having been neglected or slighted4 ,the manager is also apt to have his face wreathed in frowns1 for what has become of his funds8 ,he has paid out a handsome royalty for what8 ,for nothing1 he feels4 ,his case seems justified1 for he paid for a given book1 but there is not a trace of that book in the film which is to care for the needs of the box-office4 ,and our old friend--the dramaturge--is in the worst frame of mind of all1 for he feels that the author has gone about his business with excessive independence and with too little concern for his excellent criticism4 ,from all of this it should be manifest that it is rare that a good adaptation is the result of a single effort4 ,adaptation is a slow and complicated process4 ,there must be untiring revision--with the disagreeable result that a manuscript promised for and by a certain date is not ready at the stipulated time4 ,it is much better all around when the author lives himself1 as it were1 into the milieu he plans to film1 becomes perfectly familiar with it1 if he was not familiar with it when he began1 creates characters with whom he is on speaking terms1 and fashions a fate such as he himself has experienced4 ,it is dangerous to adapt a great work to the film4 ,the adaptation of the ,marriage of ,figaro showed the baroque curlicues1 the confusions1 the harmless malevolences of ,beaumarchais's work 7which in the opera are quite unessential and the transparency of which appeal to us to-day as altogether childish72 we thought of ,mozart and sighed4 ,and ,hamlet6 ,with ,asta ,nielsen6 ,without ,shakespeare6 ,adapted 8after an old saga60 ,why that was merely and after all a stolen creation4 ,the living poet may decide for himself whether treason has been committed by the adapter who visualized his creation on the screen1 and did it artistically1 but as an artistic motion picture4 ,the dead poet is unable to come to his own defence4 ,if his work cannot be adapted with piety1 it is always the privilege of the would-be adapter to leave it alone--as an act of piety4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #bj4 ,scene from ,the ,nibelungs4 ,see p4 #ia ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,path ,,to ,,art ,the lyric poem is poised on a shoreless sea2 its prime feature is its indefiniteness2 it leads on to the undetermined goal of mortal mood4 ,but harmony--that resting which satisfies itself--soon exhausts itself4 ,and1 to repeat once more1 undetermined mood may easily be converted into monotony1 or it may change to a chaotic ebb and flow that connotes the surging of unanticipated floods rather than tidal regularity4 ,no 8progressive0 work of art revels in planlessness4 ,the sails in which the winds play1 as an idle mood may dictate1 do not indulge in their seeming gaiety with impunity4 ,punishment of one sort or another follows4 ,the helm decides a certain course2 in this course lie the fruits of strength4 ,in poetry1 mood is routed by action4 ,the feelings remain the driving power4 ,for when feeling and passion form an alliance1 8action0 ensues4 ,a purely lyrical stage drama such as ,anton ,wildgans's ,armut 78,poverty07 fails to produce the really deep echo3 our sympathy1 rattling around itself as the sole pivot it can commandeer soon runs out4 ,the stage1 which finds in the play of thoughts a rich variety1 needs nevertheless a will-power that guides and gives direction to the stream that flows by4 ,the motion picture1 which is much less gifted with wealth of color1 labors under the coercion of a strong action somewhat as violin playing labors under the coercion of melody4 ,there is no such thing as a lyric motion picture4 ,now1 this is of course old1 gray theory which applies to the average film1 but which never applies to the exceptional creation of the god-endowed genius4 ,such an exception1 and one of marvelously subdued and magic beauty1 was ,honour thy ,mother6 ,this film had not one loud tone apart from a single cry of wild anguish4 ,its action was the divine mercy of a human heart4 ,this is all very well2 one man could do it once4 ,the ,swedes1 on the other hand1 have suffered pitiable bankruptcy with their lyrical films1 though some of them were of exceptional beauty4 ,success has a better chance of realization when the action is a little robust1 strong-fisted4 ,that excesses in this direction are fatal is shown by the idiotic action of the ,eddie-,polo films4 ,in the film whose action is benevolently vigorous the lyric element loses its independence4 ,it is dissolved in the action1 comes to the fore every now and then in individual places with renewed force1 and has a subduing effect on the flow of action4 ,in this way1 the moving picture becomes a cheerfully moved and never breathless art4 ,but if the poet throws discipline to the winds and pours out his lyric gentleness over every single scene1 his action soon and inevitably sinks into an inert and dripping morass4 ,there is also no such thing as an epic motion picture2 just as there is no such thing as an epic stage play4 ,the epic has an action--that is1 a general trend and direction of events1 but it has no distinct goal4 ,episode is concatenated with episode like pearls on a string4 ,in the last analysis1 however1 there is no such thing as pure epic4 ,when ,ulysses the great sufferer is driven from shore to shore1 there is something more to his case than the mere driving4 ,back of his fate stands a dramatic question3 ,will he return to ,ithaca8 ,will ,penelope have remained true to him8 ,will he be able to overcome her wooers8 ,this being the case1 the episodes of his unenviable existence are not concatenated without plan2 there is no aimlessness about his affair4 ,the incidents of his life are joined together into a complete circle2 they end with dramatic necessity1 not with epic arbitrariness4 ,the epic of the ,nibelungs is dramatic to the core4 ,the ,italian motion picture dangles about in epic robes1 attaching1 or affixing1 scene to scene with proverbial epic breadth4 ,the real action is included in just a few isolated scenes4 ,the picture exists for its own sake1 and it is surrounded with perfectly colossal decoration4 ,we have but to think of the ,dante film1 or of ,cabiria1 and to a degree of ,quo ,vadis4 ,the rest of the world does not feel in this way2 and it does not feel this way about the motion picture4 ,the tense and rigid condensation of the action1 and its logical progress from scene to scene--this is the desideratum of the ,german film4 ,the fates we see all about us1 and of which we ourselves are so many living proofs1 are not to glide by each other and dissipate in the winds3 they are to rebound against each other1 and end when their struggle is over4 ,moreover1 such fate as remains when the end has been reached is somehow to be transformed1 and bear the stamp of this struggle4 ,there was the case of ,golem4 ,it had in it the possibilities of some tremendous dramatic action4 ,but in the final scenes this potential action was dissipated into an unintended and undesired epic flow3 the de-souled monster had again become a lump of clay and lay before us in all its obvious impotency4 ,everything will turn out all right3 the houses that have been burned down will be rebuilt4 ,and the ,jews take ,golem on their shoulders and carry him off to the synagogue3 8,hail to thee1 ,rabbi ,loew6 ,he has saved the city for the third time60 ,life will now go on its usual course just as if nothing had happened4 ,and with this the whole affair is over2 it is forgotten2 and it has been erased from the heart of the spectator4 ,the play seemed to have to do1 not with the age of terror of ,golem1 but with the age of peace4 ,we had expected a tragedy--and we were given an episode4 ,another altogether undramatic film was ,dr4 ,caligari4 ,it consisted of a series of gruesome things which1 to make matters worse1 proved in the end to be the fancies of a madman4 ,the play had action2 but it had no goal1 no dramatic tension or suspense4 ,the spectator was left in a cloud of uncertainty and doubt4 8,what is this all about80 he asked himself4 ,dramatic suspense is the anticipation of events from which there can be no reasonable escape4 ,anything that is tossed into our laps1 as it were1 suddenly and without due motivation appeals to us as irrational1 senseless and unnecessary4 ,we know that it all might have been so different4 ,the film1 having1 as it certainly does1 fewer means of expression at its immediate command than the legitimate stage1 and depending for its appeal upon an audience that is1 as a rule1 less cultured1 dare not overlook1 slight1 or neglect a single means that might help it in its effort to bring out strong effects4 ,is dramatic suspense or tension inartistic8 ,quite the contrary2 it is the best proof we have of artistic ability1 for we may search the art canons of the civilized world and we will never find a rule to the effect that art must be tiring and tiresome4 ,suspense is artistic1 and the greater the effect of it upon the spectator the more artistic it is4 ,one must not fancy1 however1 that the suspense of ,eddie-,polo1 or of the sensations of ,luciano ,albertini are really and finally effective4 ,in the movie of the ,apaches1 to which the visitor is admitted for the smallest coin known to the mint1 this suspense is quite popular1 because the nerves of these people have become so blunted and so crude that they have quite lost all appreciation of finer effects4 ,fortunately1 however1 the general film public1 the one that patronizes the average and paying motion picture1 is essentially more refined than the ,apache4 ,the more refined spectator cannot be captivated so easily and persistently by the sensational tension that lasts for a moment as he can by the pleasure derivable and derived from lengthier and more enduring amusement4 ,he is more interested in the suspense that is spread out over an entire action1 the tension that gives greater evidence of human shrewdness1 and is consequently more agreeable to men of like characteristics and qualifications4 8capitivated0 replaced with 8captivated0 ,dramatic suspense is not a whip which the poet swings over the heads of his characters4 ,the fact is1 one picture should not be made to tumble over another1 following the command of 8,on1 on and more of the same kind60 ,being driven forward in this fashion can only result in what one instinctively feels is a pursued and persecuted1 art1 an hysterical art1 and in externalities nothing can arise from it but the pouncy art of the criminal film4 ,no1 this is not suspense4 ,suspense is rather the calm1 serene hand of the poet that guides the work he is creating4 ,it is this that enables one to feel that the poet is leading his creation along past all potential hindrances straight to a premeditated goal4 ,the man who is unable to cause to arise1 through each picture that he presents1 the question1 what is going to happen next8 is doomed to failure from the very outset4 ,provide him with the most glorious decoration imaginable and all his work will be in vain1 and his decorations will vanish as thin air4 ,in the ,indisches ,grabmal1 the ,prince led his ,english guest around for a quarter of an hour on the screen4 ,the splendor of an ,oriental temple1 the half of a whole army1 was conjured up and visualized--but there was no suspense4 ,we smiled at the pomp of it1 and remained perfectly cool and calm4 ,if the people en masse cry for a gala scene in every other picture1 well and good4 ,give it to them6 ,it is your duty and your task4 ,but do what lies in your power to animate even these scenes2 try to make even these fit into the action1 just as a powerful crescendo movement of the orchestra fits into the music that is being played4 ,in the average film every group scene--parades1 carnivals1 mysteries--is a stop-gap of the action4 8pouncey0 replaced with 8pouncy0 ,suspense has nothing to do with decoration or scenery4 ,the gigantic raging of gigantic battle scenes is very rarely a source of dramatic suspense4 ,as a matter of fact1 strategy is quite rarely effective in a film4 ,suspense is almost always concentrated in or around just a few individuals4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ba4 ,scene from ,the ,nibelungs4 ,see p4 #ia ,that suspense which is produced through external1 unpsychic means is generally pretty cheap4 ,one runs for his life2 ten are after him4 ,will he escape8 ,if he can run faster than the ten1 yes4 ,if he can shoot into the whole group of his pursuers and locate his shots with efficiency1 yes4 ,but when this sort of means is resorted to1 the motion picture degenerates into art1 not for the masses1 but for the rabble1 in whom the basest of instincts are satisfied in the basest way4 ,the suspense of the motion picture does not wait for words1 but for deeds4 ,it depends upon changes that must come about and definitive results that must be achieved4 ,and when such deeds are conditions upon the soul's being shaken to its very depths1 and when the outcome and goal are fixed by the feelings1 then such suspense as the motion picture may properly indulge in has been achieved1 and achieved in accordance with the laws of motion picture art4 ,for that species of suspense which proceeds from soul to soul quite without visible effect can hardly be attained by the motion picture4 ,and yet1 the tonic power1 the ability of the spectator to undergo suspense1 and to feel it1 can hardly be overestimated4 ,we have already become quite familiar with the mimic situation2 we are now able to see and feel in the slightest movement the condition of the actor's wishes4 ,he lifts an eye1 and we know what he wants4 ,in the ,bull of ,olivera1 ,jannings played the rle of a ,french general who deserts his passionately loved ,spanish friend4 ,he stands by the door with his hand already on the knob4 ,his back is turned to the spectator2 we can see his body quiver3 8,shall ,i remain8 ,shall ,i go80 ,it was brilliant4 ,and1 truth to tell1 that kind of brilliancy can be met with more frequently in the motion picture than we would be at first inclined to believe4 ,there was an altogether captivating moment of suspense in ,schloss ,vgeld4 ,it was entitled in the text 8,a ,confession40 ,we saw a great spacious hall2 it was deserted1 except for two perfectly motionless human beings who were separated from each other by the width of the hall 7,illustration ,no4 #ah74 ,but such suspense1 in which the most sensitive sthete might take extreme delight1 is not for the masses4 ,for them it has to be laid on thick4 ,the really clever motion picture actor will always make it a point 8to bring something to a great many10 to use ,goethe's words4 ,to the few he will offer a tension of refined nature and subtle explanation2 to the many he will offer a tension that is sturdy1 robust1 plain as a pike-staff4 ,the poet handles his suspense in a calm way4 ,with him1 suspense is clarity in spiritual intoxication2 it is the sculptor's chisel marks of complete control4 ,it is from it that force ensues and action acquires its sense of goal4 ,where there is no suspense there is a chaotic draining off of episodes that sink into the sand without leaving a trace4 ,the motion picture actor1 who thoroughly understands his business1 guarantees to his art the befitting title of 8,dramatic40 ,it is a title of honor1 and will be bestowed when won4 ,in the matter of technical composition and artistic development1 the stage and the screen follow the identical course4 ,but from the point of view of significance1 they are widely divergent arts4 ,the value of each to1 and the effect of each on1 striving humanity is poles removed1 the one from the other4 ,let us repeat--the film is not an art of the intellect but of the soul4 ,it does not serve ideas2 it serves feelings4 ,the greatness of the stage actor lies in and is measured by the circle of his thoughts4 ,the greatness of the film actor lies in and is measured by the warmth and depth of his heart1 and by the gracious power through which he seizes the spectator and convulses his soul4 ,the stage actor transforms the cool intellect into warmth4 ,he who1 in his own world1 is a superman of the spiritual soul carries us along with him2 we cannot resist him4 ,the film actor transforms close and sultry sensuality into warmth4 ,he who1 in his own world1 is a superman of the sensual soul finds his way to our hearts2 we cannot resist him4 ,from such glowing action as is incorporated in ,madame ,recamier1 or ,the ,orphan1 or ,honour ,thy ,mother6 or the ,nibelungs1 there is but one moral to be drawn1 and that is the moral of the feeling that is as strong as the greatest organ of the greatest cathedral and as impressive4 ,from such motion pictures it is quite impossible to concoct a purely intellectual extract4 ,but it may be that the moral of the great soul represents and signifies the highest morality of all art1 and that any other or further symbolism is nothing more than a mantle that wraps itself about this kernel4 ,many of our modern and contemporary art critics suffer from an overestimation of the value and significance of thought qua thought4 ,but the rigidly intellectual has just as little to do with real art as has the purely sensual1 and it is not until both have been baptised1 dipped deep indeed1 into the warm depths of feeling that arises which we call art4 ,and neither the intellectual nor the sensual can be set up as a standard by which to weigh art and determine its ultimate value4 ,it is the psychic power of expression that passes enduring judgment on the creations of the artist4 8that that0 replaced with 8that0 ,is there not something in music that concerns us all1 that is a symbolic incarnation of our life of feeling1 but which no thought of ours is strong enough to capture on the wing8 ,all the riddles of our soul--call them ,happiness1 ,heart1 ,love1 ,god1 or what you will1 are solved in and through our feelings4 ,it is our feelings that make us familiar with them1 and intimate part of ourselves4 ,they mock at the mind2 they deride the intellect1 which can do nothing more than brood in hopelessness1 whereas the soul blindly resigns and thus comes to understand4 ,thus it is that music is the eternal soul1 the symbol of all souls--of the unthinkable1 the indescribable1 the unspeakable4 ,from the voices of the violin1 the bass viol and the flute there breathes but one thing--the soul4 ,we do not feel entirely familiar with the figures of the motion picture2 the ,tua res agitur rings out1 as yet1 only faintly and rarely reaches our ears4 ,but this whole art is so elementary1 and is so capable of reflecting the unthinkable fineness of the feelings1 that one thing is certain3 the time will come when we will be in appreciative accord with the most perfect figures of the motion picture4 ,the union between them and us will be happy1 and it will be perfect4 ,the legitimate stage represents a defection from sensuality1 and a hopeless brooding over the eternal riddles of life4 ,but viewed in the proper light1 a defection from sensuality may be a striving after the wish-figures of the motion picture--a home-coming to the soul1 a deep baptism in the mysterious fullness of the human breast4 ,just how high the motion picture will rise1 the extent to which it may succeed in going1 no man knows4 ,but it will reach the soul4 ,music originated from sensuality--from a union of rhythm and euphony4 ,music1 too1 has a sensual soul the very psychic power of which burns away all sensuality4 ,to place relative estimates on the value of each of the arts is an irrational undertaking4 ,on the flowery tree of humanity each art has its mysterious meaning--over which we should not brood3 cold intellect cannot solve such problems as are associated with this indubitable fact4 ,i have examined the motion picture from its various angles4 ,i have shown what it is like1 explained its fundamental nature1 commented on the forces that impel it1 discussed the wishes at which it aims1 elucidated its origin1 and set up its goal4 ,my purpose has been to detach the motion picture from technique1 and to make it serviceable to art and culture4 ,i have endeavored to proclaim the mission of the motion picture artist4 ,no one people1 taken as a whole1 has ,kultur4 ,it is only the purest1 the noblest1 the best of a given people from whose splendor there radiates a remote luster that finds its way to the active life of the masses4 ,if properly applied1 and molded by the proper people1 the motion picture will be a potent factor in this act of purification4 ,it will deepen our world of feeling and make it more cordial1 warmer4 ,do you recall hearing that anyone ever blamed a given instrument because so many bunglers play on it8 ,from the motion picture there will flow forth a fruitful stream4 ,all poetic creations of the sensual soul find now their original art4 ,liberated from them1 the poem in words will serve the intellectual soul more joyfully than ever4 ,the time will come1 too1 when it will be shown that in the motion picture there is either no art at all1 or only great art4 ,there are abysses all along the road2 each step is threatened2 but ingenious security will find its way past all these dangers4 ,one thing is certain3 the motion picture1 in its inseparable union with technique1 is one step more away from ,kultur and toward civilization4 ,the inventions of civilization endure2 they connote the inescapable way of humanity4 ,just as cannon and railroads1 electricity and air ships1 can no longer be struck from the book of life of coming generations by the willed and willful act of individuals1 parties1 or the whole human race for that matter1 just so is it true that the technical invention of the motion picture belongs forever to the conditions upon which the future will be predicated4 ,we can no longer turn this stream aside2 to swim against it would be an imbecilic undertaking4 ,to allow oneself to be driven along by it would be distinctly immoral4 ,shrewdness and morality make it imperative that we constitute ourselves the advance waves of this stream1 so that it may be made to flow in the right and proper channels to the end that its goal may be noble1 its course one of generous service to human kind4 ,for the task of the coming centuries will be the reconciliation of ,kultur and civilization4 ,the motion picture--never as a unit or a totality1 always as reflected in the possibilities suggested by its rarest fruits--is a powerful sign that this reconciliation will be a complete success4 ,,the ,,end ,transcriber's ,notes ,non-printable characteristics have been given the following ,italic text3 -- text 99 99 99 99 99 indicates a thought break 7extra blank vertical white space74 ,illustrations are indicated by3 ,illustration3 caption or descriptive text4 ,missing full-stops and abbreviation stops silently added4 ,the paragraph ending on page #acf with 8loses itself in moral fustian0 probably is missing the word 8melodrama0 at the end4 ,misspelled words have been corrected4 ,obsolete and alternative spellings are left unchanged 7e4g4 ascendent1 dilettant1 etherial1 heterogenous1 ,shakespearian74 ,spelling and hyphenation has not been standardised4 ,illustrations within paragraphs are placed either before or after the paragraph4 ,corrections 78,edit ,distance0 refers to the ,levenshtein ,distance473 page ,source ,correction ,edit ,distance #c attendent attendant #a #bb dilettanteish dilettantish #a #da obtrustively obtrusively #a #dd charcater character #b #gd docorations decorations #a #ajj ,liliputian ,lilliputian #a #ajb extaordinarily extraordinarily #a #aaj words word #a #aai aristrocratic aristocratic #a #aba unobstrusive unobtrusive #a #abe adventursome adventuresome #a #abf titulation titillation #b #abi gruesomness gruesomeness #a #aeh capitivated captivated #a #aei pouncey pouncy #a #afd that that that #e