THE WOMEN S UNIVERSITY CLUB
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 1936 pg.3
NOTE
With the permission of the Public Schools of Denver, Colorado, we are reprinting a portion of a pamphlet by Katherine Anne Ommaney, instructor of dramatics at North High School. It seems that it provides a most valuable set of standards by which to measure one’s critical faculty and consequently one’s ability to appreciate pictures.
—
The Editors.
HOW TO ENJOY MOTION PICTURES
The Relation of the Motion Picture to Youth and the School
Schools which conscientiously seek to provide for young people a curriculum related to real life situations and needs cannot avoid giving consideration to current motion pictures. The material which follows is intended to assist teachers in giving instruction relative to motion pictures.
It is not the purpose of school instruction relative to the motion picture to advertise any picture or to encourage or discourage attendance. The public schools must not serve as an advertising medium. Rather, the purpose is to utilize the experiences which attendance at moving pictures provides for the development of critical intelligent taste.
Because the motion picture plays so important a part in shaping the standards of conduct and attitudes of mind of the American youth, our public schools should make a very definite effort to cooperate with the home and other institutions in seeking to help young people to develop an appreciation of the better films. The enthusiasm of pupils for the screen plays should also serve to vitalize classwork.
Why Do We Co to the Theatre?
Undoubtedly the average person goes to the theatre to be amused and entertained, and to be released for a short time from the dull routine of daily life. This need not, however, be the only end served by moving picture attendance. The individual who chooses with care the plays he attends will also secure such satisfactions as the following:
Enjoyment of the work of first-class dramatists, producers, and actors;
Increased appreciation of how people of all types face problems common to all humanity;
Growth in ability to distinguish between the false standards of life, as frequently depicted on the screen, and the real values of daily experiences;
Power to analyze a play intelligently and to enjoy the aesthetic values of artistic acting, settings, costumes, and photography.
Such an individual retains his individuality and powers of judgment in the most exciting moments of a picture. He refuses to become “just eyes and ears.”
Some Why’s, What’s, and How’s of the Moving Picture World
Anyone attending a moving picture should ask himself Why am I going? What shall I look for? and How am I affected? The following standards should make for intelligent enjoyment of a picture.
A GOOD PICTURE.
- Tells a plausible, interesting story in a series of related events which rise to a gripping climax and work out to a logical conclusion.
- Interprets problems, serious or otherwise, which people meet in real life, and shows the consequences of their methods of facing them;
- Shows intelligent people reacting consistently and logically at crucial moments in their life experience;
- Presents constructive ideas of life which enrich spiritual concepts and inspire admirable conduct;
- Depicts with accuracy and effectiveness whatever phase of life is portrayed, but does not depend for its humor upon unjust caricature of types, classes, or races.
A GOOD ACTOR.
- Creates a living personality which arouses a definite emotional response from the onlooker;
- Uses his voice, body, and talent effectively and artistically to depict the immediate role he is assuming. He never exploits his own personality, however charming and appealing it may be;
- Cooperates with the director and other actors in the presentation of the play, always focussing the attention of the audience upon the center of interest rather than upon himself;
- Possesses a screen personality, flexible voice, and an intelligent understanding of people and human relations.
A GOOD PRODUCER.
- Selects, adapts, and casts a play with discrimination and judgment;
- Employs every technical device to create a perfect coordination of technicians and actors, settings and effects which correctly and sympathetically present the play and its message to the best advantage;
- Presents accurately and artistically the correct background of sets and music to arouse the proper emotional response through which the purpose of the play may be conveyed;
- Inspires his actors, combined in a well-balanced cast, to create vital characters, by means of drawing out their ability and assisting them with effective costumes and make-up;
- A Good Movie Fan. Selects his theatrical fare with taste and discrimination, refusing to be lured by false advertising and unintelligent judgment of others;
- Follows critical reviews and classifications of plays in reputable magazines and newspapers;
- Loses himself in the enjoyment of a fine play, beautiful sets, or great acting without allowing his critical judgment of unimportant details to spoil real art for him. On the other hand, he does not accept sentimental drivel, unethical conduct, and false standards of life just because other people do;
- Follows the activities of the best producers, dramatists, and actors, comparing and analyzing their methods, and encouraging their work by contributing only to the box-office returns of first-class pictures.