MARRIAGE OF THE ARTS

Until recently there has been little recognition of the far reaching possibilities of the moving picture field. These are gradually coming to light and as a result the movies are becoming increasingly interesting and entertaining. The announcement that Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, will make a sound recording of Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" and Prokofleff's "Pas d'Acier" is another indication that the moving picture is slowly coming of age.

Limited as may be the influence of this particular film it points out a fertile field for movies in the future. With the present technical knowledge it is doubtful whether music for its own sake will ever be really important in the sound picture, but in combination with visual forms it still has far to go. What the movies need now, which the filming of "Oedipus Rex" should illustrate, is the development of an art and technique peculiarly suited to the medium of the screen. Chaplin has worked out one type of movie style, the silhouette is another, but in most cases movies are but literal translations of an art which is at its best in the theater.

Opera, as opera, will probably not be successful on the screen. In Stravinsky's work however, where super-marionettes are used in place of men and the parts are carefully subordinated to the whole effect, lies a possible opening for the motion picture. It is not the content which matters so much in this case as the creation of an art built for the movies which will combine the elements of music and stage in a new way., Mickey Mouse has successfully done this for comedy and it should be possible to do the same type of thing for great music and plays. Perhaps Mickey Mouse and "Oedipus Rex" are destined to be the forerunners of a new art indigenous to the movie which will evolve from the union of sound and form by means of a new technique.