The Director of 1922
"The Survival of the Fittest 1"
That will be the director of 1922-3 and
THEREAFTER.
He will be one of those sterling artists whose
works will have STOOD FOR SOMETHING.
And continue to stand:
For the best there is in motion pictures I
He will be one who, in the year passing, a
period generally conceded to have been the most
difficult to survive in film history, looked for and
found a reason for the situation which was the
result of LACK. , Lack of knowledge, lack of
ability, lack of thriftinesa! And made up his
mind to HELP adjust the gigantic problem by
donating the best there was or is in him to the
cause,
He will be the "oak tree" type, his sturdy
growth being founded upon the same amount of
invisible strength, such as the famous tree with
the roots extending into the earth in proportion
to distance the trunk extends into space; a depend¬
able personage who, despite inconvenient reverses
in circumstances, perhaps, will rise determinedly
to greater heights and "count his blessings."
He will be the kind of director who may have
been "at liberty" many months, and yet, for the
ultimate good of his chosen profession and en¬
deavors, will be thankful that rather than having
been engaged in the making of pictures which
would NOT have stood as a monument to his
individual talents, as well as to the progress of
the art, he has been making none at all t
For the director that will remain and who1 has
"weathered the storm." will have realized that
the "garden of motion picture production" needed
"weeding," that in the "patch" where directors
thrive (some springing up over night) the process
of elimination was both necessary and inevitable.
No tender of any branch of the industry of
agriculture would be so foolishly optimistic that
he would expect to continue producing the same
fine specimens of organism year after year, with¬
out "weeding"—withimt ejecting the upstarts of
ton rapid and unfounded growth, for those
intruders, when not methodically "weeded out"
in time crowd the most valuable yield to stagnation.
Out agriculture is as old as the world itself.
Motion pictures WERE new.
Gardeners have had authorities to consult, books
to read anent their problems, while directors
and producers had nothing but wasted film.
The future generation of motion picture makers,
will, therefore, reap the harvest of sacrifices of
current months, profit by the experience of those
gone before and the result of failure to "weed"
out the incompetent-will serve as ready reference.
The director of the future will he one who
takes the making of pictures as seriously as the
agriculturist takes his work, and he will be the
kind of director that will not be nor cannot be
"weeded out."
This process of elimination, although it has
wrought hardships upon many, has been a house
cleaning time for directors. It has been a time
when a brotherhood among them has been of
worth. It has brough the real thinkers closer
together, and placed a wider chasm between the
so-called director and the one who has earned the
distinction of his title.
"History repeats itself 1"
Six years ago, envy, malice, hatred and unjust
criticism was responsible for the most active men
then engaged in the direction of motion pictures
forming an organization. A different kind of
extreme promoted that joining of hands, but the
MOTION PICTURE, DIRECTORS ASSOCIA¬
TION has stood; proven a factor worthy of its
identity, increased in membership, broadened in
activity and been accounted as one of the im¬
portant milestones of motion picture history.
The Los Angeles Lodge, in the year passing,
has subscribed to and started to erect a $200,000
"home"—a Club House, a "clearing house." The
New York Lodge already had comfortable
quarters, bu( the membership has soared and the
interest has been unprecedented.
That organization of directors concede a genuine
director one who has made a picture that will
STAND. If one picture a man has made silently
declares his ability, subsequent failures cannot rob
him of laurels won. These men recognize condi¬
tions. They have all had to work under adverse
circumstances, sometimes, some where, regardless
of their present standing.
A member of that worthy body of men must be
an "oak tree"—not a "weed," Not one who
thinks it is "easy money," that he ean waltz in,
nils-direct one or two pictures, crowd someone
out who has EARNED a reputation, and "get
away with it," for "weeds" are not eligible to
membership.
Among the younger men, young in the art of
direction, there may be "acorns" today, hut they
are the "oak trees*' of tomorrow, and it is the "oak
tree" type of director who in years to comd will
stand for "THE PROGRESS OF THE ART."
LTLLIAN R. GALE.
The Director's Number
An April 24, 1921, WID'S DAILY presented
a special issue, devoted entirely to the director,
This included, besides biographies of important
directors, the following Special articles: Great
Rewards, by Adolph Zukor; The Past—and the
Future, by David Wark Griffith; Director Inde¬
pendence, bv J. D. Williams; The M. P. D. A.,
by Lillian R. Gale; Reminiscences of Early Days,
by an Old Timer; Schools for Future Directors,
by Herbert Brenon; The Director of the Past,
by Roy Clements; The Director of Today, by
Jesse L. Lasky; The Director of the Present, by
Wm. D. Taylor; The Director of the Future, by
Toseph M. Schenck; The Director of the Future,
by Cecil B. DeMille; The Director of the Future,
by J. Gordon Edwards; The Director oi the
Future, by Perry N. Vekroff; The Director. Of
the Past, the Present and the Future, by Charles
Miller; The. Director—as the Star Sees Him;
Knocking Doubt Out of Picture Costs, by
Thomas W. Switzler------
D. W. Griffith On "The Past—and the Future"
The article by the world's premier director
producer, appearing in that issue, is, because of
its importance, reprinted below. Mr. Griffith said:
"The director of the past: ingenious, hard
working. With few mechanical aids; and
little understanding. Striving for an end which
often he could not foretell. Glad of the oppor¬
tunity to do; appreciative of the slightest under¬
standing.
"The director of the present—perhaps very
similar to the director of the past—a much troubled
brick-layer, using about fourteen hours a day to
place the bricks to the best of his ability.
"The director of the future—let us look into
the far, far future. Limitless his opportunity.
"The world's understanding his for the per¬
formance. Silent tho' the screen be, it is the
silence of thunder. Portentous the power of the
screen, so that of the director. And woe be that
his art shall fall in the control of the wrong men—
the wrong kind of men.
"For the power of the screen is greater by far
than that of any other instrument.
"Because of this the director of the future
must be a thinker. A greater thinker than he has
ever before been. His must be knowledge of
much. The world's ambitions; the world's aims;
the hearts of humanity; the understanding of
genius.
"The patience of a master; the strength of a.
Hercules. Thematically the world's truths will
be suggested by the art of the director.
"Through the power of suggestion he will reach
vast and great distances. Into the hearts of
men he, will travel. And multitudes will be glad
because of him and his work. And be happy.
"far as we have travelled, so further we will
go. Unhampered by censorship the art of the
director will reach limits now unknown, un¬
dreamed of. Barred hy censorship his aft will
wither."
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