our own comedies Mrs. Drew and I seek to appeal to the mind as
well as to the eye, but to appeal to the mind _through_ the eye. We
value the advantage of brightly-written sub-titles, but believe that
these should supplement and not replace the comedy in the action. The
clever leader may either prepare for the comedy-situation or may
follow and intensify it, but it is always an accessory and not the
chief aim. It is absurd to talk of the leader as an intrusion to be
avoided. It should be avoided only when it really is an intrusion. The
cleverness of an author displays itself in the expertness with which
he handles leaders rather than in his skill in avoiding them."[31]

[Footnote 31: Sidney Drew, "Comedy Picture Production," in _The Moving
Picture World_.]

_6. General Advice_

It is most important that, having started to write a farce, for
instance, you _keep it a farce_ throughout. One fault of many amateur
scripts is that they show a tendency to be a little of everything. A
strong emotional drama may--even should--have its "comedy relief," but
it is a very unwise thing to introduce a note of tragedy into a farce
or even into a straight comedy composition.

At this point it will not be out of place to say a few words in
connection with this matter of "comedy relief," of which we have just
spoken, as used in writing _dramatic_ stories. The over-use of comedy
relief, so called, is mostly due to misguided directors who have seen
the success attending its introduction by prominent directors who
really understood how and when to use it. A departmental writer in the
_Motion Picture News_, speaking of the small army of directors "who
worked with Griffith," says:

"Probably the most obvious of all the blunders made by the men who
seek to emulate the wonderful work of Griffith is their introduction
of comedy, chiefly through the medium of domestic animals, when they
are forced to stop the action of their story to do so. Griffith's
comedy is always spontaneous, incidental--it seems to have been
inspired at the moment and runs in as part of the main action. The
comedy of the men 'who worked with Griffith,' while perhaps inspired
at the moment, rises not from the situations of the story but from the
contemplative mind of the director himself. This is the general rule,
at any rate. There are exceptions, of course, and notable ones, too,
but that all-powerful _motif_ of 'comedy relief' often gets the better
of the director's