Fate of Stars

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 690, 15 June 1929, Page 25

Fate of Stars

Screcnland Faces Changes of Policy

BRITAIN’S NEW PROBLEM

'When Mr. William Fox decided recently that his famous corporation would pro- | duce dialogue and musical j pictures exclusively , he | offered perhaps the most J I convincing evidence to date j | of the success of talkies.

■ E has engaged 200 Broadway show folk, and Hollywood will be tx'ansformed into an international centre for producers, singers, actors, dancers, comedians, and writers. Each week one complete talking or musical production will be filmed, including comedies, operettas, and spectacular dramas in the new £2,000,000 studio at the Fox movietone city, says the London “Daily Mail.” Thus sheer beauty will be brought into the closest competition with dramatic talent, and many stars of the present firmament are expected to wane. Actors and actresses of the legiti-

mate stage will come back into their' own after suffering for years from the severe competition of films, for other companies are expected to follow the new policy. FAMOUS ACTORS SIGNED The Fox Company states that its decision was taken as a result of the public’s response to talking films. Famous actors already signed with the Fox Corporation will not be permitted to appear on the legitimate stage until their contracts have expired. Among these are Mr. Will Rogers, for whom Mr. Owen Davis is writing a talking picture, and Mr. George Jessel, who will appear in a musical film. Among film stars whose talking film tests have been successful are Miss Janet Gaynor, Miss Mary | Duncan, Miss Lois Moran, and Miss ; June Collyer. i The heads of some British firms ] have rushed off to New York, and j others have hastened to Berlin. ; Secret meetings arc taking piace. The directors, actors, and techni- ! cal and manual staffs are wondering what the immediate future may hold for them. AMERICAN GROUPS Hollywood has been through this period of hesitation and transition already. All the big firms like MetroGoldwyn, Fox, Famous Players, and even the more conservative United Artists group, which includes Mr. Charles Chaplin, Mr. Douglas Fairbanks, Miss Mary Pickford, and others, have now made dialogue films, as well as Warner Brothers, who made “The Singing Fool” and “The Jazz Singer.” The British film revival which had been planned when the silent film alone held the field has received a temporary check. British films, to be successful, must have a market abroad, and If, as it appears, the market abroad requires talking pictures as well as the market at home, then the British producers must and will make talking pictures. Their success, and the ultimate fate of the talking pictures, lie finally with the public. The cinema owners expect that the public will like the talking films so well that they will be indifferent to even the best of silent productions.