they fall into the snare of pro-Semitism. And one is as inconclusive as the other.
Another development is one which movie fans have doubtless noticed: it is the abolition of the “star” system. Readers of this series will recall that it was this same sort of thing which marked Jewish ascendancy in the control of the legitimate stage. Not long ago the full glare of movie publicity was thrown upon names and personalities—the Marys and Charlies and Lulus and Fatties of screen fame. The name was headlined; the star was featured; it did not matter what the theme of the play was—suffice it that it was “a Chaplin film,” or a “Pickford film,” or whatever it might be.
The motion picture “industry” has reached its present importance because of the exaltation of the “star.” But it has its inconveniences, too. Educate the public to demand a star, and that demand will eventually rule the business. Jewish control will not permit that. The way to break the control which the public may exercise through such a demand, is to eliminate the stars. Then all pictures will be on the same plane.
This is occurring now in filmdom. Some of the stars have taken the hint and set up their own studios. But steadily the doctrine is preached throughout fandom that “the play’s the thing,” not the star. You don’t see so many star names before the theaters; you see more and more lurid names of plays. The star is being sidetracked.
There is a triple advantage in this. The bloated salaries of the stars can be eliminated. The public can be deprived of a point on which to focus a demand. Exhibitors can no longer say, “I want this or that,” even within the narrow margin they recently had; they will have no choice because there will be no choice; the business will be a standardized “industry.”
These, then, are some of the facts of the American motion picture world. They are not all the facts, but each of them is important. Not one can be overlooked by students of the influence of the theater. Many a perplexed observer of everyday affairs will find in these facts a key which explains many things.
